Order of the Omni: A Supernatural Romantic Suspense Novel (The Immortalies Book 1) Penny Knight (100 best novels of all time TXT) 📖

No, he won’t. I turn to Topher. “We need to get out of here.”

Saying I wasn’t prepared is an understatement. Walking out into the foyer of the hotel, it hit me hard. After the encounter in the room, I just assumed I could only hear Topher’s thoughts. I was wrong. Dead wrong.

I clench Topher’s arm, trying to steady myself. The voices are everywhere. They won’t stop. It’s uncontrollable. They’re so loud, merging together unable to make out who is thinking what.

My stomach is queasy, and I struggle to see clearly.

“Are you ok?” Topher asks.

“It’s too much.” Tears start to fall.

He looks down, his expression doesn’t surprise me. I’m certain I have paled like I saw a ghost and he rarely sees me cry.

“You can do it. Let’s get out of here,” he says quickening his pace.

I don’t think that I can, the voices are all getting tangled into a deafening pitch. I cringe and close my eyes, my legs will not hold up. What the hell is with me fainting all the time lately? I hate this place.

His grip tightens. It might be painful normally, but I can’t feel anything. I’m just glad he is keeping me upright.

Finally, we burst through the doors outside.

“Almost there,” Topher encourages me. His van is in sight. We quicken our pace and once we reach the door, he rips it open, and all but throws me in the front seat. I slump and huddle in the fetal position. Outside there are more voices and screams, it’s overwhelming.

He starts the car. She looks bad. Maybe I should take her to the hospital. She doesn’t look well, Topher thinks, and I am surprised I could make it out from the noises swirling in my head.

“No, please don’t,” I cry.

“You just look so bad. I don’t know what to do.”

“Just get me home.”

If only I could block it all out. To drown out the noise. Something louder, something to overpower this heinous sound.

The radio.

I lean forward and turn it on, pumping the volume to full blast. Loud music fills the car. It mutes the screeching voices and grounds me back to reality. My head is pounding, but I can deal with that. Laying back I close my eyes, eventually sleep takes over.

The ship’s horn bellows through the open iron-barred windows. The sun still hasn’t risen, but I always love to watch the opening of the Birkenhead Bridge as it provides safe passage for the vessels travelling through the Port River. I climb out of bed and walk to the corner of my room to where the steel ladder is. This is the only access to the rooftop, it’s always been sacred to me. My own little piece of the world to retreat to. It’s my favourite place in the warehouse, especially the moment before the sun rises over the wharf.

The latch opens and the small door flips wide. The breeze hits my face, and I let it refresh me. The night’s temperature hadn’t dropped below 25 degrees, so this morning air is welcome.

My bare feet hits the concrete roof and the smell of the Fisherman’s Market reaches me. Most people might not like the smell of sea and fish early in the morning, or at all, but it has now become attached to my feelings of peace by being up here. I reach the double brick ledge and watch as the sun rises over the opening of the bridge, a deep fiery orange with streams of bright yellow greets me.

I slept from the moment I closed my eyes in the car and briefly remember Topher helping me inside. I was more like the walking dead and dropped straight onto my bed. How I made it up the steps is a skill in itself. My talents must have stopped there because I am still in my skirt and blouse.

Now, I’m finding it hard to believe everything that has happened. Maybe it was all a dream. Inside, I can feel it’s not. I have changed, I feel it in my bones. This is the first time I’ve been able to breathe and really try and dissect what has happened.

There was the girl in my dreams, the girl who had called me mother. She had done something to me. When she placed her hands on my head, the pain was excruciating. I know my dreams left me waking with a migraine normally, but I had never heard of experiencing physical pain in dreams. The girl, Anna, had done it on purpose, like she was passing something to me. It sounds crazy, but how else do I explain waking to hear Topher’s thoughts? Or maybe I am actually crazy. But no, the girl said it had to happen. It was meant to be. Whatever the hell that means. Argh! So frustrating.

The ship blows its horn as it goes under the bridge. Maybe it’s a warning they are passing through, or maybe a thank you to the operators for opening the bridge. Nevertheless, the sound soothes my nerves. How will I be able to venture out with my mind open to all the thoughts forcing their way through? Well, not everyone. I couldn’t hear Leo. Nor the doctor. Why not? So many questions I need answers to.

Leo. There is an anomaly. He affected me so much before my dream. Nothing will compare to that pain. God, I hope nothing does. After though, there wasn’t pain, but there was something else. He still affected me, but differently. That’s why I knew as soon as he left I needed to distance myself from him.

“Thought I would find you here,” Topher says, breaking my thoughts, which is probably a good thing since I wasn’t getting anywhere.

Can you still hear me? He thinks.

“Yes,” I nod. He reaches my side and leans beside me.

Ew, it smells. I hate this time. I hate fish. Why am I