Twist My Heart by Brooke Taylor (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

She laughed. “Static. From trying on all these clothes, I guess.”

“Oh, right, static. Sorry. Your tattoo keeps catching my eye, it’s gorgeous. What is it?”

She twisted her wrist so I could get a better look at the graceful bird rising in flight. Black outlined flames licked up at the finely detailed feathered wings and flowing tail. “A phoenix of course.”

Rising from the dead…my mind filled in. The thought had snuck up on me like a memory, before I realized it was simply a gap in knowledge being filled in from some other part of my brain. Not unlike how I knew the varying shades of Aimee’s hair color was called ombré.

She held her forearm out and I read the words, “Sky above me. Earth below me. Fire within me. That’s really beautiful.”

“It’s the motto we live by.”

“We?”

She stared at me for a minute, as if I should already know the answer. “All the Phoenixes.”

My heartbeat quickened as my face heated. There was so much information flooding my brain, and while most everyday tasks had come back to me to some degree, whatever she was talking about had not. Whether what she was saying was common knowledge or something she believed I should know, I wasn’t certain. “I’m Amish, remember? We don’t know this type of stuff.”

“Ha! Right.” Her smile didn’t look convincing, but she continued. “It’s all part of our enlightenment and empowerment organization. Spark is where everything starts. It’s an amazing leadership series for women. After completing the Spark online workshops, Ignite events, and Blaze conference series you can start working toward becoming a Phoenix. It’s more than an intellectual level, though. You also must be in the right spiritual place in your life. When you’re ready to become not just fully enveloped, but engulfed, you’re invited to live inside the Ring. The Ring of Fire is the mountain campus where we all live. There you renounce material things and your past while you work toward rising and becoming one of the Six. I’ve only recently risen, which is why I’m wearing my former sister’s clothes.” Her fingers stroked the fabric of the shirt just above her heart. Realizing I was watching her, she quickly shifted to smooth the tip of her loose red ponytail. “I only just got my hair colored yesterday. It symbolically marks the fire we endured to be reborn.”

“It’s beautiful. You said former sister? Do you mean she left the Ring?”

Her expression, which had been bright with enthusiasm as she’d told me about the whole organization, dropped. “Oh no… She would’ve never left. She was… She’s…”

I realized she was going to say dead and my heart fisted. “I’m so sorry,” I rushed to say. All the while my mind reeled with devastation, as if I’d felt the loss of my sister as well. But I hadn’t any memories to go along with my body’s reaction. Not knowing what to make of the sudden emotion, I forced my focus to her tattoo and reached out to touch it again.

Aimee’s hardened face relaxed as she seemed to shake off whatever thoughts she’d been having. “Once I get my tattoo colored in, I’ll match the others in the Six.”

“Six, huh? I guess you’ll have lots of people to shop with now.”

“The sisterhood is the best thing to happen to me, Thea. I really think you’ll love it, too.” She fished into her bag, pulling out a slim card. After asking the clerk to borrow a pen, she scribbled out some numbers and handed it to me.

“My phone number is on the back.” She pulled out a paper from her bag. “Here, let me get your number, too.”

Shit. The only phone I had was an untraceable disposable one in my stolen purse, and I didn’t even know the number to it. “Um, I’ll text it to you, later.”

Unfazed by the return of my severe awkwardness, she pulled a small bottle from her bag. “We also sell essential oils. I think you’d love this one, so relaxing. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel, how much energy you have. Here, take it—free sample.”

As the cashier finished bagging up my purchases, I rolled the decorative vial between my fingers. The brand name, Ardent Oils, was accompanied by dark orangish-red flowers painted on the label. The artwork was beautiful, but I didn’t know what to do with the contents. “The flowers are pretty. What are they?”

“Poppies, but don’t worry, it’s not like opium or anything. It’s a blend of several oils. Just do like this.” Aimee retrieved another bottle and dabbed a couple of drops under her nose.

“Soothing to the smell, see?” She thrust her finger out and I noted hints of citrus and mint, similar to the iced tea at the diner.

“Smells great,” I muttered in agreement as I glanced over at the shoe department. Nik still hadn’t returned.

“I’m sure your friend will be right back. Go ahead, give it a try.”

She’d called him my fiancé before. Maybe she’d realized I didn’t have a ring. I unscrewed the cap on the bottle she’d given me. It didn’t have the same smell of citrus and mint. But I couldn’t focus with Nik gone. A sudden wave of fatigue was also setting in and I yawned.

The cashier gave me my total, snapping me out of my haze. I recapped the bottle so I wouldn’t knock it over as I pulled some money out of the red wallet.

“Ooh, crocodile. Is that… Is it Hermès? Where’d you get it? Not from Amish country, I bet.”

I slammed the wallet closed, hoping she hadn’t seen Seraphina Westin’s ID. Thrusting it and the vial into my purse, I cursed myself for cleaning the black bag up to bring and not at least leaving the fake ID at Nik’s.

“I’m sorry, I really should go. I’ll try the oil, promise.” I jammed my change and receipt into the purse and snatched my shopping bag from the counter. With a polite nod to the retail clerk,