Page 59 of In the Dark

“It was a bad dream, okay? And everyone has those,” he told her, his tone nonchalant. Hoping she would remember his words when she needed them. “Try to remember it’s not your fault.”

“How can it not be my fault?” she cried, staring up at him with impossibly large eyes. “I can’t control myself. I should be able to, shouldn’t I?”

Morgan pulled her into his arms, unbearably pleased when she cuddled close without a death threat. “Not necessarily. Most humans find it difficult to resist the siren’s song of dark deeds on a daily basis. You have it curled inside of you like a parasite, and if my opinion counts for anything, I think you are doing a bang-up job of fighting it. Of fighting her.” He remained utterly calm, in direct opposition to her speeding heart. “You haven’t hurt your family. You haven’t hurt me.”

Her inhalation was shaky. “Good to know.”

“You can do more than you think.”

Her arms banded around him. “There’s only so long one can fight until it’s time to give up the ghost. I am not strong enough to do this anymore.”

Morgan dotted her face with kisses. “It’s not time to give up. Your sisters are trying to find a way to reverse this. I’m trying to find a way.”

“I don’t think there is a way to reverse it. We would have found it by now.”

“There’s always a way. You said Darkness needed a willing soul to take her place, correct?”

“Yes. But she needed a member of our hereditary line.”

“I’m not sure I believe that,” Morgan insisted. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. As long as someone is there to fill the void and keep the balance, become the new veil after the eclipse and take up the mantle of responsibility, it doesn’t have to be a Cavaldi. I think she chose your family because it was easier to communicate with you. Easier to intimidate you. It’s just one theory, mind you. I want to do more digging but I’m afraid we don’t have time. Astix wants to make a move now. She’s right.”

Morgan removed his glasses and rubbed at his face. In the subconscious, he felt the exhaustion beating at him, a bad tenant who refused to vacate the premises. Nothing he could do about that until this blew over. It was his fault, really. He’d signed on without knowing the details. Now he was in it for the long haul.

Even in his own domain, the burden was there.

Carefully he sat down on the sand, bringing her with him. For a long moment they simply stared together at the sea, enjoying a peaceful rest. He had a feeling the next few days would require all their energy, so it was wise to snatch any restful moments whenever possible.

Karsia glanced over at him, then used her fingers to gently massage the skin around his temples. “You’re tired.”

She kissed his lips, loving the look of him there under the glow of an artificial sun. He looked good in his suit, classy and refined, yet his bare feet in the sand gave a hint he still had a bohemian streak. She flashed a secret smile, knowing he’d made the change for her. He was observant, able to assess the situation and adjust. Her scholar.

“It’s been a rough few days,” he admitted.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for bringing you into this. I would never have thought to call on you if I hadn’t had a dream about some guy attacking me in an alley,” she told him. “It put the idea into my head.”

“Wait, what?” Morgan jolted against her, curling his fingers around her wrists to still her hands.

“It was the strangest thing. Right before I came to see you, I was down in Miami and left my hotel room one night, just walking, and some guy came out of the shadows and grabbed me. He didn’t hurt me, but he wouldn’t let go.” She shuddered, stretching her bare feet out and feeling the water lap at the soles. “He told me he’d dreamed of me. Called me a child of the dark. And said ‘come find me’. Then I woke up back in my hotel room bed. I don’t know, I guess it was a dream, but it felt real. I’m not sure if I would have had the nerve to find you if he hadn’t shown up.”

Morgan stilled, unnerved by her words. Miami? He hadn’t been there in ages, since the Roaring Twenties in fact. Something about what she said, what she remembered, tugged at him like a hook through his memory. It was well within his power to send out subconscious messages without realizing it. His magic sprang from an eternal source and could be used as a conduit by those with a different, higher power.

Was it possible? Had someone used him to contact her without his knowledge? Or had fate found a way to send him into her dreams without his recollecting it?

Morgan rocked her and shook his head. “Whoever he was, he’s gone. And we’re here together for a reason.”

“There has to be a way to block this somehow.” Karsia stared out at the open expanse of sea. Thought about the endless possibilities hidden in those waves, in the comforting rise and fall of the tide. “It’s hard to imagine reality anymore. There are too many unsolvable problems there. I feel like I’ve been trapped in my own subconscious for decades. Centuries.”

An idea struck him. “Hey. You said Darkness needs a host, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why not find someone else? Anyone else. I’m sure there are loads of people willing to line up for the chance at limitless power.”

“You want to push someone else into this instead of me?” Karsia winced. “How cruel.”

“If that’s what it takes to save you.”

“I won’t let her hurt anyone else or rope them into a position where they don’t understand the consequences. What happened to Cecilia wasn’t fair. I refuse to be responsible for damning another person. Let’s focus on how to get this thing out of me. And if we can’t—” She broke off on an inhale. “Then I accept my fate.”

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