Page 13 of A Touch of Darkness

Witches.

Supernaturals.

This Isabel woman is absolutely out of her mind. I’m sure of it. And now? Now I’m just pissed off that this woo-woo bitch is using my sister’s disappearance to try to gain something. What? I have no idea, but she’s talking about witches and vampires.

Freaking vampires.

“Vampires, Isabel? Witches?” I ask, standing and straightening my spine. “What are you on about?” I shake my head, exasperated and utterly exhausted from this conversation, from these past twenty-four hours of nonstop terror. “Look, you’ve walked into my room uninvited. I heard you out like you asked. And now, I am asking you to leave. I have no idea what your agenda is, but using my sister’s disappearance for your gain is so beyond fucked up.” I take a breath and the moment that surges by only serves to piss me off more. “Vampires and witches.” I scoff. “I’ll admit,” I tell her, stepping closer to where she stands just over the threshold, “you had me for a second. Knowing things about my sister. About our plans. Knowing things you definitely shouldn’t know. But the minute you starttrying toTwilightyour way into my life is the minute I’m asking you to see yourself out.”

Isabel slowly shakes her head, her eyes dark and brimming with something unspoken. “You are refusing to hear my words, Sylvie.Just Sylvie?You’re much more than that. You’re the key to unlocking the ability to help mankind. And I’m here to offer you the chance to learn how to use that power.”

“Sylvie,” Nicole starts. “I don’t trust this.” She looks at me, something dark inside of her gaze. Something I can’t name. “But she knows something, and we need to figure out what it is.”

I don’t understand the sudden change of heart.

Isabel tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, waiting on me. As much as I want to tell her to get lost, to force her out of my room, to focus on Lara and not this…whatever this is…there’s something deep within me that is telling me I need to listen. That right now is a time to listen, and later there will be a time for action. I don’t know where it’s coming from, but I know I need to honor it. To trust my gut.

Just like Mom always said.

“Why would you want me?” I ask, entertaining her insanity, my voice barely audible.

“Because,” Isabel says, stepping closer, “you’re the last of your bloodline. And the Solstice Society believes you can help us rewrite the rules of the supernatural world.”

Rebecca scoffs but Nicole quiets her.

I’m silent for a long moment, my heart wildly pounding in my chest. I glance over at Nicole and Rebecca—both of them are stiff, their expressions hard to read. But there’s something else there now. Something... familiar.

The room seems to tilt, and her words start to sink in. I can’t make sense of anything. Nothing feels right. Everything is jumbled and messy, and I can’t see straight—it’s like everything is suddenly skewed, off its axis.

“You want me to join you?” I ask quietly, my voice trembling as I meet Isabel’s gaze, trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together but feeling like I’m missing the corners. “To help you?”

Isabel nods once, slowly. “Yes. But it’s not just about helping us. It’s about understanding what’s at stake. You’re not just some ordinary human, Sylvie. You’re something more. You have the potential to destroy what we’ve built—or protect it. But you have to make a choice.”

This is all happening so fast. I feel like I’ve been plucked out of my normal life and dropped into a fucked-up Sci-Fi movie.

“What about my sister?” I ask her. “What about Lara? That’s literally all I care about right now. I don’t care about what you’ve built. In all honesty, I simply don’t give a damn. I don’t care about your delusions of vampires and witches. Supernaturals. You’re out of your mind. The only thing I need to know is if you can really find my sister. Nothing else matters.”

Part of me doesn’t even know why I’m entertaining this. She’s talking about creatures out ifGrimm’s Fairy Tales. She’s clearly incredibly unstable.

Isabel nods again, a soft smile stretching across her face. “Let’s start there then. Ease you into things. We can help you find her. I know she’s important to you.”

Important to me? Understatement of the century. She’s all I have.

My head pounds, the ferocity of the dull ache expanding into a hurricane inside my mind. Thunder cracks through my skull. The pull to accept her offer—to find Lara, to understand what’s happening—grows somehow stronger. But I also feel the weight of something else, something dark.

All-consuming.

I open my mouth, but the words won’t come. I don’t know what the right choice is. It feels like no matter what I do, it won’tbe right. But this woman in front of me is at least giving me a shred of hope about my sister.

I just don’t want to be disappointed.

“You just need to leave. I need time to process all of this—” I gesture vaguely. I need to talk to Nicole and Rebecca in private. I want to know what it is they’re keeping from me. Then, maybe I can make a better, more informed decision.

Isabel nods, her expression unreadable. “Take your time. But remember this, Sylvie: whatever choice you make, it will shape the future. For all of us.”

The next morning, I’m feeling exactly zero percent better as I walk into a small hole-in-the-wall shop. The town of Blackthorne is fairly small. There’s Blackthorne University, of course, but then there’s the woods that you can walk through to get to a small downtown district composed of cobblestone streets and quaint shops. The town as a whole only has 1600 residents, according to the sign we drove past on the way here the other day. It feels as though this place has been untouched by time. From the timeworn streets to the gothic architecture of the buildings…it’s like stepping into Blackthorne means going back in time.

I don’t even know how I got out of bed after tossing and turning all night. After I finally got Isabel out of my room, the girls and I determined we needed to reconvene this morning as opposed to carrying on last night. We were all exhausted. Unfortunately for me, though, I didn’t sleep—at all. Nightmaresof Lara being taken, of rogue vampires and witches casting spells over caldrons kept me on edge all night.

---