Declan
Declan watched Calum train Lux, grateful for the man's help but also irritated that he was closer to Lux than Declan had been in months. They practiced for hours until at last they both sagged forward, hands on their knees and faces flushed. A tired smile spread across Lux's face.
"I think that's enough for today. I feel like I learned more this afternoon than I've learned in almost a year."
"It's all about thinking differently," Calum replied, straightening. Looking over his shoulder at Declan, he added, "I think I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later."
Lux watched him go, not turning around until she was little more than a dark outline against the dusky sky. Declan pulled back into the shadows, prepared for her to go inside without speaking to him, but she walked up the porch steps and halted in front of him. The scent of her citrus and vanilla shampoo wrapped around him, and it was all he could do not to breathe deeply.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked. "The whole truth?"
"I always planned on telling you everything."
She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the column. Dark circles clung to her eyes, and her normally shiny hair was flat in the rising moonlight. It reminded him so much of how she'd looked when she didn't have a channeling stone, and he cursed the Institute for their interference.
"Lux, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, squeezing her eyes together and blinking rapidly as if to remove an irritant."I haven't been sleeping well."
"Dreams?" he asked, concern thrumming through him. Prophetic Dreams were common in Lux's bloodline, and even more so because of her power.
"Oh, no," she said, pointing to the porch swing, "I'm asking the questions this time buddy."
He grinned at the slightly teasing quality to her tone. Things couldn't be that bad. They sat together, adjusting in the seat as it swayed. She didn't scoot to the other end, but she also didn't curl around him like she used to. He missed the press of her body against his. It felt like an amputation.
"I found out I have living family," he blurted when no amount of wracking his brain offered a good place to start.
"Declan," Lux breathed, her hand going to his, "that's amazing."
"My brother is still alive, but he has dementia. I met his grandson, my great-nephew. The family resemblance is uncanny." Lux squeezed his hand, urging him to go on. "There's so much about this life I forget you don't know. We've just sort of been dealing with things as they come."
She released him and pulled away, the air growing chilly where their bodies were separated. "All the more reason for you to have stayed at my side. I feel like I'm blind without, and that's just how I feel as a witch... as a woman..."
His heart twisted. "I wouldn't have left if I hadn't been forced. You remember reading Leora's journal? How she talked about not seeing me for years?"
Looking across the yard, she nodded. "I do."
"Witches learn magic from the elder Circle members. Generations of knowledge is passed from mother to daughter, aunt to niece, cousin to cousin. For sorcerers, it's different. Our purpose is to defend the Circle. Larger Circles might have two or three sorcerers, one of them being the High Sorcerer, but we don't have the same sense of community because an untrained sorcerer is of no help to the Circle. We're sent away to an Institute of Sorcery to learn our craft."
"A school for sorcery?" she asked, her lips twitching as if she was fighting back a laugh. "Do they sort you into houses?"
It took him a minute to get the reference- modern culture escaped him still- but finally he chuckled and shook his head. "Not quite, though there is a pecking order. Most sorcerers serve the same Circles as their fathers. When I moved to the Godelieve Estate, I'd just graduated; however, it would seem the Council of Sorcerers thought it would be best for me to go back to school considering it had been a hundred years since graduation."
"You were at school?" Declan didn't blame her for the disbelief clouding her eyes. "Do they not allow letters or phone calls?"
"They typically allow letters, though phones don't work in that dimension."
"Dimension," she squeaked.
"That's another story for another time," he said, aware of how easily he could get off topic. He wanted this said and over with. He wanted Lux back in his arms. "I was told that I wasn't allowed to contact you as punishment for breaking the laws against witches and sorcerers being together. There was talk of them trying to sever our soul bond."
Lux recoiled. "They can do that?"
"I don't know, but I know they were looking into it. I was supposed to keep my head down until graduation, and then I could return to you. But something strange happened during a sparring lesson with Calum. A memory spell was cast, and I blacked out."
"When did this happen?"
"The day before I came back to town."
She popped up from the swing and paced the porch, the boards protesting beneath her boots. Twirling the ends of her dark hair in her hands, she spun about to face him, determination hardening her jaw.
"That lines up with something that happened to all of us. Woke up one morning with magic heavy in the air and no memory of what happened."
Declan wasn't surprised. "Calum may be right then."
She dropped her hair and frowned. "What does Calum have to do with this?"
"Calum and Percy lived in Sweetwater a long time ago. Before I was born. Calum's- a woman Calum cared for was murdered. Her name was Adrienne, and before I blacked out, he said I spoke the name Alina."
Lux pushed on her temple. "I feel like that should be familiar, but I get nothing. Who is she?"
"Adrienne's twin sister. He suspected she was involved with Adrienne's death, but there was never any proof. He thinks it's too much of a coincidence that he was drawn to the Institute only to meet me, someone who is from Sweetwater, and what are the odds I would say that name."
"Was she a witch? Guardian? Fae?" Lux fired off the questions. Gone was the coldness in her eyes, and while she didn't look at him with warmth, she looked at him as if she was speaking to her High Sorcerer- a person she respected. It was better than nothing.
"None of those things. Human."
"Then what does she have to do with any of us now? She's long dead."
"I don't know, but I think we know where to look for answers."
"Are you purposely drawing this out to create suspense?" she joked, reaching for him and pulling him to his feet.
He went willingly, and he didn't stop the sigh of contentment that passed his lips when she wound her arms around his waist and put her head on his chest. He couldn't count how many times they'd stood just like this, absorbing one another's essence- both physically and magically, but for a while now, he'd feared they would be together this way again. Now, they were complete.
"I love you Declan," she whispered, looking up at him, tears clouding her eyes. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch, but after all the lies when I found out I was a witch... I should have trusted you wouldn't have left me without good reason."
"Hey," he said, pressing his forehead against hers. "I don't want to ever think of you sitting back and taking something like that. If I'd had anyway to let you know what had happened beyond making sure you knew I wasn't dead, I would have done it. You deserve more. I'm okay with you demanding it."
Lux grabbed the back of his neck and pressed her mouth against his. She tasted like winter and magic, and the stone around his neck flared with heat, its light pulsing in tune with hers. There was no frantic petting or moving against one another, only a deepening of the kiss as their bodies pressed further into one another, all her curves settling into the contours of his frame. He was home.
"I have dreamed of doing that a million times," she breathed, separating from him to steal a breath. "Among other things."
Her teasing tone changed the mood, and for one second, he considered drawing her up the stairs, into her room, and pressing her against her bed, manners and morals be damned. Instead, he untangled himself from her- not because he wasn't willing, but because they still had a conversation to finish.
"I need to tell you about Percy."
A wrinkled formed above her nose. "Not really into talking about another guy right now."
"Remember Travis telling us about his great- great-great-grandfather ditching the family?"
"Yes..."
"That was Percy." He stiffened, waiting for her to explode. She didn't disappoint.
Eyes flashing and cheeks blazing red, she yanked open the screen door, screaming, "Percy, you sonofabitch, get down here!"