Chapter 301: Lemons and Prophecies

Vivian’s POV

Now I was stuck sitting on the couch right in front of her, probably mere seconds away from being flung violently across the room like a rag doll in some mystical witch tantrum.

"Not every witch is made the exact same way," she blurted out suddenly, her tight grip on both of my hands tightening even further until her knuckles turned pale. "Some of us are born to heal physical wounds, some to cast intricate spells, some to summon deep darkness from the shadows, some to lead entire covens, or to be deeply attuned with the living earth itself. Others simply know things that no one else in this world should ever know."

The breathless words tumbled from her lips so fast that I barely had enough time to blink my eyes in response.

Did you secretly sign up for Witch 101 without telling me first? my wolf asked dryly in my head.

No, I definitely did not.

Are you sure about that? Because she is lecturing you right now like you owe her semester tuition. Maybe you accidentally clicked on some shady magical pop-up ad on your phone and now you are fully enrolled in her class.

Still no.

Aurora continued speaking out loud as if she had not just scared ten years off my natural lifespan with her sudden outburst. "Only a tiny handful of witches are born with multiple distinct gifts. I " she paused abruptly, her jaw clenching as she quickly corrected herself, " was one of those rare ones. But I lost most of my natural connection because of something terrible I did in the past. Until recently, that is... something has been stirring back up inside me. Just tiny flashes, small pieces of what I once had. I could heal almost anything. I could control the earth’s natural elements and bend them to my exact will."

She gave me a short, dry smirk. "That is the exact reason why that idiot is out there hunting in the woods for an actual lemon tree right now."

Despite my growing tension, a quiet laugh escaped my lips.

"I also possessed the touch I could know deeply kept things that others couldn’t possibly see, just by making direct physical contact with them. But even witches like me don’t always get a completely clear answer from the universe. We only see faint hints, dark shadows, strange gut feelings... vague crap. Do you know how intensely frustrating it is to be the chosen messenger and still have absolutely no idea what the hell the message actually means?" She let out a long, disgruntled sigh. "It is completely exhausting."

I leaned back slightly against the sofa cushion, narrowing my brown eyes at her. "Why are you telling me all of this right now?"

Because, let’s be entirely honest here: people do not just spill their deep magical resumes to complete strangers unless there is a very specific motive behind it. You don’t show up on a casual first meeting and immediately confess your entire soul. That is, like, date number four behavior. Third date, maybe, if you are extremely desperate for a connection. But still.

She opened her mouth to answer me, only to shut it again with a strange, uncomfortable grimace. Her fingers squeezed mine tightly as something flickering crossed over her face deep conflict, maybe? She looked... thoroughly unsure of herself. Frustrated. Like whatever important truth she wanted to tell me was stuck halfway between her gut and her throat.

"Sometimes," she said softly, her voice dropping down low, "I don’t even know how to properly explain the things I see in these visions. Please forgive me if all I end up giving you today is total confusion and severe migraines."

I gave her a small nod. "It’s fine, really."

Honestly, I was far more concerned that she was about to keel over sideways onto the rug from how ridiculously hard she was concentrating right now. Algebra would walk back through the front door with an armful of yellow lemons only to find his mate collapsed flat on the floor, foaming at the mouth, with me kneeling awkwardly beside her body. It would look for all the world like I had physically decked her.

Perfect. No fresh lemonade for me, and I would get fully blamed for witchslaughter.

Just as I was about to gently tug my hands free from her tight grip, Aurora’s entire body went dead still on the couch. Her dark brown eyes completely glazed over, her face turning blank and distant, as if something ancient and powerful had suddenly taken over her body. A sharp, freezing chill swept through the warm cabin room.

And then she spoke, her voice dropping into a low register that was heavily layered with something that did not quite sound like her at all.

"Wherever you go, you will carry light from now on. But night will follow close behind. And when it finally catches up... it will smother your light completely. Those who fail to see what truly binds you will pay the ultimate price in blood. And those who dare break the sacred rules of their pact shall know the terrible wrath of the heartbroken. There will be immense pain. No cure. No salvation. Only death. If your light dies... so will you."

I stood my ground, staring straight at her in absolute shock.

What in the absolute hell kind of twisted bedtime story was that supposed to be?

"You know... if you were actually a professional psychic, I would definitely be asking for a full refund right about now," I said, forcing a weak, breathless laugh out of my chest as I tried my absolute best to keep the heavy mood light. I really did not want her to see just how deeply her dark words had unsettled my inner wolf, even if she could not fully remember saying them out loud.

Honestly, if I had been standing on my feet instead of sitting on the soft couch, I would have immediately needed to sit right back down... or better yet, just curl up under a blanket for a very long nap. A really long one. Yeah, that sounded completely ideal to me right now.

"Did anything I just said actually make any sense to you?" she asked softly, her eyes searching my pale face for an answer. "What does any of that mean to you, Vivian?"

I shrugged my shoulders, gently pulling my hands completely away from her cold fingers and lifting them up into the air in a helpless gesture. "Something along the lines of me accidentally electrocuting myself to death if I’m not extremely careful around the house?" I tried to joke, my fingers twitching slightly as if I could physically shake off the creeping unease settling under my skin.

She frowned deeply and pressed one hand flat against her chest, her expression suddenly turning distant again. "That’s so strange... whatever I just said to you came with this really awful, heavy sensation "

Just then, the heavy front door creaked wide open, and Algebra strode back inside the cabin, his long arms hopelessly overloaded with fresh, bright lemons. Like, way too many lemons for two people. The hilarious sight might have been genuinely comical under normal circumstances if I was not already sitting here on edge.

I was not even thirsty for lemonade anymore. Or hungry for food. Honestly, I felt completely rattled to my core.

"Oh no, please don’t stop talking on my account," Algebra muttered under his breath as he crossed the room, sounding deeply unimpressed by our sudden silence. "By the way, if you are going to go around sending someone out to a freaking magical lemon tree in the woods, maybe let them know beforehand that when you pick a single one " He dropped the massive armful directly onto the kitchen counter in one dramatic, noisy thud, not caring at all as several bright yellow lemons rolled off the edge and thudded onto the floorboards. " they all fall off the branches at once."

He shot a sharp, unamused glare directly over at Aurora, who only offered him a completely innocent, sweet smile in return.

"When life gives you lemons, what are you supposed to do with them?" she asked him sweetly, her dark eyes glinting with a spark of playful mischief.

Without missing a single beat, Algebra picked up one of the stray lemons off the counter and pointed it directly at her face like a loaded weapon. "You chuck it right back at life and demand water, sugar, a proper glass cup, and a damn sharp knife because last time I checked, a plain lemon all by itself does not make lemonade!"