Page 39 of Morning's Light

Aisanna sighed. There would be no point in trying to tell him otherwise. That opportunity was long past. Without the presence of someone who could manipulate mind and memory, she was stuck with a hysterical Elon and the huge task of explanation. She could no more erase his memories than she could fly.

Where was Herodotos when she needed him? Oh, right. Dead.

She’d be in a world of trouble if the Claddium found out about this. It would be her head. Literally. Their laws were in place for a reason. She shook said appendage to get the unwelcome images of herself on a chopping block out of her mind.

Instead, she took a different approach. Straightening her back, she remained on the front stoop, which added several feet to her height so she was able to look down at the man. “Elon, listen to me. You saw magic. Yes. Magic is real and I am not going to apologize for the gifts of my family. Magic-users have always lived among mainstream society. Apart and unknown. You won’t tell anyone what you saw.”

Shockingly, he shot her a smile. “What will you do? Kill me?”

“If it comes to that, yes.”

Her answer took him by surprise and stilled his movement. He regarded her with a question behind his blue eyes. More likely it was a thousand questions vying for supremacy and none of them making it past his lips.

Elon took his time speaking, formulating his statement and running it through his head before letting it loose. “Your family can use magic. Not just card tricks.”

“Yes.” She pursed her lips stubbornly. “We’re not the only ones. There are hundreds of thousands of normal people like me who happen to have incredible abilities. It’s genetic, passed down through our DNA.”

He’d never seen such a thing, having grown up all his life as a simple Midwestern boy believing in little beyond the white picket fence. In his childhood, there was love and laughter, chicken dinners and picnics by the river. There were vacations and boat rides and cartoons on Saturday morning.

Aside from fiction, no one had ever bothered to tell him there was anything else out there. It was outside of their reckoning. College had expanded his horizons enough to give him a keen head and an open mind. This, however…this pushed the boundaries.

“Your magic. Explain it to me. Like…what can you do? Turn me into a toad?”

“I’m an earth elemental. Plants, flowers, trees. I don’t harm anyone,” she assured him, standing still under his scrutiny. “I can use my gift to heal. In fact, that’s one of my sister’s specialties.”

He missed nothing. “Your flower shop and those special orders?”

“Okay, yes, I use my power for special orders. It’s stupid, but convenient.” She bit the inside of her lip. “There’s not much else I can say to you.”

Elon had spent his years wisely, developing an acute sense of logic and order that helped him see through the surface and into a person’s heart. He guessed their true intentions, empathized with them on a cell-deep level.

Aisanna would not have been able to lie to him without him cutting through it. He could not stop his hands from shaking, his mind from circling again and again on what he saw. The impossible.

“Show me,” he demanded. “Show me again what you can do.”

“Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Show me.” His gaze hardened. An afterthought: “Please.”

She did the only thing she could think of, ignoring the cold and her own unsettled emotions. With a deep breath, she drew on her magic, producing a large red poinsettia from the ground near Elon’s feet. Beautiful verdant green leaves unfurled and reached out, several feet larger than a normal plant.

He made no sound, watching the flower blossom and turn its lovely face toward him. White and green leaves covered the ground.

“It’s a small thing, what I do. Or maybe it’s not.” Aisanna moved down the steps and crouched before Elon, before the organic life of her own making. “I’m not sure. I’ve never done anything more than this, beyond some high-wattage healing for myself and my family. Even though our magic is passed down along gender lines—so technically I have my mother’s powers—it manifests for each person in slightly different ways. I can relay messages using flowers as meanings, or draw on their strength when I need it.”

He failed to respond and she continued to speak, to cover her anxiety. “Genetics, like I said. You get the picture. Most power stems from the four elements. Earth, air, fire, water.”

She waited for the reprimand. For his distaste and scorn, for negative words she’d lived her whole life in fear of hearing. She rose on shaky limbs and regarded him, making sure to keep direct eye contact despite the disparity in their height.

“Say something,” she demanded when he remained silent.

“Keep talking to me.” He used his hands to accentuate the statement. “I’m still feeling a little uneasy.” And when he looked away, her lungs swelled up like balloons and the bottom dropped out of her stomach.

Aisanna continued her explanation of the situation by rote. Like a used-car salesman trying to demonstrate the staying power of his latest junker. “Magic manifests pure, and it’s up to the individual how they choose to use it. My family and I are Light. We don’t harm anyone with what we do.”

“Where did it come from, this magic? Has magic always been here? Some kind of secret you can unlock if you work hard enough?”

“There’s…ah…there’s another plane of existence on top of ours. I’m not sure of its name. We call it the world of ancient magicks. It’s full of raw, uncontrolled power. It’s where all of this comes from, separated by a veil of energy. Kind of like a wall.” She pointed to the poinsettia and thought it best not to tell Elon about the big problem with the whole picture. The veil wouldn’t hold for much longer, and when it went? Chaos. “Our heredities let us access the energy crossing through the wall.”

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