Sacrifice (The Venus Chronicles #1)

Chapter 29

Twenty-Nine

Eve felt oddly sorry to see her shabby little desk go. Battered and scratched as it was, it had been her bolt hole over the last few weeks, as the exhibition had built around her. Now its usefulness was at an end, an ungainly blot on the shining landscape of Lucien’s collection. She wrapped her arms across her chest in a squeeze and wondered where she herself would fit in in the future.

One last walk round of the space before she went home.

The exhibition was a fascinating history of man’s determination to communicate with the gods. They’d created rituals and honored deities which, until very recently, Eve would have said, was a complete waste of time. Her own revelations had put a very different perspective on that.

A week had passed since her first thrilling brush with the quintessence. She drummed at the star pendant beneath her jumper and smiled to herself. After those first experiences, where the power had got away from her, she’d been terrified that she could not control it. She’d tucked Gran’s necklace away in a drawer and tried to pretend that none of it was real.

Inconveniently, the auras had remained. Even without the pendant’s amplification, she could still see them - colored mists that surrounded people and gave their inner lives away. She’d come to learn that green and blue were indicators of gentler souls, whilst violet and pink showed signs of volatility.

Her initial discomfort was soon replaced by fascination. Mild-mannered Barbara in the canteen had an aura of sparkling plum. It was her more than anything else that had prompted Eve to put the star back on. She’d just wanted to know what that meant.

What she’d learned, was to be careful what you wished for.

Probing Barbara’s consciousness during an early morning canteen visit had revealed a liking for bondage and a dominatrix wardrobe that Barbara enjoyed planning whilst pouring coffee. Eve had nothing against this as such, but there was only so much she wanted to know about a person, and Barbara’s fleshy fantasies weren’t a pleasant accompaniment for her early morning bagel.

These days Eve preferred to get her caffeine fix from the coffee cart guy, whose aura was leaf green. She’d resolved not to look at him too closely, just in case.

Wearing the pendant again had been the right decision. Anxiety brought about by this weird shift in perspective she was experiencing was soothed by its presence. Everything just made better sense when she wore it. The flashes of insight she received into situations and behavior could be put down to the power of the star, not just her own freakish unbelievable potential history. Brainwaves and sudden epiphanies, likewise.

She came to a halt in front of the astronomy exhibit, gazing at the ancient charts and astrolabe she’d selected at Lucien’s chateau. The transit of Venus was just two days away.

She’d noticed herself feeling calmer in the last few days, stronger even, and had assumed this to be because the exhibition was finally coming together. Now another thought struck her. Perhaps it was the approach of the transit that was boosting her clarity and confidence. Was this another piece in the jigsaw which confirmed her to be the child of Venus , just like Madam Laveau had suggested?

The idea of it made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. She wished Lucien would come in to check on her. Since the day she’d got lost in the demon bowl, he’d not returned and there was so much that she still wanted to ask. He was a busy man. She knew that, but still. Her memory of the event was fuzzy. She’d been examining the bowl one moment, and all hell had broken loose the next. He had called her His Queen, but the anger in his eyes had been fierce, his self-restraint only just holding.

She missed his touch. The electrical buzz between them was so addictive and without it she thought about him constantly, wondering when she’d feel it again. Her body ached for him and her thoughts ran in answerable circles.

Eve ran the flat of her hand down her face.

Enough. You’re knackered, woman.

There was nothing left to do but go home.