The sun was slipping behind the trees when Ethan finally pulled up to a cute brick house on the edge of St. Louis. He parked alongside the curb and killed the engine before lightly touching Lila's shoulder. She started, jerking upright in her seat, the sudden movement making her head throb.

"Carefully," Ethan said. "Carefully, Lila. We've arrived."

She sighed, rubbing gently at her aching eyes. "Those last couple miles, I wasn't too sure we were gonna make it."

"You must be tired," Ethan said by way of agreement.

Lila lifted her eyebrows in lieu of a shrug. The ache from her head had begun to spread down her neck and seemed intent on making its way to the rest of her body. All she wanted to do was stop moving and lay down for a solid eight hours.

Or maybe longer.

A tap on the window made Lila open her eyes to find Ethan on the outside of the car. He furrowed his brow and began to speak, but she couldn't hear anything.

"Shit," she muttered. No wonder she felt so tired. She had opened her energy completely to Ethan to make sure he didn't lose control of the car again. Which shouldn't have been a problem. She just hadn't reckoned on the energy having that vision had sapped. 

She had been drained a lot more than she'd thought.  

After fumbling around with the handle for a moment, Lila finally managed to open the door. The hinges creaked, the door swinging right through Ethan, who frowned at her.

"Sorry," she murmured. "I'm nearly dry. I'm sorta surprised you can still go bump in the night."

Ethan scowled, obviously unamused. He slowly faded out of sight. "Would you like me to tell Tamara that you are here? I think you might require some assistance getting into the house."

Rolling her eyes, she turned in her seat and put one hand on the frame and another on the door. She clenched her teeth and pushed up to her feet, just to find herself falling back into the car. She sprawled on the bench-seat, staring up at the dark ceiling.

"I believe you're right," she said.

Then light was flooding across the yard as the front door opened. "Ya'll waitin' on an invitation?"

Lila smiled as Ethan's voice called back, "Good evening, Mrs. Keller. I was just about to come fetch you. Lila is in need of some help, and I'm sorry to say I can't give it myself."

"Good evenin', yourself, darlin'." Lila looked up to find Tamara strolling across the yard. "Aren't you gonna let me see that pretty face of yours?"

"Maybe later, Tamara," Lila said, struggling back into a sitting position. "I don't have the energy to let him be seen and heard at the same time."

"Uh-huh." Tamara loomed over her, peering at her through the gloom. She propped her fists on her curvy waist, the light shining through her hair creating a sort of halo around her face. She looked into Lila's bloodshot eyes and made a tsking sound. "What've you gone and done to yourself now, girl?"

Lila groaned as Tamara grabbed her wrists and pulled her to her feet. She leaned heavily on the  older woman, who wrapped an arm around her waist. Lila stumbled across the small yard, angling toward the rectangle of light that marked the open front door. She was breathing hard by the time they crossed the threshold.

The warm, familiar scents of sage, cinnamon and star anise filled Lila's nose. The light from a handful of stained glass lamps spilled across the dark wood floor. Gemstone reds, green and blues framed pools of buttery yellow light.

"Michael!" Tamara yelled, making Lila flinch and her head throb angrily.

"What!" The shout came from somewhere above their heads.

Tamara muttered something under her breath that Lila didn't catch. "Don't you what me! Get your butt down here, boy."

There was the sound of a door opening above them and feet thumping down the stairs. "What, Mama?" Another door opened. "Is that Lila?"

"Would you take her into the living room?" Tamara loosened her grip on Lila, who gasped involuntarily as she felt her legs giving. Before she could fall a strong arm wrapped around her, another scooping her knees out from under her.

She looked up to find a Michael who was much taller than she remembered him being. He smiled down at her, carefully maneuvering through a narrow doorway.

"Hey Mike," she murmured, letting her eyes close again as he set her gently on a low couch. She heard as he sat on the floor beside her.

"You got blood in the corner of your eye, Lila." Michael rubbed at the side of her nose, and Lila grimaced as she felt the dried blood crumble away. "What'd you do?"

She sighed. "I had a vision."

