Intended Series Collection: Books 1-6 by Abigail Grant (best summer books .txt) 📗

of the elements, where others can only manipulate one in that way.” She is right, and I’ve thought about it too.

I shift in my seat, feeling like an enigma. “I haven’t used fire yet, but you’re right about the rest. What did you want to do about it magically?”

She sits up straighter and flips her graying hair behind her shoulder. “Well, I can kind of see into your lineage and find out why you’re more powerful than the other Seer women. Personally, I think it has to do with your ancestors, sweetheart.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Really? That would be so cool!”

She turns her chair toward me and holds out both of her hands. “Let’s do it then. You ready?”

I look around the dining room where we sit. We are alone and I don’t know when Gavin will be back. I roll my head, stretching the muscles and I rub my cold hands together. “Okay, I guess now is as good a time as any.”

I place my hands in hers, entirely comfortable with the woman who raised me and can still amaze me with her eccentricities. Now I know why she has always been so different than other moms that I knew. She isn’t even a normal human being, but a powerful “witch.”

I watch her with curiosity, nervous about what we will find out about my ancestry. What if my ancestors are evil? What if they have a path planned for me that I’m incapable of rising to? What if I’m not even a Seer at all?

I start to sweat thinking about all of the possibilities.

“Close your eyes, hon.” Aunt Mags closes her own and I obey her.

My eyes flutter closed and my hands are held a little tighter than before. No words are spoken, but as I stare at the red coming through my eyelids from the bright day, the dark color begins to morph into an entire image.

Tall trees and dewy grass surround me as I float above an image of a place I have never been. I can still feel Aunt Mags holding my hands, but I am not sitting in Gavin’s dining room anymore. I am like a spirit drifting through a memory that I can smell, but not touch.

It’s nighttime in this vision. A young woman with very dark brown hair and pearly white skin sneaks around one of the huge peeling tree trunks. She has a mischievous smile on her rose-colored lips and she looks around her for someone or something.

She takes a step out from behind the tree and I can see the long draping white gown slide along the dirt beneath her feet. Her eyes finally capture their object, and without trying, my gaze turns to a large man.

His shoulders and arms are visible, with only a red drape-like covering to wrap most of his torso in. A silver belt holds up a white knee-length skirt covering. I’m sure it’s not called a skirt in this world, but this clearly isn’t the twenty-first century, more like something BC.

 The muscular man smiles and runs to the young woman. He picks her up into his arms and the kiss he places on her lips is blush-inducing at the least. I feel like I should turn away, but I’m not in control of my body.

The PDA stops and he whispers to the girl. “I love you, Aphaedra. Our journey is nearly done.”

The girl, Aphaedra, nods as she snuggles into the man’s thick chest. “Laocoon, I love you so much. It scares me.”

Her honesty amazes me. I want to be as truthful as her.

Laocoon kisses the top of his lover’s head and the picture-perfect moment begins to blur and slowly fade away. Bright, piercing lights take over the dark, and I have the urge to squint against them. With my eyes already closed and somehow still seeing, I feel an itchy and uncomfortable feeling all over.

I want to feel at one with my body again, but I don’t want to leave until I have some answers. In the bright light, a small crowd of people sit and look around, seemingly amazed with their surroundings. I don’t see anything around them but light. I wish I could see what they see.

A loud voice shouts out in the crowd. “Poseidon! We are here!”

I find the voice and see it's the same man as before, with his head tilted to the sky. Laocoon and Aphaedra sit together in front of the rest of the group. Each person turns their head toward the same direction and small gasps sound out in the bright orb.

Laocoon speaks again. I can’t see what the rest of them see, but it’s clear there is someone standing before them. “I have done what you asked of me, goddess. What shall we do now?” he asks.

First Poseidon… now a goddess? No way.

A woman’s voice rings out, almost like a lullaby floating into my ears. It’s the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. “I knew you would complete your task, Laocoon. You are a good man. Of course, this path was predestined many years ago.”

Laocoon tilts his head at the voice. “What do you mean, predestined? Does that mean nothing any of us said or did would have mattered?”

I understand his question. I felt the same way when I found out about Intendeds.

I jump when another man’s voice booms over the crowd from the same direction as the woman’s. “No, Laocoon. Your decisions were all your own. All we are saying is that we knew what would happen before you did. Even with your powers of foresight. Still, every path you chose and will choose is yours only.”

I want to see the people who speak with such powerful voices. The itchiness spreads across my skin, feeling like it’s not my own anymore.

The woman, Aphaedra, lifts her chin and takes a step toward the unseen voices. “Poseidon, I have had a question for you for weeks now. Could I ask it of you now?”

It hits me that these