Westward Ho! Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, of Burrough, in the County of Devon, in the Reign of Her Most Glorious Majesty Queen Elizabeth by - (best books to read for self development TXT) 📕

They awkwardly shuffled in and squeezed onto the couch, while Tristan remained standing beside them.

“Thanks for hearing us out,” Daniel said, always the smooth talker. “Can you tell us a little more about your land and the history here?”

She laughed. “Well, you’re the straight shooter, aren’t you? Not even a ‘how are you?’ or ‘what’s your name?’”

He smiled. “Sorry, where are my manners? These are my business associates and dear friends, Tristan, Mark, and Surcy. My name is Daniel.”

“I’m Mertal,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

“What a lovely name,” he complimented, settling back against the couch.

“Thank you. Now, you asked about these lands. Well, they’ve been in my family for generations. And to be honest, they’ve been nothing but a curse.”

“A curse?” Mark asked, his instincts springing to life.

She gave a sad smile. “Every one of us has been born here. And every one of us dies here. Every time we get a chance to leave, something happens and we don’t.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Mark stared at her in confusion.

Was this really the Immortal? She didn’t look the way he imagined, and yet, there was something about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“It is bad when you want to see other things,” she said, a sigh slipping past her lips. “Like the ocean. Have you ever been? I imagine the sand between my toes and the sound of the waves. I even hear them in my sleep.”

Mark winced, and more images flashed through his mind. The ocean. There was something about the ocean. But what? Something wasn’t adding up. Something wasn’t making sense.

“You’re not too far from it, just a few hours,” Daniel said. “Why not just go?”

Her wistful expression faded. “Like I said, something always happens. But now, here you all come wanting to buy my lands, and I got to say, I think it might be just what I need to finally escape this place.”

Mark spoke without thinking. “You believe in curses. Do you also believe there are things in this world most people wouldn’t believe?”

Her gaze swung back to him, and he saw her fingers near her gun twitch. “What kinds of things?”

“Like shifters.” He said the words, then stared, waiting for her response.

She threw back her head and laughed. “Like shiny vampires and werewolves and shit? You got to be kidding me, boy. I’m not some damn teenage girl.”

Daniel joined in on the laughter. “Sorry, my pal here is a joker.”

After a minute, she rubbed at her eyes. “Thanks, son. It’s been a while since I laughed like that.”

“You mentioned being sick,” Surcy asked, her voice soft.

The woman’s gaze moved to Surcy, and she smiled. “Yeah. The doctors can’t find anything wrong with me. But I’m always tired. My body aches. And sometimes I see things that just ain’t right. They keep telling me I’m depressed. I’m not depressed. I’m sick.”

“What kinds of things do you see?” Mark pressed.

She spoke after a quiet minute. “Just things that aren’t right.”

Mark felt that prickling again. It moved down his spine.

“Now, you mentioned an offer?”

Mark stood and moved to her window, staring out at the desert. Daniel’s useless chatter drifted away. He touched The God Finder, and the world began to swim around him. The desert faded away, and he was at an ocean. A beautiful mermaid leapt from the waves and flashed him a smile. He stared at her for a long moment, and then realized why her eyes looked so familiar. Mertal? The old woman and the mermaid blurred together, and it hit him, they were one and the same.

Mertal was the mermaid. She was a goddess. The Goddess of the Sea.

His breathing grew more rapid. Caine didn’t need to torture her with angels. Or imprison her like the vampire. He just needed to keep her away from the water. As a mermaid, she would never be free until she was in the water. She would grow old and die without ever knowing why she didn’t feel right. Why her skin felt too tight.

The blurring magic of The God Finder faded away. And he gripped the edge of the windowsill to keep from falling. It was hard to breathe. Hard to pull air in and out.

At the edge of his vision, he saw shapes in the sky. The angels are coming! How did they know we were here?

“Guys!” he said, turning, he realized he’d stopped the conversation. Swallowing, he tried to keep his voice normal. “Lots of big birds out today.”

Surcy frowned. Tristan just stared, and Daniel gave him a look like he was nuts.

“You don’t see a lot of birds out here,” Mertal commented, giving him a strange look.

Which is when he finally saw it hit the others.

Surcy rose. “We should go.”

“But you just started talking about this offer of yours,” Mertal said, wiping her palms on her gown.

Daniel stood and held out a hand to the older woman. “What she means is that we’d love a tour of your lands?”

His demon-magic swelled in the air. Perhaps it was because Mark had just used The God Finder, and every one of Mark’s sense seemed heightened, but he could feel the coaxing magic sliding over her body, moving inside of her like a smoke with a purpose.

The magic was instinctual, like an angel flying. The angels couldn’t detect when they used it, but they tried not to use it too often. It had the risk of someone realizing that they were doing something they wouldn’t normally do and getting suspicious.

“I guess that makes sense,” the woman said slowly, then grabbed her gun with one hand and took Daniel’s hand with the other. “But there really isn’t much to see.”

She and Daniel led the way.

Surcy dropped back beside him. “I can’t teleport out of here either.”

He nodded. “There’s something strange about this place. But, we