Page 38 of Gift from the Source
I’m not sure if that’s truly possible, but if it is, she’d be the one to accomplish it.
The blaring sound of my timekeeper finally going off forces me to squeeze my eyes shut. The noise swallows me whole. It blocks out the drumming in my ears and the racing thoughts.
Time to go.
My magic cocoons me in a loving embrace as my transport moves me through the fabric of Elementra one last time. It stays coiled around mybody like protective armor as I step out and face the gray monstrosity of a structure.
I’ve seen this concealed compound so many times in my visions, I know its layout inside and out like the back of my hand. I know about the illusion wall, each chamber on every floor, and I could tell you the number of steps it takes to get from the door to the tree line. It was easy enough to tell Dillon to plant the seeds that word from my sister was I would be checking out a potential rebel spot on a solo mission.
This exact spot. At this exact time.
Squaring my shoulders, I walk toward the single door that will lead into the compound.
My company is waiting for me.
Silence greets me when I walk into the empty entryway. My footsteps are the only sound that echoes in the small space and the noise fades as I stop, staring at the wall I know isn’t real. The air is so thick, it nearly creates a fog from the tension wafting in here through the other side.
The small army I was warned about is holding their breath, positions calculated to surround me, and their Master will be waiting among them.
They’ve prepared, but so have I.
The pull of the illusion against my skin when I push my way through the wall is invasive, wrong. It causes chill bumps to break out across my arms, but I keep my face neutral and my breathing steady.
I sense them, even the ones I can’t fully see.
He really did bring an army just for ol’ me.
Lining the halls is rebel after rebel. Mastery members. They’re waiting at the ready with their gifts and elements on the surface. In each room are even more. Ready and willing to step out if the front lines fall.
And some will.
I may be going down. But I won’t be going down without a fight.
My gaze traces over them minimally. I don’t bother taking in any features or remembering any faces. They aren’t who I’m here for. The man of the hour is making his way up the stairs at the end of the hall.
Making his grand entrance, I suppose.
I keepmy breathing steady and shove my hands in my pockets as the team blocking the stairwell parts. This isn’t the first time I’ve been in his company, but it is the first time in person. It’s different. Bad different.
His energy is much darker.
“Long time no see, Seer.”
“Titles rather than names today, I see,” I taunt condescendingly.
He hates the fact I’m the only individual, other than his piece of shit, good for nothing son, that knows who the man behind the mask is.
“Not long enough, I’m afraid, although I’ll admit, it’s nice to finally meet you in person.” I sigh as the tension becomes suffocating.
He hums, lacing his fingers together in front of him. “Tell me, is it your gift that makes you so blindly loyal to your creator that you can’t even see she allowed you to walk into a trap or is it something else?”
“There have been many times I’ve begged for blindness, ignorance really, but that prayer has never been answered. What I have seen are the possible threads of what’s to come. I don’t wager my gift on you, dear Summum-Master.”
He’s notorious for keeping his calm composure, so I make sure to make a show of it that I catch his minuscule flinch. It was the barest of a twitch on his shoulders, but I saw it.
“Then join me. Give up this tiresome dance and stand by my side. Together, we will mold this realm into what it should be. With me as its rightful ruler, you can be free of your selfless obligations. You can have a Nexus of your desire and choosing. Do as you please as men of our stature should.”
“You are forgetting that in exchange I will be yours to control, to enslave. You are also greatly forgetting the history of this realm.”
