Page 75 of In the Dark

CHAPTER 18

Morgan followed the rest of them with little hesitation, and soon they were trooping off together in a ragged group along a deer trail. Deeper into the forest. Their feet made no noise through snow but occasionally a buried twig would snap underfoot and the sound was deafening in the silence of night.

No one spoke. For all their hasty preparations and objectives, there had been little actual discussion about strategy.

With every step he took, Morgan half expected some kind of apparition to dart out from between the trees. Nothing happened. It was practically anticlimactic.

With every step Karsia took, however, her anger grew and transformed from a spark to a rampant inferno. Her heart was palpitating. High-pressure rage with no definitive reason other than the taint on her soul. The stain inside recognized where they headed and fought vehemently against it. It didn’t want to be contained. It didn’t want to be bound to a stone. It kept bleeding out of her, seeping through her nerves and vessels and through her pores. She wanted everyone to suffer.

“A little bit further,” Astix huffed. She brought her knees up high to navigate the incline in the snow.

It took everything inside Karsia to keep her pace even. “Can’t you feel it? I can smell it.”

The scent of the Telos Amyet wound around her, through her, drawing her forward while pushing her away. Something big lurked on the horizon, something she wasn’t quite prepared to handle.

She closed her throat and swallowed the words she was dying to say. Sparing a glance behind, she noted how winded they were. Pathetic. Weaklings. Morgan—with whatever magic he possessed and refused to tell her about—couldn’t keep up with her.

Karsia surpassed them soon enough, her body taking over and moving her feet forward. Her heart did not beat faster than necessary; her lungs did not work overtime to supply her body with much-needed oxygen.

She simply walked, stopping finally at the opening to the cave. “This is it.”

“It does look familiar.” Astix squinted and moved closer to peer at the boulders in the dying light. “But it could be any one of these. Are you sure it’s—”

“I’m sure.”

Karsia felt a tug on her arm and Morgan moved past her. Drawn to the raw power contained within those walls of stone.

“I feel it inside of me,” she continued, watching him. “Calling to me.”

Astix, gifted with the ability to sense the gems and minerals of the earth around her, knew too well the call of the Telos Amyet. “I’ll warn you now, Morgan. Don’t get drawn in when you see the stone. It’s a curse.” She shivered. “A terrible curse. And it’s caused more than its fair share of trouble for our family.”

“Which is why we’re stopping this tonight,” Aisanna vowed grimly.

“You keep saying. I’ve yet to be convinced.” Karsia held back from entering. Her boots ground to a halt in the snow and she stood still. Growing figurative roots.

“It’s what I have to think to get through tonight without breaking down.” Aisanna heaved a sigh and put one foot in front of the other. “Break time is over, children. We’re going inside.”

Karsia extinguished her light. Let them fend for themselves in the dark. One of the perks of being The One Who Walks in Darkness was the ability to see when the sun dimmed and night fell. Her pupils dilated accordingly and she laughed, watching the others scramble over the rocky terrain up toward the entrance of the cavern system.

“I can’t—ow!—I can’t see a thing.” Morgan stubbed his toe on a partially hidden rock and hissed. “This is ridiculous.”

“Come on, you’re a big strong guy. You should be able to handle a little uphill climb in the dark, right?”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re mocking me?”

She hadn’t counted on Astix coming to his defense. “That’s very unkind of you.” With hardly a whispered word the crystals nearby began to glow. Quartz embedded around them lit up under her command and lighted their way forward without any further problems.

“Look who finally decided to grow a backbone and embrace her magic,” Karsia said nastily. “You’re cheating.”

If the jab hurt Astix in any way, she refused to let it show in her voice. “No, it’s being a decent human being. Something I hope you’ll remember before the night is done.”

Karsia spared a glance back at Morgan, who stared ahead with eyes wide and glassy. “Don’t tell me you’re excited,” she joked.

“More so than you can possibly imagine.” Morgan walked as if in a trance, his injured toe forgotten. His hands fisted in nervous anticipation for what was to come.

“You are such a nerd.”

“You better believe it, baby.”

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