Page 45 of In the Dark

“Too much to handle right now. Mister.” Astix shot the label back at him as she moved toward her little sister. She used gentle fingertips to rearrange the girl’s hair and examine her face for marks. Though she saw nothing, it did little to ease her worry. “What happened?”

“She thought she could take on the world by herself. Some place called the Claddium?”

Fear flashed across the other woman’s face. “She didn’t. She wouldn’t!” A second glance at Karsia, and Astix’s expression changed. “Yes, she would, especially now. Please tell me no one was hurt. We don’t need to make bigger enemies than we already have.”

“Don’t worry. Like I said, everything is fine.”

Astix sank to the floor and rested her back on the lounger. Her pale skin stood out against the dark leather. “What happened? If you have to make something up to protect my feelings, tell me nothing happened.”

The fire sprang to life and ate up the paper and twigs with an orange-red glow. Heat came later, almost an afterthought. “Nothing happened. Really. I stopped her before she did something foolish. Although I was nearly too late. She took down one building and was gunning for another. We almost had a mob situation on our hands, but I…ah, this is awkward. I put them to sleep.”

“Was there a man with light-colored hair and blue eyes? Shitty attitude? Please tell me he was there, and please tell me you put him to sleep like a rabid dog.”

“I do remember a particularly grotesque fellow matching your description. I left him in the middle of a dreamless nap. I can’t promise he won’t have a little frostbite on his toes.”

Astix sent him an appraising look. “Thank you for being there. For keeping Karsia from doing something stupid.”

Morgan nodded curtly. “Where are the others?”

“I’m not sure if she told you. We’re wanted women,” Astix explained, the words sounding like the beginning of a bad joke. She kicked off her boots, setting them to the side and stretching out her legs. “We’re public enemy number one for the Claddium. We took a risk by being here today.”

“You’re on the lam?”

“Until we find the Harbinger witch and restore the veil before the eclipse, we’re not safe. Aisanna attacked my soon to be father-in-law, along with the head of the Great Lakes fire elementals, destroying her own shop and the neighboring buildings in the process. Needless to say, Orestes was not too pleased. He’s holding my twin in custody and has been gunning for me since day one. I’ve been banished since my Awakening.”

Morgan understood then. “You’re the one with your father’s magic.” He saw the embarrassment she tried to hide, then caught a sudden flash of a face in his mind’s eye. The cold-eyed man who confronted them in the street. “Wait a minute. Did you say father-in-law? You want to willingly tie yourself to that thug? Takes a lot of guts.”

“Yeah, well, love makes idiots of us all. Turns us completely insane.” Astix quirked her lips.

“I’ve heard that the best people are.”

She continued to speak, playing with a loose thread hanging from her shirt. “Leo and I have a cabin. Our little blank spot warded to the point where no one can find us. We’ve been living there until we find a way to deal with this mess. Christ.” The underside of her arm boasted lines of ink rippling over her skin in patterns. “It’s ridiculous.”

“I don’t know you, but if you don’t mind me saying this, it appears you’re holding up very well. You’re a strong woman, like her.” Morgan gestured toward Karsia.

“I’m not holding up well at all,” Astix admitted. “I feel dead inside. None of this should have ever happened, and somehow I can’t shake the feeling it’s my fault.”

“Funny, Karsia said the same thing. How do you figure?”

“I’m going to assume she told a bit about me and my history. You should know, most days, I wish I hadn’t come back. If I’d stayed away then they might not have become a target. But then I wouldn’t have met Leo and found the love of my life. I’m selfish.”

“You are not selfish,” Morgan countered. “It’s the sadness talking. Your family needs you to be here.”

They were a family of self-sacrificing women, he concluded. Each one willing to fall on the sword for the other and take the lion’s share of blame for herself.

“Like you said, you don’t know me,” Astix said sadly. “I appreciate the sentiment and I wish I could believe you, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.” She rubbed her eyes again, the corners raw from a sleepless night. “Although I can see why Karsia likes you so much. She wouldn’t have brought you here if she didn’t.”

“I’m a good listener, if you need to talk.”

“I’m better at action.”

Morgan settled in an armchair and made himself comfortable. There was tension in her shoulders, he noted, watching her with a professor’s critical gaze. He saw bits and pieces of Karsia in her, their soft rounded lips and upturned eyes similar. Where the youngest was full of sunny optimism, Astix was a realist. A woman shaped by circumstances and made hard on the outside. Capable of doing what needed to be done without complaint.

He felt his expression soften when he remembered her dreams. The dreams he’d given her to make up for those same circumstances. She might have a hard shell, but a good and decent heart lay underneath. She deserved more than life had given her.

“Do you think you’ll need to resort to violence?” he asked.

“I’ll do what I have to, to protect my family. My first priority is finding the one person who can put an end to this mess.”

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