Page 159 of The Warlock's Trial

I turned to the others. “The twins are named Marcus and Dean.”

Verla smiled. “Those are lovely names.”

Lucas turned back to Talia. “What was Marcus doing in this vision?”

“I saw him in a battle,” Talia admitted. “He climbed onto the back of a wolven shifter. I’m pretty sure it was his mate.”

“Marcus is going to mate with a fae?” Lucas spat. “I didn’t know shifters could mate outside their species, not to mention the shifters are all males and they always mate with female sorceresses.”

“Not always,” I reminded him. “Beau told us he mated with another dragon shifter.”

“It’s rare, but fae can mate with other supernaturals,” Talia confirmed. “This shifter was different, though. It was a woman.”

Lucas shook his head. “That’s impossible. There’s never been such a thing. The power to shift only lies with male fae.”

“I don’t know how it happens, but that’s what I see,” Talia said.

“Then your visions are unreliable. They must be wrong, because that's never happened in history. A sorceress can't be a shifter,” Lucas replied. “Besides, our kid would never fall in love with a fae. A fae would sooner kill him than love him."

I had the thought that he was wrong, because Beau Blankard’s parents had fallen in love. His father was a warlock, and his mother was a fae sorceress. Plus, there were fae who had been kind to us when we went to Malovia. Maybe by the time the twins grew up, things would be different between our people.

I was hardly worried about that, though. Talia had said she’d seen Marcus in battle. “You’re saying our children are going to have to fight a war like us? That’s what we’re trying to prevent.”

“That’s what I saw, but it was different, too,” Talia said. “Marcus was more powerful than any warlock I’ve ever seen… He had the mark of all five Casts on his arm.”

Verla gasped, and Professor Warren exchanged a glance with her. The entire room went silent as we all absorbed this information.

“Do you know what that means?” Lucas asked them. They obviously knew something we didn’t.

Professor Warren wore a shocked expression. “I’ve never heard of anyone with magic from more than one Cast. Even if you could, the magic would overwhelm you. No one should be able to yield that kind of power, unless…”

He looked to Verla again, and she seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Unless he’s a demigod,” she finished for him.

I furrowed my brow. “How’s that possible? The twins aren’t children of gods.”

“Demigods is a classification of power, and they can be born of two talented supernatural parents,” Verla reminded me. “If everything’s just right and the twins are born during a significant astrological event, it’s entirely possible they could be born demigods.”

“I wasn’t seeing multiple futures,” Talia realized. “I saw the boys casting all Cast magic, because they’re born demigods.”

“Dean, too?” Lucas asked. “Was he in your vision?”

“I felt him there, but I didn’t see him,” Talia said. “It stands to reason they’d both be demigods, since the boys will share a soul.”

“If they’re that strong, then whatever battle you saw them in, they’re going to win it, right?” I demanded.

Talia hesitated. “I didn’t see the outcome of the battle. I’m not sure if I could even if I tried. There are certain things set in stone, and others that aren’t. It appears that it’s your sons’ destiny to use their demigod powers to fight in a supernatural war. Whether they win that war or not, I can’t say.”

“Is that what the Miriamic Conflict will become?” Lucas asked incredulously. “Another twenty years of fighting, until the coven breaks into full-on war?”

“No.” I refused to believe it. “We choose our own destiny. We can end the Miriamic Conflict before our children come of age. Things can still change. Even if the conflict continues, Marcus and Dean don’t have to fight unless they want to.”

“How do you know they haven’t already chosen to fight?” Talia asked. “You know from your past-life regression that you chose to come back now, to heal what’s happening in the coven. There’s no guarantee that we’ll win, but one thing’s for certain—you will continue to choose this path, until you’ve achieved what you came to do.”

“Does that mean we’re going to lose, and our sons came to clean up our mess?” I asked in a shaky tone.

Talia shook her head. “I’m not sure I saw them fighting this war. The Miriamic Conflict could be long over before the boys’ powers ever awaken.”

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