“You should probably get that looked at.”
I flinched at the sound of the woman’s voice. There was no one else in the bathroom with me.
No one living.
“Who’s there?”
“Just someone with some well-meaning advice,” she replied, a sarcasm underlying her tone. She spoke quietly, and she sounded tired.
“Please can you show yourself?”
She scoffed. “I’m not a ghost. I’m not here lingering like a bad smell.”
So, she was a spirit then. Great. Just what I needed whilst standing in the bathroom in my boxers cataloguing the marks of a particularly brutal fucking session. “How would I go about seeing you then?”
“You’re the Shadow Witch. You should be able to just see me.”
“And how am I supposed to do that?” I really wasn’t in the mood for playing games. I was tired, my body needed rest and my mind was full of anxiety.
“You really don’t know? Did nobody teach you?” There was a sadness to her words that cut through me like a knife.
I should have had someone teach me, should have been educated in how to use my own power, but I didn’t. “I only learned I was a Shadow Witch last week.”
“Oh.”
“Look, I’ve had a pretty shitty few days and I don’t want to be rude, but can you let me know why you’re here?”
She sniffed and I could hear her indignation. “Well, I can see no one taught you any manners. Can’t say I expected anything less from your father.”
That caught my attention. “You knew Lawler?”
“Unfortunately,” she replied sharply.
I chuckled. “Not his biggest fan, then?”
“If he was on fire, I’d try to put him out with gasoline.”
Wow. Okay. I leant back against the marble counter and folded my arms across my chest. “Is there a way I can see you?”
“Of course. You just need to change to your aether sight.”
I huffed a laugh. “You say that like it’s the easiest thing in the world.”
“It should be to a Shadow Witch. You should be able to do it without thinking.”
“Well, I don’t come into my true power until I turn twenty-five so—”
“That’s bullshit.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
“Who told you that? Shadow Witches don’t have any restrictions on their powers. If you’ve got one, it’s from somebody else.”
My mind flew at a thousand miles a minute. Did Dara have something to do with this? She was the one who told me about my birthday being the key to unlocking my power. Why was that date so important? Was she complicit with our father? Was I even really hiding or was this just another glorified cage?
“Are you alright? You look like you’re about to be sick.”
My heart was beating too fast, and my stomach was churning too quickly. I needed to breathe but I couldn’t seem to get my lungs to work. Black spots danced at the edge of my vision as I dropped my hands to grip the cold marble surface behind me.