Page 102 of Gift from the Source
They’re both right. Very right.
We need plans in place for any and everything that could happen.
“Why do you have to go home for good? Why can’t you take the Gods Binding back then return?”Draken asks.
Looking at my dragon man, his features are twisted in confusion. Not at everything we just discussed, but he’s not too happy with his new connection coming to an end. He, I believe, gets answers far easier than I do from V and he doesn’t want to lose their friendship.
“Because there’re others in my realm who need me. I go when and where I am needed. I’ve felt the pull back home for some time now, but the strength of the connection has never been what it needs to be to tie the connection. Once you and Willow entered the nonmagical realm, our connections immediately told me you both needed me first.
“Our connections will stay for eternity, just not in the same way your bonds do. It’s not something physical you will feel. There is no severing. It is a fluid thing that can be passed down. Take Willow for example. She isn’t the only one of her line that I’ve connected with. I guided her grandmother for some time in the nonmagical realm.
“I also confirmed for her mother where the strongest energy to Elementra was when she left that cursed house. At this time, though, the threads that have been forming from my realm have been building up, and once they pull tight enough, that will be my call home. Then it will be time.”
“Wait, what? My grandmother. What do you…”I trail off, thinking back to the moment at my willow tree.“You said you’ll always connect to the filiae when needed. That’s what you meant. My line. But why did you call us that?”
“That is not a lesson I will be teaching you,”he says cryptically, but I understand it all too well.
My last lesson with my mom.
Twelve
Corentin
In the short one week since Willow opened a portal in her mind, it feels like we’ve made incredible strides in the right directions.
Tillman’s been sending men on missions that are hitting more Mastery compounds than we’ve ever been able to infiltrate before. It’s a slow rolling process, but the number of prisoners they’ve been taking down or bringing back for interrogation is paying off.
We’re cutting their numbers daily.
Cas has been elbow deep in the history of not only our family but Malvolio Choice’s as well. He was even able to scrape up a location of a home that belonged to the Choice family. It was completely abandoned and held nothing of value within it, but nonetheless, he’s getting closer. Before long, he’ll know everything there is to know. Then he’s going to smear the name so thoroughly it’ll be as though the name is a curse.
Yet, their name will exist. It’ll be whispered. My brother will rewrite history the way it was supposed to be written. I see that truth in his eyes every time he reads a page, scoffs, then makes his own note.
Draken, surprisingly, has taken to instructing far better than I ever would’ve imagined. Vince has been top notch with guiding him in a wayhe can understand. He’s realizing he doesn’t have to dull himself down or make himself over the top to connect with those kids.
He’s built Layton’s confidence up so high, he’s barely recognizable. Well, and of course the little chameleon now having his giant of a brother—who is recognizable everywhere—has really helped.
I’ve been stretched thin with Headmaster duties as well as whatever else Mom needs me to do.
Although Dec is firmly on our side, after finding out about his dream walk into the caster of Crestwood Academy’s mind, keeping the other Headmasters informed and prepared has been a top priority of mine. I rotate daily meetings with them on the strength of their wards, security protocols, protections for their casters, and mental check-ins.
I can’t have any of them feeling overwhelmed where it could jeopardize the students’ safety. Just because Dec is here with us doesn’t mean the Summum-Master isn’t hunting his replacement or conjuring up a new way to steal young people. They would be the easiest to steal gifts from.
I’ve made it clear to the Headmasters I don’t care if I call and they just need to bitch about something. I’d rather them do that than bottle it up and be in the wrong frame of mind if shit were to hit their academy.
It’s not my favorite part of my job by any means, but one that must be done. I also won’t allow anyone else to take that responsibility simply because I don’t enjoy talking on the communicator all day.
Aside from that, I’ve been doing as my mom has asked of me. Which has been inserting myself into the lives of the five and the elite.
I fucking hate it, to put it mildly.
Other than the parents of the students, I’ve tried to keep my brothers and myself out of their sight. With the Spring Ball a week away, she thought it’d be best I start reintroducing us.
Some calls and meetings have been productive. Some not so much.
I have a hunch the elite parents who have claimed both Pyrathia under the Everglows and some of the Central families under the Gales are in the Mastery.
Obviously, none of them would ever just come out and say it, but word of not only Willow but Oakly as well has spread. Their loyalty was an easy thing to question after some of the conversations.
