Page 59 of Morning's Light

“Where the hell have you been?” Karsia demanded. “I’ve sent message after message but I couldn’t find your energy signature. We’ve all been going out of our minds!”

“What, have you been up waiting for me this whole time?” Aisanna shuffled down the marble foyer and contemplated her sister and the stairs for a moment. Her thighs ached. “It’s gotta be five in the morning. What are you doing up? Go to bed.”

Karsia was not deterred. She rose from the last step, hands on her hips. “Do you have any idea how many times we’ve tried calling you? Your phone just rings! And our magic couldn’t find you. You can’t just run off. Not now. Not when—”

“I’m sorry.” Aisanna didn’t have the energy to make it upstairs. Instead, she crossed through to the living room and sank down into a chair, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes.

She was weak and tired. Feeling like she’d been drugged and desperate to rest. To sleep and wake up when this was all over. It was embarrassing, she thought, watching Karsia pace around the room before stopping by the fireplace with her arms crossed over her chest.

Was it obvious what Aisanna had been doing? “I know I was gone for a long time,” she began. “You wouldn’t believe what’s been going on.”

“Everyone else assumed you left with Elon, but I know you, you fucker!” Karsia pointed her index finger at her sister’s face. “Something happened. You’ve been gone for over twenty-four hours.”

“Yeah, I love you too.” Aisanna draped her arm over her eyes and tried to relax. It was good to be home. “I’m not telling you about my extracurricular activities. Sorry. You’ll have to use your imagination.”

“Then just tell me why you left. It must have been something terrible.” Karsia crossed the room and flung herself down in Aisanna’s lap. “I wasn’t sure you would come home. I was worried.”

Aisanna ground her teeth and shifted. “We need to call Astix once the sun rises.” Then she sighed and let her arms come around her younger sister. “I’m happy to see you. We have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in.” An ache began low, a hollow pit in her stomach. “She’s getting stronger.”

Karsia refused to loosen her grip. “And so are we. Did she have something to do with your extracurricular activities?”

“No, and those are off the table. Please call Astix. Do it without any more questions and I’ll give you candy.” That bribe had always worked on her little sister in the past. Aisanna hoped it still did.

Two hours later, the three sisters sat in the living room, gathered around a small fire lit the old-fashioned way, while their parents went out for an early breakfast. Logs cheerfully blazed and crackled within the marble fireplace to fill the room with warmth and light, an antique grate protecting the room from stray sparks. It helped to dispel the gloom, slightly, of a weak morning sun peeking through the parted curtains.

Astix sat on an ottoman near the door. She kept her worn boots on and her coat on her lap. “No more stalling and no trying to blow smoke up my ass. You’re a target, Aisanna, and as much as you want to keep this to yourself—to handle it yourself—you know I’m not leaving here without you telling me everything. Everything.”

“I understand.” Aisanna took a deep breath and began. “I was taken the night before last. Right after Elon came in and found out about us.”

Karsia grinned and scooted closer until their legs touched. “Taken by a handsome man? We should all be so lucky.”

“Shut up, K. This is serious. She took me.”

“Excuse me?” Astix asked.

“Darkness took my body out for a joy ride like she was testing a damn car off the lot. I woke up half-naked in a dumpster.” The sensory memory still lingered and she once more felt the assault of hot decomposing trash. She heard the honking, the nasty whispers. The icy fingers of malevolence skittering across her chest toward her heart. Suddenly, her night with Elon felt years away.

“She came for me again this afternoon, and poor Elon found me on the street screaming. I was there, watching from inside, but powerless to stop her. I don’t remember the first night, but the second time,” Aisanna swallowed, “the second time I knew what was happening, realized what I was doing. And I…kind of liked it. Almost wanted to do whatever it was when she finally let me go.”

“She’s never come after us before. Not physically, anyway. She sent her minion to do her dirty work last time. If she’s this strong and we still have over a month until the eclipse…” Astix let her voice trail off, her mind racing.

“It means we’re on different playing fields and we need to catch up. I don’t know how she got to me the way she did. I remember fragments sometimes. I remember a man, but I don’t know who he was or why he was there,” Aisanna said. “Oh, and I’m not sure I told you about this.” She tugged her shirt down to show Astix the script that had returned to her skin once she walked through the front doors of the house.

Astix stared at the flowing lines. Swallowed. Forced her gaze back up to her sister’s face. “You have some explaining to do,” she demanded. “These…these aren’t there all the time?”

Aisanna shook her head. “Apparently not. I didn’t give it a thought while I was…um…never mind. But now they’re back. Is it always going to be like this? I thought we were done.” She scratched her skin. Grateful she’d had the opportunity to be comfortably naked around Elon. “Dammit.”

“Maybe they’re a message,” Karsia supplied.

“Whatever it is, it’s annoying and inconvenient. Anyway…” Aisanna dove into the retelling, explaining what she recalled and emphasizing the sizeable void in her memory. Staring around at their stunned faces, alike in shape and emotion, she worried for them. Feared what would happen if she didn’t fix this problem. If her head was on the chopping block, then she couldn’t count on anyone else to free her. It was time to man up.

Karsia wrapped her arms around her torso and hunched in on herself. “I know you said we’re on different playing fields.” She addressed Astix. “Which means we need to get to her level. And fast. How do we do it?”

“I just don’t know. She wants one of us,” Aisanna continued. “Me, this time. She took me out for a test drive and liked the way my engine purred.”

Astix rose, walking to their father’s liquor cabinet. She grabbed the nearest bottle and popped the top, taking a swig. “Where’s the amulet I gave you? Maybe if you’d been wearing it, then she wouldn’t have been able to get a hold on you.”

Aisanna turned away, a flush beginning at her collar and rising to her neck. “I did have it with me. But it was in my pocket.” She’d managed to get it out before Israel disposed of her clothing, and hadn’t thought about it since. Stupid.

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