Page 41 of In the Dark

“I know this isn’t real. You’re doing it so I don’t feel like such a failure.” Karsia let out a breath and the lotus dissolved in a shimmer of light. “I used to think my power was strong enough. Humble, maternal. I can summon from thin air or enhance what nature has already made. I can draw on the inherent strengths of the trees or use blossoms to send messages. I can heal using the power of plants, any kind of injury unless the soul has left the body. My sister is the same way.”

Morgan missed nothing. “Sister? That sounds singular to me.”

Karsia chuckled, grateful for the opportunity to focus on something other than her grief. “It is, most certainly, singular. Aisanna and I share this same magical gift. But during her Awakening at fifteen, Astix demonstrated our father’s magic. It’s unheard of and unprecedented.”

“Interesting and unique is what I think you mean,” he supplied.

“Absolutely! But this is the world I come from. There are codes of conduct passed down through generations, ways to comport oneself and strict tenets dictating how we live.” She waved her hand in the air.

Morgan chuckled. “That is the understatement of the century. One day I’ll tell you about the hierarchies where I come from and then we can see who has it worse.”

“I can’t imagine anything worse than living with the Claddium looming over your shoulder your whole life. A gathering of witches is one of the pettiest groups of people you will ever meet.”

“And here I thought witches were mostly extinct, after that whole mess with the Spanish Inquisition.”

“Our numbers were on the downhill slope but we rebounded,” she said. “The Claddium was birthed out of those hard times, you know? A way to keep us safe from any and all who wish to do us harm.”

“You are quite knowledgeable about your history.”

She gave a small shrug. “My family comes from one of the longest surviving lines in the magical communities. Some say the Cavaldis sprang into existence with time itself. We are practitioners of the light. Never before has any of our ilk chosen the other option. Until we discovered that one of our ancestors touched the Telos Amyet and essentially became the keeper of chaos in the world. The lunar eclipse on the vernal equinox is a time of great power. The veil keeping our realities separated is fraying, and rogue magic is seeping through at a rapid rate. Without two willing souls to keep the balance and restore the veil, our reality will be lost.” She paused, swallowed. “When you see me, out there, you’re looking at one of them.”

Keepers of the balance. It shook him. He shifted until she faced him, searching her face for any hint of a tall tale. He was rarely at a loss for words. The best he could manage was, “Not possible.”

“I assure you, it is. And it’s true. She told us.”

“Who told you?”

“Darkness, before she became it. Her name was Cecilia Cavaldi and she, along with her husband Vane, found the stone. It was a way for them to save their people. Only they didn’t understand the sacrifice required.”

“It’s just a tall tale. A legend.” Morgan tilted his head so the silky soft strands of her hair played against his cheek.

“It’s real. You found the tablet.”

“People often inscribed their stories on stone. It doesn’t make the tale true.”

She could see how he would have a hard time believing her. Repeating it now, she hardly understood it herself. “Once the Harbinger restores balance at the eclipse, I’ll take my place between existences. It seems I didn’t understand the choice I made, either.”

The scholarly part of him kicked into overdrive. “Tell me everything you know. Start from the beginning and don’t leave a single thing out.”

“What? Are you going to get out your pen and notebook and start making notes for your next research paper?”

Morgan laughed out loud. “Quite possibly.”

“You do realize I’ve been trying to tell you this since we first met, right?”

She turned to look at him, appreciating the lines of his face. It would have been wonderful to get to know him. Maybe a decent meal and a night of dancing or a nice stroll along the lakeshore. None of those things were possible.

“Tell me again.”

She did, every detail she could recall, from the moment her mother called Astix home, to researching the Cyrillic script, to the instant the bolt intended for Aisanna hit her in the chest instead.

“She said she needed a replacement. Aisanna was going to give herself up, because she felt there were no options left,” Karsia stated. “I couldn’t let her sacrifice herself.”

Curiosity needled Morgan and he was irritated with himself for not asking her about this sooner. She would probably not have told him if he had. “What happened then?”

“Then the blast blew a hole in my chest and Astix fashioned gemstones in a protective barrier to keep me alive and the worst of the evil at bay. Which is why you can have a conversation with me out there and not get murdered.”

“I sure do like waking up in the morning without being murdered. It gets my day off on the right foot,” Morgan joked.

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