"Must've been one hell of a vision."

"Michael, language," Tamara snapped, making both her son and Lila jump.

"Well, he's not wrong." Lila began to push herself into a sitting position, just to be pushed back down by her mentor. She considered trying to sit up again, then decided that would probably be a losing battle. "That's why I'm here, Tamara. I've been...seeing things."

"Uh-huh. Close your eyes."

Lila obeyed a second before a damp cloth was draped over her face. A cool, herbal scent filled her nose and she sighed as the ache from her eyes eased. Along with being clairvoyant, Tamara was a genius where herbal remedies were concerned.

"She's been having them for months." Ethan's quiet voice came from somewhere above Lila. A cool breeze brushed across her forehead, making a few stray strands of hair flutter away from her face. "None this bad, though. This is the first time I've seen..." He trailed off and Lila again felt a cool breeze pass over her face as he touched her.

"Most psychics pop a few blood vessels every now and then," Tamara said, her voice matter-of-fact as always. "It's usually not somethin' to worry about."

The temperature of the room dropped a few degrees, revealing Ethan's anxiety. Lila lifted a hand, pressing the damp cloth a little more firmly against her eyes. Finally, she had to break the silence. "You said usually."

Tamara let out a gusty sigh and Lila heard as she settled into a nearby chair. "I did. If you'd come to me and I'd seen an inclination toward clairvoyance, I wouldn't be concerned. Frankly, Lila, it worries me that you're having visions at all."

"I've had them before," Lila reminded her.

"Yes, when you were seventeen and chock full of crazy teenage hormones. And didn't Ethan just say you've been having them for months?" Lila opened her mouth to respond, but Tamara plowed on. "That makes me think it's been the same vision, or at least the same sort of vision."

"Well how did you work that out?" Lila asked, a little annoyed. It had been a while since she'd seen Tamara. She had forgotten how irritating it was to be around someone who knew pretty much everything already.

"Intuition," Tamara said, her tone letting Lila know she was wearing that cat-who-ate-the-canary smile of hers.

"And what if I said your intuition was wrong?" Lila asked, since she just couldn't help but try to needle the older woman.

"Your intuition does not betray you," Ethan said immediately. "They have been the same vision over these months."

"Traitor," Lila muttered, earning herself a soft laugh from Michael.

Ethan passed a cool touch along her shoulder. "Yes," he said, a hint of a joke in his voice. "But only in the name of a good cause." He turned serious. "I have never seen anything like I did today. Usually these visions only leave her suffering with a headache and occasionally a bloody nose. This time..."

He hid the fear well, but Lila could feel it in the buzz of energy that swept through the room, making the lights flicker ever so slightly. Instinctively, she raised a hand, reaching out for him before realizing that she probably shouldn't. A liquid coolness enveloped her fingers for a moment before slipping away.

The lights steadied and Ethan said, "Why has she been having these visions? What was different about today?"

Tamara suddenly lifted the cloth away from Lila's face, making the backs of her eyes suddenly bleed red. She let out a muffled protest when Tamara peeled her right eyelid back. The other woman frowned as Lila batted her hand away.

"You could have just asked," Lila grumbled. She extended a hand to Michael. "Help me up, would you?"

She groaned as he took her hand and pulled her up to a sitting position. Moving gingerly, she swung her legs down and flopped back against the squishy cushions of the couch. Then she opened her eyes again.

Tamara bent down and grabbed her chin, tilting her head back and forth. Her dark eyes narrowed in concentration as she studied the map of broken vessels in Lila's eyes. When she found what she was looking for, she straightened and returned to a winged back chair upholstered in faded red velvet. She crossed her arms and pinned Lila with a glare.

"Forced it, didn't ya?"

A silence settled over the room so thick, Lila could practically hear the filament buzz as Ethan again made the lights flicker. He suddenly appeared, towering over her before quickly dropping to his knees in front of her. His blue eyes were devastated, making Lila's heart twist.

"Forced it?" he repeated, his voice little more than a whisper. "You had the vision on purpose?"

Lila swallowed hard against a tight throat. All she could manage was a shallow nod. 

