Declan
Declan made Lux sit in the front seat for the rest of the drive. Kitty rolled her eyes but stretched out her legs across the leather seats and quickly fell asleep sleep. Lux didn't argue with him, which told him she was still rattled by whatever it was she'd Seen. Telling her to do anything was a good way for the opposite thing to happen, but she clicked her seat belt into place and stared at him for ten minutes before he finally broke the silence.
"What did you See?"
She flinched, and he wished he could take back the words as shadows darkened her eyes. Before she could answer, her phone flashed and beeped. Using the distraction, she clicked on the message, then sighed. "Hanish and Audra are heading to Maine."
Ahead of them, Calum and Percy turned right. He followed, frowning as the road narrowed and the asphalt gave way to gravel. Trees grew tall on either side of the road, and their bare limbs tangled together, creating a skeletal canopy overhead and blocking out most of the pale winter sunlight.
"I thought," he said, nearly biting his tongue as the car bounced over a pothole, "That he was going to Tennessee to bring her here."
"You know Audra. She's on a mission involving werewolves, and if she thinks it takes priority, she's going to follow through with that first. Seems Hanish decided to stick with her for now."
"You could compel her to return. You're the Priestess of this Circle, and she needs to learn to listen to you."
He'd always appreciated Lux's unwillingness to lead by forceâfar too many powerful witches fell prey to that leadership style, but Audra had worked alone for far too long. She needed to be reined in sooner rather than later.
"What can she do right now? Once we have more definitive answers about what's going on, I'm sure I'll call the entire Circle back, but I don't want to disrupt their lives."
"Luxâ"
"Enough," she snapped.
It was his turn to flinch. In all their time together, she'd never spoken to him like that. Not even when they argued. Sure, she'd spoken in anger and hurt before, but this...
"Lux, what did you See?"
In the backseat, leather creaked, and he looked in the rearview mirror to find Kitty's eyes cracked open. She didn't close them when she caught him watching her, but after holding his gaze for a long moment, she looked at Lux, her expression pained and expectant. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and drew in a deep breath through his nostrils. Having her with them had put them all on edge. When she showed up, his first inclination had been to put her to sleep until they figured out what to do, but after she explained her presence, he couldn't help but agree with Lux that they needed to keep her close.
"Tell him, Lux," Kitty pressed.
And so she did. At first, she spoke in starts and stops, her words jittery and disconnectedâstopping all together when she reached the part about seeing him brought before the Fae Queen. She covered her mouth, closed her eyes, and sucked in a sob before rushing through the rest.
Declan resisted the urge to touch his throat. "It hasn't happened yet. It doesn't have to happen, Lux."
"Doesn't it though?" She shouted. "Daphne Saw this years ago. She said they orchestrated my birth as part of a plan to open the Gateways."
"What you saw doesn't point to that."
"Think about it," Lux said, turning in her seat so she could look at him and Kitty. Her hands fluttered about her face as she talked. "I told you she believed what she said that night at the Estate. We all know Daphne was a powerful Seer, and she would have been taught very early on to shield herself from outside influence. Everything she Saw came true. Her powers were bound, and our Circle nearly ceased to exist."
Kitty leaned forward, putting a hand on each of the front seats. "What's to say that's not self-fulfilling prophecy? All she had to do was save Leora, and she would have stopped everything. The Circle wouldn't have bound their powers, and you wouldn't have been born because your Mom probably would've never met your dad."
Kitty's words were a near echo of his own thoughts, but he wasn't going to admit that to her. Whatever her motives nowâwhatever side she was on in this momentâit didn't change the fact she'd betrayed them all.
"You're right," Lux agreed. "But Daphne never said she saw how I was born. Only that to be born, those things had to happen to our Circle. And in my last Dream, Morgause thought something strange. Something about knowing she would never use magicâ"
"How is that strange?" Declan asked.
He stopped the car behind Calum's. They were parked outside of a cottage that looked more suited to the English countryside than the Mississippi woods, but it was certainly charming. All stone and covered in ivy and roses. Candlelight flickered in the window's, the tiny flames beckoning outsiders to come in out of the cold. Yet something warned him this place was not at all what it seemedâlike the witch's house made of gingerbread and candy. All tempting outside, but danger waited just on the other side of the door.
A wrinkle formed between Lux's brows as she studied the house, clearly feeling as ill at ease about the place as he was. Kitty opened her door and shivered as the January air rushed inside the heated car.
"We can talk about it later," Lux said, following Kitty, and he rushed to reach her side, the memory of her screams still too fresh for him to let her out of his sight.
"It's best if you do the talking," Calum said, jutting his chin toward Lux and Declan. "Elaine's temper is unpredictable."
Percy snorted. "No, it's not. I can always predict she's going to be in a temper."
Kitty grinned. "I like him."
"He's Travis' great-great-great-great-grandfather," Lux told her.
"The baby daddy?" Kitty gasped.
