CHAPTER 17

 

 

“We really have to stop meeting like this.” Aisanna kicked her legs back and forth and watched bright blue water ripple out from the movement. She drew her head up, feeling the heat of the sun on her cheeks. “Soon people will start to talk. We can’t have that.”

Vane chuckled, sliding next to her and rolling his dark blue jeans up to his knees. Tanned calves with dark hair to match his head cut through the water and he sighed at the sensation. “We do, daughter. We do.”

“My body isn’t in any danger, is it? Alone on the street? I’d hate to go back and find I’m half dead.”

Aisanna felt better than she had in years. Whatever dimension outside of time Vane drew her to felt good and peaceful. How much harder it would be to leave when the time came.

Lapis-colored water at the perfect temperature lapped at the sides of the lagoon-style pool. Wherever Vane went, summer followed in his wake. Birds chirped and called from nearby branches amidst a cacophony of crickets.

It was just the two of them, with their legs dangling above the deep end of a lovely infinity-edge pool, with the swollen sun high in the sky. A slight breeze rippled her hair and kept the temperature from being too hot.

Perfect, of course. She expected nothing less.

She knew logically this was a place outside of time. It felt strangely familiar to her, the stuff of a long-forgotten dream. Considering the horror waiting for her back in reality, it felt wonderful to be here—wherever they were. For a split second, Aisanna didn’t care if she died. As long as Darkness no longer controlled her.

Here, she was free of any outside influence. Her spirit once more belonged to her alone.

“She’s hurting me,” Aisanna told Vane. She glanced over and took him in, from the top of his dark head to the eyes meeting hers. Full of kindness and understanding. “She took over my body and did horrible things. I know what Zelda and Orestes said was true. She did convince that man in the club to kill those people. She used my body to do it.”

“Cecilia does not have the power to make people do things, only to exploit what is already there buried beneath the surface.” When he looked at her, there was sadness there. It seemed out of place on him. “True evil lies in people’s hearts and she can only work with what is already there. Although I am sorry for what is happening to you.”

“Cecilia.” Aisanna tested the name, her lips moving through the vowels. “She has a name.”

Vane chuckled. “Indeed she does.”

“The woman in the mirror?”

“A shade of who she used to be. A very, very long time ago, in another lifetime. I don’t have the words to explain how sorry I am.” He reached out to trail his index finger along the smooth, unmarked skin of her arm. There was no script there now. Not here. Not in this place.

“You’re sorry? Seriously?” Aisanna barked out a vicious laugh. “It’s not like I gladly opened the door and said ‘I’m through with control, I’d like to be a puppet now.’ Your apology is crap. The least you can do is tell me what it is she did to me and how to stop it.”

“I’m sorry, Aisanna. I only hope you do not give in to her. Keep up hope and be strong.”

She flung her arms into the air. “What do you expect me to do? I’m beaten down and we’re no closer to finding a way to stop her! Not to mention the love of my life hates me now.” She stopped. There was no pain in this place, she’d come to see. So why did her chest ache? “Tell me about the script,” she demanded instead.

Vane sighed. “It’s a location spell. I suppose there’s somewhere she wants you to go. Something she wants you to see.”

Aisanna felt her own inadequacy keenly then. The weeks of fighting, the months of not knowing, and she had no idea how to save her own skin. She’d spent too much time worrying about her love life. About Elon. Briefly, she thought of how he would love it here, in the fantasy world.

“I wish I could help you,” Vane said sincerely. “I really do. Unfortunately, my hands are tied. I’m very limited in what I can offer.”

“What do you mean, limited? If she can find a way inside,” Aisanna clutched her stomach, “then surely you have a way to help us. Outside of these dreams, these illusions. The veil is thinning. You’re stronger than you were before.”

“I cannot,” Vane insisted.

“Why?”

“Because of free will.” He stared at the trees with a faraway expression. “She and I…we are keepers of the balance. One for light and one for dark. It was a choice we made to save our people, and as such, we accepted the consequences. I cannot physically intervene to stop her without tipping the scale in one direction. It is the universal law. Without it, the two planes become unstable.” He placed one large hand on the tender skin of her knee. “I would give anything to intervene. Until someone new takes my place, patches the veil once more, I can’t physically help.”

This was new information for her. “Why can’t this be simple? She’s hurting us from the inside. How is that not tipping the balance in her favor?”

“It is your reaction to her. She would not be able to get inside you unless you let her,” Vane replied. He swished his feet through the water in a circle. “The fraying veil gives her influence. Not form.”

“There is no way I intentionally let her use my body as a playground.” After more than a quarter of a century of her body belonging exclusively to herself? No way in hell. Period.

“Perhaps not intentionally, but did you do anything to keep her away?” Vane asked. “Spells, safeguards? Your sister’s amulet? You are witches with a great well of history at your disposal, yet you did nothing. Used nothing.”

Aisanna opened her mouth to retort and shut it quickly. No, she hadn’t done any of those things. She’d run like a scared rabbit, hid behind her parents’ might, hid in Elon’s bed. But never once had she thought to use magic to protect herself.

How stupid she felt now. She was the definition of stupid.

“You are witches,” Vane repeated for emphasis. “It is what you do. What we do. Astix found a way to keep Darkness out. She was strong enough to withstand the pull of evil. Cecilia—the energy that used to be Cecilia—has no power over you unless you allow it. She needs a host.”

“She wants a host?”

“Not everyone is completely pure, or completely wicked.” Vane changed tactics and kicked at the pool surface. Small waves spread out and slapped gently against the sides of the pool. “If you had been placed in a position you didn’t want, and you didn’t understand the repercussions of accepting, would you tire of it? Would you want someone else to take your place? Yes. You would want a chance to recapture the life you lost. The family you lost.”

“I suppose so.” Aisanna could understand that, absolutely. “But what can I do? The eclipse is coming, the veil will disappear, and the only person with enough power to stop it is the Harbinger.”

Before her eyes, Vane began to disappear, fading away gradually. “That, my dear, is something you need to find out on your own.”

“At least tell me how to find her. Him. Whoever it is!”

Too late. He was gone. She sighed with frustration, closed her eyes, tipped back her head.

When she opened her eyes a moment later, she was once more on the street. Cars drove by in startling regularity with headlights cutting through the haze of night.

She hadn’t lost much time at all.

Her hysteria took a backseat for the moment while she focused on what she’d done and what she had to do.

Oh God, she’d attacked two Claddium elemental heads. She’d thrown unnatural, dark power at them.

Well, damn it anyway.

Aisanna scrambled to her feet and considered her options. What had Astix said, something about finding a safehouse? She needed to pack a bag and find her sister. Would Astix still want to see her after their heated words? Probably not, but too bad.

She was a witch, dammit, descended from centuries of Cavaldi blood. They were one of the most respected families in the magical community, with members scattered throughout the world.

And it was about time she started acting the part.