Page 46 of In the Dark

“The Harbinger witch. I’ve heard.”

Astix nodded. “I don’t know why I feel comfortable telling you this. I don’t even know you. My mother’s grandfather was an oracle. A seer. His prophecy had to do with the lunar eclipse and the coming of the Harbinger witch.” She played with her fingers. “My mother seemed to think it was me.”

Morgan opened his mouth to answer when a scream cut through the room. Bloodcurdling. Terrified.

Morgan and Astix were on their feet instantly. Karsia sat bolt upright on the couch, eyes as wide as two moons and mouth open wide.

**

She watched them watching her. Felt the heat of their gaze and the weight of their intentions. They wanted to keep her there for observation, like a mental patient or a prisoner waiting for sentencing.

“What…the hell…did you do to me?” she demanded. Her finger pointed at Morgan’s face. “You.”

He held his hands in front and tried to ignore her scowl. “I did what anyone else in my position would do. You were out of control and needed to be stopped.”

“I don’t need shit from you. You think you can do whatever you want and touch me when you please?” Morgan was, Karsia vowed, a dead man. She bared her teeth.

“Why not?” he countered. “You do.”

She thrust the blanket aside and stood. “Fuck this!” She sent him the vilest look she could muster, then turned to Astix. “You guys suck.”

“I had nothing to do with this, so don’t look at me,” Astix said.

“I’ll take the blame. You needed to be dealt with.” The instant Morgan said it, Astix sucked in a breath and Karsia went wild.

“Dealt with?”

He held his hands in front of him. “That was the wrong thing to say,” Morgan backtracked. “I meant, you wanted me to help you and I intervened on your behalf. You weren’t yourself.”

Her fist went toward his chest and missed by mere inches as he dodged the blow. “You had no right to interfere.”

“I wouldn’t call it interfering. I would call it assisting.”

Astix’s eyes volleyed back and forth between them, fearful for one or both to explode. Happy when neither did. “Ooh, boy.”

“Whatever you did to me before won’t work this time. I’m on to you.” Karsia shook her finger in his direction. “You won’t get the drop on me again. They will pay for what they did to her. All of them will.” She slowly rocked forward and scratched her arms. “All of them.”

Astix let out a singular bark of laughter. “This is insane.”

“You’re damn right it is. And I can fix it if you let me out of here right now.”

“Absolutely not. You aren’t thinking straight. I’d like to speak to my sister, please. The one I know is down below.” She shifted on the balls of her feet, starting toward the lounge.

“You’re already speaking to her,” Karsia snapped.

“I know exactly who I’m speaking to and it’s not the person I want.” Astix calmly sat back down and crossed her legs, putting on a façade for the sake of everyone in the room. “I will shove more gemstones into your chest if you refuse to listen to reason.”

“What is there to be reasonable about? Tell me!”

Astix narrowed her eyes. “I refuse to talk to you when you act like this. This person I don’t know. Because my sister wouldn’t have even thought about trying to burn down the building where my fiancé works.”

“I didn’t do a damn thing, thanks to this asshole.” Karsia jerked a finger over her shoulder. “Who needs to learn how to keep his mouth shut and his nose out of other people’s business. And you better back away from me right now, Astix, before you get hurt. I have no interest in teaching you a lesson but I will if you force me.”

“Both of you need to calm down so we can talk rationally,” Morgan interjected.

Karsia made a rude gesture. “Shove your rational talk where the sun don’t shine.”

Astix huffed. “You could have killed Leo, Karsia.”

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