"That one."
The blonde's amusement faded, and she sniffed before turning her back to him. Calum and Declan both struggled to hold back a laugh, but Percy frowned, his muscles flexing as he crossed his burly arms over his chest.
"I didn't know, okay," he fumed.
"Isn't that funny how men always use that excuse."
Her voice was like honey spiced wineâwarm and comforting, with a bite at the end. They all jumped and spun to face the newcomer, various types of magic flaring to the ready, but the redhead who'd appeared in their midst looked bored.
"Calum, I believe I mentioned something about castration if I ever saw you again."
"That sounds fairly accurate. Hello Elaine."
She shrugged a shoulder, her gauzy dress slipping down to expose more of her lustrous black skin. It glimmered even in the fading daylight. Tossing her long hair over her shoulder, she pushed through the crowd and opened her door. With a grand sweeping gesture, she stepped aside to let them in, baring her teeth at Calum as if it pained her to let him so close before shutting the door behind her.
The house was small, but cozy. A hearth took up much of the back wall, and over the merry flames burning within hung a pot, its contents audibly bubbling and filling the air with the savory scent of stew. Heavy drapes of forest green hung over the windows, and an iron chandelier hung from the low ceiling. Elaine set the bucket she'd been carrying on a simple, hand-hewn table before crossing the room to sit on the surprisingly modern cream sofa in the middle of the living area.
"Please sit. I assume you're here to ask questions about Morgause."
"H-how did you know?" Lux asked, lowering herself into a chair. Declan took the space behind her and rubbed her shoulders, hoping if nothing else, his touch would ease some of her tension.
"Calum would not need to ask me anything about Morgan. He knows far too much about her, as most Guardians do. And since he has brought two witches and sorcerer to me, that leaves me with only one other option. Morgause."
"And how do you know so much about either of them?" Kitty demanded.
Elaine's eyes were nearly black, but they turned to ice as she glared at the witch. "They are my sisters." Silence filled the roomâlike an explosion without sound. It washed over them and stole their breath and words. Elaine gloated, tapping her red nails on her knees as she waited for them to recover.
At last, Declan muttered to Calum. "You could have told us that."
"No," Elaine interjected. "He couldn't. I dislike that news to spread, and I bound anyone who learns this truth to tell it to no one. As you will all be before you leave. Unless you'd like to keep me company for the pitiful rest of your days."
Lux touched her channeling stone through her sweater. It was an unconscious movement, and one Declan noticed she only did when she was nervous.
"Morgan promised Morgause magic, didn't she?" Lux asked.
Elaine's features softened. "Yes."
"But not in her lifetime."
"No, not in her lifetime."
"So she gave her a Faerie stone, and when Morgause died, her soul went into that stone." Lux was no longer asking, but she looked to Elaine to nod in confirmation. There was a slight hesitation. "The plan was to put Morgause's soul into a body when the time was right, but Morgan is too smart to just choose any magic user. She would want someone powerful enough to be useful to her."
"Did you come here to ask me questions or tell me this story?"
Calum glowered. "If you knew what Morgan was planning, why didn't you stop her? You're a Guardian."
Elaine hissed. "You're right. I'm a Guardian, but I was but a child when Morgause died. She barely tolerated me because of what I was. I saw the Faerie stone she wore, and when I asked her what it was for, she slapped me across the face and told me to never speak of it again. I only discovered its purpose after her death when my mother gave me Morgause's diary. She thought I would want to know my sister better, but I learned only that she was a vain, selfish creature whose brain was occupied with only thoughts of vengeance."
"That doesn't explain why you didn't warn the Guardians," Calum shouted.
"I did, though." Elaine was out of her chair. "Stupid boy. I warned them hundreds of years before you ever drew your first breath, but what could we do? No one could find the stone, and it was only conjecture about who Morgan's target was. For all we knew, it could have already happened. We only knew it had to be a witch because of the unique duality of their souls. That space disconnect would allow another foreign soul to be inserted, and when the witch came into her powers, fusing her two halves through the channeling stone, Morgause's soul would be incorporated. Until you called me today, I have not thought of it for centuries.
Declan thought he might throw up. From Lux's pallid complexion, she felt the same. Kitty was the only one brave enough to ask what they were all thinking.
"What happens after the fusion?"
Elaine held her hands over the fire, turning them over twice before answering. "The best way I can explain it is to think of it like an organ transplant. The witch will either reject it, or it will take over completely. But I would not be too worried. Whichever of you is the bearer, you look far older than seventeen. I'm sure by now, if it had worked, you would have had symptoms. Like Dreaming of Morgause's memories or having bouts where you act like her."
Declan caught Lux before she fell out of her chair. Kitty scrubbed tears off her face, a steely determination replacing the flash of agony he glimpsed before she looked away.
"And what if that's begun?" He demanded. "How do we separate them?"
Elaine looked at Lux with pity. "I'm afraid you don't. It's too late."