Page 64 of All That Has Flown Beyond
Isla nodded.
“Well, you have a conductive Ousía. If you’re willing to work hard, you could train to be a witch.”
Isla looked at Kaiyo, her eyes wide. She seemed robbed of speech, so Kaiyo went on.
“You don’t have to decide now, of course, but if this is something you’d want to start within the year, I could start the training myself.”
“I…me? I, I can be a witch?”
“Yep.”
Isla looked overwhelmed. Her dark skin was flushed, her slim body almost disappearing into her clothes. Kaiyo let her process the news. It was a lot to take in.
“I’d…I’d like that,” Isla said eventually, her voice uncharacteristically small. Kaiyo smiled.
“We’ll make a schedule that fits with school when it starts. How does that sound?” Kaiyo suggested. The three of them nodded, but Isla paused.
“What if…what if I’m no good at it?” she asked quietly.
“Isla. Here’s a little secret about life. Successful people don’t have a secret sauce. They have perseverance. The ability to keep going even when life knocks you down. If you don’t stop, you’ll get there. And, I mean, you’ve already proven you’d make a great Kephale the other day at training. I have high hopes for you.”
Isla snorted. “I can’t be Kephale.”
“Why not? I know several humans who are Kephale to shifter packs,” Kaiyo said.
Isla’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yep. So, don’t sell yourself short, kid. I’ll expect hard work from you.”
Isla stared at him before grinning. Kaiyo smiled back.
It was the first real smile Kaiyo had seen on her face.
**********
“Okay. If we’re talking alliances, our best bet is to start with the packs closest to you. That’s the Saba, Lund, and Ott tribes, right?” Kaiyo looked at Ahmik from where he was sitting beside him on the couch, a map of the Garrow land on the coffee table in front of them.
They had agreed to meet in the pack house; it would be the first time they were alone since the setting up of the wards. As professional as Kaiyo wanted to be, he knew it would be a struggle to simply ignore their history. The man beside him now had been the love of his life when he was a teenager. The person he had always seen himself ending up with. It was difficult to reconcile that with the chasm that had widened during their decade apart. The wounds dealt by their rupture had cicatrized into ugly forms that still ached to this day.
“Yeah, those are the three,” Ahmik agreed.
“Okay. When I was…last here, you had a pretty good relationship with the Saba pack. Are you still close?” Kaiyo asked. It was hard to forget the fact that Mehdi Saba had been the one to perform the severing ritual. That had been a considerable favour to ask.
“Well. Mehdi’s the one who sets up the wards, but…” Ahmik clenched his jaw. Kaiyo tried to remember if Ahmik had been this reticent to accept failure when they were younger. Perhaps, to some extent, but the habit had solidified with age.
“But, not really?”
“Guess not. We don’t have them over for brunch if that’s what you’re asking.”
“No, that’s not what I’m asking. Do you share information regularly? Do you have the certainty that they will help out if you need it? Would you be willing to offer aid yourself?” Kaiyo asked, ignoring Ahmik’s irritation. These difficult discussions were needed if change was to be implemented.
“No. I don’t really…I haven’t kept up with them.” The confession seemed to pain Ahmik, but at least he was admitting it.
“What about the Lund and Ott packs?”
“No. Even less.”
“All right. Well, where have the threats that have attacked in the last, say, three years come from? Through the border with what pack?”