Tamara made a small sound of disgust, returning the attention of the room to her. Her fierce scowl couldn't quite hide the concern etched into the lines bracketing her mouth. "How?"

Biting her lip, Lila shrugged. "Mirror."

"Lord Jesus." Tamara shook her head, and even Michael furrowed his brows. "You know water's a safer conduit, girl."

Actually, Lila had forgotten that. Once Tamara had ruled that Lila's gift wasn't suited to playing with time, they had more or less abandoned training those sorts of skills. Instead, Tamara had helped her sharpen her ability to commune with the dead. Ethan was not-so-living proof of the strength of her talent.

So she just made a noncommittal noise, trying unsuccessfully to avoid looking at Ethan. He was standing beside the window now, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. Lila could just barely make out his reflection in the darkened glass. His jaw was clenched, his lips a flat line of anger.

She couldn't tell if he was mad because of what had happened, or because she had lied to him at the gas station. 

Tamara didn't give her any time to dwell on that, though. "Tell me about them," she ordered, idly playing with a long, golden earring. "Everything you've seen."

"And here I was hoping I'd get something to eat first." Her stomach grumbled at the reminder of her hunger.

Tamara didn't soften. "Start talkin'."

When she hesitated out of instinct—having always been very private by nature—Michael gave her a look that clearly said: she'll get her way, one way or another.

Unease rustled through Lila. She despised thinking about her visions, much less talking about them. But that was the whole point of her coming to see her mentor. Tamara would know what the visions meant. And if she didn't, she would be able to figure it out, of that Lila had no doubt.

So she allowed herself to heave a reluctant sigh before launching into a recap of everything she had seen over these past months. The metal tables. The blood on the floor. The man with the star. The candle, mirror, cloak and knife. The woman with dead eyes and the cemetery. 

She described everything in as much detail as she could, surprised to find that it was a relief to simply talk about her visions. Like sharing what she had seen had somehow released the anxiety she had been wrestling with because of them. Tamara, Michael and Ethan all stayed silent as she spoke, listening intently.

When it was all out, Lila released another long sigh, once again slumping back into the cushions. "That's everything," she said, licking her dry lips. She was much thirstier than she had realized before.

Michael, being the intuitive type, got up and padded toward the kitchen. The sound of running water broke the silence. He came back in, holding a glass of ice-water that Lila tried not to snatch away from him when he offered it to her. She forced herself to drink slowly, letting the water soothe the dry tissue of her mouth and throat.

"And the vision today," Ethan said. "What did you see today?"

Tamara twisted slightly in her seat to stare at the ghost. "What do you mean?"

Ethan finally turned away from the window, his face perfectly calm and smooth. "She told me the vision she suffered from today showed her different things."

Once again, all eyes fell on Lila. She took another sip of water before beginning to speak. "It wasn't so much that I saw different things," she began slowly, casting her mind back to the images that had flashed behind her eyes. "Or, well...that's not quite right. But that's not important. It was more that this vision felt...different."

"And I imagine it didn't feel different in a good way," Tamara said wearily, rubbing at the smooth skin of her forehead.

Lila shook her head.

"Tell me what you saw first, then we can dig a little deeper."

Once again, Lila relayed as many details as she could remember. Now that she was thinking about it, she realized the man in the church was the same one with the star. The woman in the white coat was the same blonde with the dead-looking eyes. The mountains were the same mountains, and the cemetery was the same as well.

The chaos and death had been the only new additions, though that was cold comfort.

When she was finished, Tamara closed her eyes, propping her head on her fist. Lila finished her water, the ice clinking as she set the glass on a side table. Everyone waited with baited breath for Tamara to make her pronouncement. 

"Michael," she finally said, eyes still closed. "I think you should go get my scrying bowl." A frown created a divot between her brows. "And the peppermint, vervain and white sage."

Lila exchanged a wide-eyed look with Tamara's son. She hadn't realized this would get so serious.

"Now, Michael," Tamara said, the words devoid of any of her usual snap. "This all seems darker than I think we fully realize."