Page 15 of Twilight Echoes
“I don’t mind at all. Please call me Albert,” her father said, pointing to a seat in front of the desk. “Avery, please go get us some coffee and your mother’s muffins.”
“Dad, I?—”
“I need a moment alone with your friend.”
Darrell glanced over his shoulder as he took a seat. Avery crinkled her nose, obviously not thrilled about being dismissed. But she nodded and disappeared into the other room, leaving him alone with her father.
“Why have you lied to my daughter?” her father asked. “And your fated mate.”
Darrell snapped his head, catching her father’s gaze dead-on. “Excuse me?”
Prince Albert stared at him with an arched brow and a deep scowl. “I might not be a wolf, but one of my daughters is married to one. Not to mention my role as liaison between the covens and the Twilight Crossing Council.” He held up his hand when Darrell opened his mouth. “I understand that acceptance is necessary in a normal imprinting mating situation. But why are you telling Avery that she can hold this off? Or choose, because that’s not how this works, son. And you know it. The only reason it took so long with Amanda and Jackson was because of the blocking spell. There is no such thing with you.”
“No offense, sir, but we don’t understand what spell or what kind of magic was used. We don’t even know who the so-called carrier of this magic is that is slowly killing off every male in my pack.” Darrell sat up taller. Alpha or not, her father deserved respect, and he’d give it in spades. “The only thing we know for sure is that I have almost no aura left. My body is weakening. Everything inside me hurts. Though, to be totally transparent, it’s eased since I’ve been coated in that fairy dust. I was going on a hunch that my ability to mate would be lessened as well, and I might be right about that.”
“Maybe so, but I have four daughters. I love each one with every fiber of my being. It’s my job to protect them from harm. Defend them from those who hate. And support them no matter what,” her father said, clasping his hands and resting them on the desk. “I didn’t ask to be born a royal or to be leader of my coven. But I am. My daughters didn’t ask to be the four fairy witches who will change the world. But they are.” He tapped his finger on the table. “Here’s the real shitty part about this. If you and Avery don’t mate and fulfill the Legend of the Fated Moons? What is to become of Amanda’s children? Or of my future grandchild? Or—bigger picture—whatever the universe has planned for us.” He arched a brow. “I get you’re trying to protect her heart from breaking if, God forbid, we can’t stop this. But you’d be causing a bigger ripple effect, and we have no idea what the outcome would be. For all we know, it could destroy us.”
Darrell slumped in his chair. He knew Albert spoke the truth. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What does my aura tell you?”
“Not much,” Albert said. “An aura has many layers. Some we can see, and some only a high priest such as myself or Trask could peel back more layers and see beyond. But what is exposed is a culmination of your emotions and your past mixed with the present. With some, there are traces of the future. Take my Avery. Because she’s a healer, she also can feel other’s emotions. She’s not a true empath like her sister Arianna, but her aura gets tangled up in others, for lack of a different way to explain it.”
“I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t follow.”
“It’s simple. Avery’s aura is generally unicorns and rainbows. She’s always been this bright and bubbly child. Full of life, pure energy, and hope. She’s always been the kind of kid who sees everything as an opportunity. She can make lemonade out oflemons. But she’s also hard on herself. Insanely driven. And that comes out in sharp contrast to the rest of her layers. When you mix that with her ability to heal, which means she picks up the emotional and physical pain of others, it sometimes makes her aura look like a hot mess. Amanda used to hate it when I made her read Avery’s aura. It’s the most difficult kind to read. One has to be able to pick out the particles that don’t belong there. When she raced out of here a few moments ago, she had thin grayness surrounding hers. I believe she got that from you.”
Darrell wished he could see what her aura looked like, but he did feel what her father described. It was as if he’d been wrapped in a warm, fuzzy blanket. It both humbled him and angered him. It would be pure torture to destroy that kind of sensation if he were to succumb to this curse. “I don’t like that she could possibly be feeling anything that is happening inside of me.” He rubbed his knee. “We don’t know when this spell was cast on my pack. Do you think because I imprinted on her nineteen years ago, the problems she’s having with her knee and ankle now could be because of me? That she’s somehow channeling my pain?”
“Anything is possible.” Albert opened a drawer and pulled out a beat-up old book. “This is the royal family’s Book of Shadows. It contains a lot of black magic and spells, but nothing like what the doctor describes regarding what is happening to your pack. Not to mention, I’ve honestly never seen an aura like yours before.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. My knowledge of witchcraft is limited.” Darrell had known many witches over the years, but he’d never grown close to any of them, nor did he comprehend their craft.
“Every coven has a legacy of black magic from centuries ago. We’ve tried to document all the spells and curses from each one that has been banned. However, a few covens have lockedtheir black magic, thinking it will prevent witches from using it, only it has devastating effects. Not to mention, locking it doesn’t actually stop anyone from doing it. Only makes that witch suffer.”
“What kind of effects?” Darrell shifted to the edge of his seat.
“Let’s say a witch casts a bad luck spell that has been locked, they will suffer tenfold the strength of the spell.”
“So, whoever did this to my pack, the same thing is happening to them?”
“That’s very possible, depending on how the Book of Shadows was locked and how the spell was cast,” Prince Albert said as he let out a long puff of air. “I need to find out more about the spell, and the only way I can do that is by tapping into the inner aura both past and present of the source.”
“But we don’t know the source. What if it was my father?” Darrell didn’t need to be a witch to understand the implications of what that might mean to his future.
“With your permission, I’d like to start with you.”
“By all means. There are only a few alphas left in my pack and they will be willing to do anything. We’re only forty-five minutes from here, so I can gather them quickly.”
Prince Albert held up his hand. “There is a lot I can find by looking through your old inner aura rings and if you’re not the source, I could potentially find it.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s do this old inner aura ring thing.”
The sound of ceramic shattering on the floor echoed in the room.
“No, Dad. You can’t do that,” Avery said, standing in a pile of broken mugs and a coffee pot spilling its hot liquid onto the floor.
