Page 54 of In the Dark

Karsia punched herself in the chest right above her heart. “It’s my right to hurt them when they come into my house and try to attack us. How is it any of your business to get in my way?” She let out a powerful exhalation and glanced around. “Bringing me out into the middle of nowhere so you can do me in? If you think you’re going to stop me by taking me away from civilization you are wrong.”

“Let’s not think about this right now, okay?” Morgan told her, moving closer. “How about we focus on getting out of the cold so we can find this stone? I presume that’s our end goal here?”

“You presume correctly.”

“No,” Karsia interjected. “I don’t want to find it, not yet. We need these powers of mine to take down the Claddium.”

“Whoa, hold on! Who said anything about taking down the Claddium? Are you out of your mind?” Astix asked, color staining her cheeks.

“I’m finally thinking straight. For the first time in a long time. You would be amazed at the kind of magic I wield!” Caught up in her own bloated vanity, Karsia allowed Morgan to lead her along as they followed Astix away from the road and through the trees.

“I really don’t think I want to know. That dark power doesn’t belong to you.” Astix trembled but kept her voice strong. “Soon you’re going to give it back.”

“I’ll give it back after I’ve had my say,” Karsia insisted, still arguing.

“You scare me when you talk like that,” Astix admitted. “It makes me think you don’t want to get that evil out of you.”

Karsia kept silent.

“You do, don’t you?”

Her answer was long in coming. “Yes.”

“Good. Then follow me and try not to kill me while my back is turned, okay?” Astix cracked a branch out of her way, the sound amplified in the silent night.

“I’ll try.”

The weight of those words hung on Astix as they traversed the minefield of snow-covered shrubs and bushes and thick underbrush. Astix made her way unerringly through the maze, having done it a hundred times in the past.

One step in front of the other, she thought. A few more feet and she would be home, in the picturesque cabin she and Leo fought so hard to find and hide. Great stone monoliths she’d plucked from the depths of the earth rose high in a circle around the property. Imbued with every ounce of power they had both been able to conjure, the stones helped distort the energies around the house until it was virtually invisible.

Astix had to be careful every time she retired to the cabin. She doubled back on her trail, turned in semi-circles, and followed the stars in the sky until she caught the wisp of smoke in the air.

“We’re almost there,” she called to the others.

“Thank God. If it were any further I would—”

Morgan cut Karsia off. “Please don’t finish your sentence. I’m not sure I want to know.”

“Are you scared of me, Professor? Now that you know what I am and what I can do, are you ready to turn your back on me?” Karsia’s hand reached out to grip Morgan’s, and he felt the punch of energy she radiated. Great waves of heat and terror rolled through him with enough strength to cause internal bleeding if he were a normal human.

Keeping his voice calm, Morgan patted her hand and pushed the fear aside. “I think that’s a conversation for another day, my dear.”

The pristine snow-covered meadow glowed with a light to rival the shadowy moon. In the spring and summer, wildflowers would perfume the air and bring with them the sweet possibilities of the coming year. There were no neighbors for miles, fields turning into forest and blockading them from the rest of the world. A dirt road wound through the trees and led up toward the cabin.

Nature. Privacy. Freedom.

They stopped to survey the two-story cabin made of log and stone. It was small, windows glowing orange from the fire within and tendrils of smoke trailing from the chimney.

Karsia commented first, hands on her hips. “Did it look like a piece of shit the last time I was here?”

They made it to the front door and Astix knocked three times, stomping her feet to keep the blood flowing. It took seconds for Elon to answer.

Blue eyes peered at them through a widening yellow sliver. “We wondered when you were going to show up.” He ushered them inside. “I’ve got stew on the stove and the fire roaring. Aisanna has been in bed crying all day. I didn’t know what else to do with myself except cook and look after her. I’m not great in a crisis. I admit it.”

All three stopped on the large mat in front of the door and shook the snow from their clothes.

“It’s fine. Thank you.” Astix moved out of her coat and flung it on a nearby hook before removing her boots. “She needs to get her head on straight and keep looking through the spell book,” she commented. “We can’t let ourselves be distracted by our sadness.”

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