Mists of Velvet

divination. One simply gazes at or into an object to still the conscious mind in order to contact the psychic mind.”
    She couldn’t tear her gaze away. What would it be like to watch him in the mirror as he touched her? To see him making love with her?
    “What are you saying, Keir?” she forced herself to ask, although she was barely listening to him. All she could hear was the sound of their passion. Would he moan? Did he whisper during lovemaking, or would he talk to her, arousing her with dark words and heated innuendos?
    She would want him to talk, she realized. To tell her all the things she needed to hear; all the things she’d heard him say to her in her dreams.
    “By calming your mind,” he whispered into her ear, “you might be able to see the future, or to have visions of past or present events.”
    “Can’t you do it yourself?”
    She saw in the mirror’s reflection how Keir’s gaze strayed to the quartz nestled between her breasts. “What I want to do, I cannot do by myself. I have come to believe it may be possible to walk through dimensions, say to the past, and thus change that past. What if, by traveling back in time, we could undo our sins, and change our fate?”
    The look in his eyes was now haunted. There was a flicker in the reflection. She glanced up and saw that Keir’s eyes were no longer silver but an odd shade of white, the irises replaced with a brilliant light that drew her in.
    “Will you help me?” he asked, hypnotizing her with that brilliant gaze. “Act as my portal and help me find what I’m searching for. Perhaps through me you will learn to have control over your powers. And then together we can find a way to save you.”
    She felt her will was suddenly not her own as she stared into the mirror. “Keir,” she said nervously, her nails digging into his arms, “I don’t want to do this.”
    “What do you see?” he asked, ignoring her protests. “What do you feel?”
    “Frightened.”
    He squeezed her and lowered his head to her ear, keeping his gaze locked on hers in the mirror. “I’ve got you,” he murmured. “I won’t ever let you go.”
    But she knew at some point she would die, and any friendship they had would be gone. Who was she to deny him this one favor? He’d done a lot for her, and that was something she wasn’t going to ignore.
    “For me, Rowan? Please. Just try it once.”
    “Tell me what to do.”
    “Keep looking into the mirror. Allow your fear to go and know that I’ll keep you safe. Wherever you go, I’ll be there with you.”
    Looking into the mirror—at him—wasn’t the problem. It was letting her fears go. She wasn’t one to drop her guard, but she wanted to do this for Keir, and maybe, then, she would discover something about herself. Hopefully it wouldn’t be depressing.
    Holding Keir’s gaze, she absorbed the feel of his strong arms around her. Slowly she began to match her breathing to his and let her mind empty of her racing thoughts. The quartz nestled between her breasts began to heat and glow.
    Without conscious thought, Rowan held out her arms and placed her palms on the glass. Her body jolted, and Keir held her tighter, whispering into her ear, but she didn’t hear a thing. The mirror seemed to pull her in, and she let it. This was the journey she had agreed to take. And true to his word, Keir was right behind her, holding her, anchoring her to him.
    As if having an out-of-body experience, Rowan saw herself step into the mirror and through a vortex that was a kaleidoscope of bright colors.
    Once the spinning stopped, she found herself in the middle of a forest. The trees were leafless, and the sky above was the deep steel gray of winter. Before her, a man lay prone. His face was pressed into a thin blanket of snow that covered the ground. His bare hands were outstretched, as if he had fallen flat on his face. He was wearing jeans, black boots, and a long black wool coat. He wasn’t moving.
    She looked back, toward the portal through which she had entered this world, and saw herself with Keir. His arms were still around her, and he was peering intently into the mirror. She saw her own body, held securely in his arms. It was then she understood what had happened to her—astral projection. She had no idea she was capable of such a feat.
    She turned back to the man on the ground and gently toed his hand with the tip of her shoe, searching for any signs of life—nothing.
    She took a step back and nearly