Page 50 of Jacinth

The light drained from the man’s eyes and seemed to slip into the green glow, amplifying the color until, with a flare, everything went dark. Through the dim, Alisdair’s shadow fished an object from the bowels of the cauldron. He strung it around his neck. The last thing I saw before I let go of the vision was the white of his teeth, curved into a triumphant smile.

CHAPTER 35

Jacinth

Skyler tookan hour to come around. I sat by his side, like a good girlfriend. I spent the entire time imagining Orion with another man, like a bad girlfriend.

Surely I couldn’t be the only one who thought the idea of him with another man was hot, right? I mean, theoretically. Or in past tense.

If he cheated on me now? Man or woman, he wouldn’t have any appendages left to sex anyone up with.

Harley disappeared soon after the drama died down, somewhat expectedly.

That spook seemed to have a sixth sense for chaos... possibly because she caused 90% of it. In the graveyard's quiet, Niko waited patiently beside me for Skyler to return to us. Orion paced, occasionally mixing up the brooding with muttered theories I wasn’t sure we were meant to be privy to. Seeing as though they were all at a growl only an animal could understand, we were limited in our ability to contribute.

As light faded from the sky, we wrapped a blanket around Skyler’s prone form and were discussing building a fire when, with a gasp, Sky sat up and almost broke my nose. I mean... he would have if I had a body. Luckily, I was still rockin’ the Casper look.

Orion was beside him at once, all but knocking Niko and me out of the way as he checked to make sure the guy was fully operational again.

I suspected Orion’s previous association was playing on his mind and making him take on unfounded guilt... but did I look like a shrink? Dude was going to have to work through that stuff alone.

“I have.... a lot to tell you guys,” Sky announced when he finally got himself free of Orion’s fretting hands.

Dinner was discussed, but unsurprisingly, no one could stomach anything. Even less so when Skyler laid out the details of his latest visions.

“So we must assume the amulet is providing the power for this venture,” Orion surmised at the end of the retelling.

Sky nodded, his features pale, icy eyes dark with exhaustion.

“The question is, what can we do about it? Orion, do you think we could find that book? I’m sorry I didn’t get a better look at it.”

Orion waved away Sky’s concern.

“If it was enchanted, you wouldn’t have been able to see it. You said you couldn’t see Alisdair’s face until we had put the pieces together? By the sound of it, one or all of the Fates are doing us some major favors here. But even then, they can only show so much.”

“You always talk about fate like it’s a real person,” I observed absently.

I had heard him refer to ‘them’ a few times, but I was a firm believer in fate as a concept, like karma, or calories in birthday cake.

“The Fates are most certainly real beings,” Niko announced.

“Well, have you seen them?”

“No.”

“Yes,” Orion and Skyler spoke, shocking both Niko and me.

Orion took the lead on the explanation. “The Fates are the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. They feature heavily in folklore, mythology, and religion; but I assure you, they are very much real. They weave the fabric of reality in which we all live. When you die, your thread is cut. This is why necromancy is so tricky. There are so many rules when it comes to each individual thread. I promise you, I have had my ass handed to me by those three a few too many times to doubt the enormity of their power. Let alone their existence.”

Sky nodded in agreement.

“I’ve spoken with the Crone a time or two. Mostly she tells me I’m an idiot for taking too long to decipher her messages, but she is very much there with me most of the time.”

“Huh. Learn something new every day,” I said with a shrug, and moved back to the previous topic.

“So how are we going to find out about this book?”

“Does anyone else get whiplash talking to our mate?” Orion asked.

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