Page 23 of The Worst Mate Ever

“Why are you looking at ancients?” She asked.

“Because your vampire there,” I pointed to the page. “Isn’t the only ancient being who has made an appearance lately. There was a witch in Montana around the same time. With her, she had her mate, an ancient shifter creature thought to be extinct. And here, just a year before your vampire and the witch in Montana, we had a witch by the name of Minerva. Both witches worked with dark magic in their veins. And Minerva’s goal had been to infect my coven with the dark magic, just as you say the vampire had done to his young witch.”

Madie stared between the book page and me, her eyes widening with every word I spoke. I sensed the shock and horror as the pieces came together in her mind, forming a half-finished puzzle. There were more questions than answers and I saw the same ones crossing her eyes as had crossed my mind.

“Something is coming, isn’t it?!” She didn’t ask, but rather made an undeniable comment. “You’ve seen something?”

I pulled over the other book I had opened with the prophecy written within it and pointed to the page. “Shadows,” I said before the air stilled in my throat. It was all The Fates would allow me to say, yet they allowed me to show Madie the page with the written prophecy.

She stared back at me for only a moment before reading the words aloud.

In shadows’ embrace, a potent force stirs,

An ancient warning, as destiny confers.

Dark magic’s allure, a beguiling song,

Whispers of power where shadows belong.

A witch entwined with the darkness’ caress,

Her heart lured by spells, a dangerous chess.

Yet within her veins, light’s essence aglow,

A contradiction, a destined shadow.

Beware the seekers, the disciples of the night,

Drawn to the one with both dark and light.

In the dance of elements, a fragile balance,

A quest to unveil the one of divine radiance.

Through veiled mystique, the prophecy unfolds,

A narrative ancient, as destiny molds.

Darkness in pursuit, the seeker’s plight,

To find the one who holds darkness but is of light.

The magic’s temptation, a perilous delight,

A test of virtue, a relentless fight.

In the tapestry of fate, threads intertwine,

As the seeker’s quest unfolds through time.

As she finished the last line, the crease between her brows deepened.

“Shadows,” she repeated. “In shadows’ embrace. Brady, where do shadows lie?”

Her blue eyes turned back to me, sparkling with understanding I had yet to reach. I tilted my head thoughtfully as I gave her question a moment to think.

“In spaces that the light can’t reach. You can’t have shadows with some sort of light around.” I answered.

---