Cian nodded automatically, too tired to complain. He poured milk and sugar into his tea, then strained the bag, leaving it in the saucer as he took a sip of the sweet liquid. It warmed his stomach and eased a bit of the strain in his shoulders, so he sipped again and reached for a cookie. The situation was urgent, yes, but he needed to just rest a moment, to recharge.
“Did mom have any updates?” He asked a minute later, washing down the cookie with more tea.
Faith shook her head and sighed. “No, she just relayed what you told them happened after Serena loosened the gas.” She shook her head and Cian saw real sadness in the seer’s eyes. “I told her to stop before she went too far. She’s playing with magics she doesn’t understand.”
“What kind of magic was it, anyway? I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Cian absently rubbed his chest where her fingers had gouged into him. There was no sign of the incisions anymore. They’d faded quickly after he’d come to. If he didn’t remember the excruciating pain in detail, he might believe it had all been just a bad dream.
But it wasn’t.
“The darkest known to our people,” Faith said, laying down her cup.
He closed his eyes against the intensity of her gaze and because he needed a moment to find balance again. He squeezed his lids shut against the tears that welled in his eyes. When he felt Faith stand and move away from him, Cian opened his eyes and blinked rapidly.
“When Serena came to me, asking for a dark spell, I refused her immediately.” Faith moved to her living room, to a tall shelf filled with books of all types.
She reached onto the shelf and pulled out several large tomes that looked as if they’d been written centuries ago, maybe more. “As the clan seer, it is my duty to hold and protect the entire history of our people, even the dark stuff.” She waved her hand over the back of the shelf, releasing a hidden panel and a small safe. She glanced over at Cian and smiled, “Don’t worry. I have ways of keeping the dark stuff safe.”
Cian watched intently as she closed her eyes and murmured an incantation in a language Cian had never heard before. A buzzing filled the room, making him shift uncomfortably as it grew. As it reached an ear-splitting level a glowing hole appeared inside the safe.
Faith pushed back the sleeve of the multicolored dress she wore, which made her look more the hippy and less an ancient seer and reached into the hole.
“It’s a portal,” Cian murmured incredulously, afraid to blink less he miss an instant of the magics at play here. “How…” he trailed off as Faith’s eyebrows pulled down and her mouth thinned out. Something was wrong.
Faith pulled her hand free and arched her wrists, moving her hands apart while the words she’d used to open the portal spilled from her lips, louder now. The hole spread, widening until it was big enough for her to step through. Without hesitation, Faith walked through the portal and into the darkness beyond.
Cian surged to his feet and wavered, overcome for an instant by dizziness. He blinked several times, clearing his sight, and moved to peer into the large hole. If Faith was in there, he couldn’t see her. Worry replaced his exhaustion as he waited for a sign of the seer.
She appeared moments later but the look on her face did nothing to ease his worry. Her eyes were dark with anger and confusion, and her hands were balled into tight fists. They were also empty.
Faith walked out of the portal and closed it with a wave of her hand, then began pacing the small room, clenching her jaw tightly enough that Cian could hear her teeth grinding. He hovered above his chair, legs quivering with dread, and didn’t know how much more bad news he could handle at the moment.
Finally, she whirled around to face him, and Cian’s heart pounded painfully in his chest. Her dark eyes were filled with endless grief. For him, for Ashlynn, he couldn’t tell, but the sight of them broke him. He collapsed in his seat and took a shuddering breath. “Just say it,” he said in a whisper.
“It’s gone.” Faith’s voice sounded flat, devoid of emotion, although her eyes spoke volumes. She inhaled sharply as if she’d forgotten to breathe for a long time and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, the grief had been replaced by steely determination. Cian watched her square her shoulders like a warrior and wished he had it in him to do the same. “The book is gone. I don’t know how she did it, but Serena took it.” She lifted her gaze to Cian’s. “Your soul is in terrible danger.”
***
Cian took a left at the lights, letting his lizard brain take over driving to free his mind to worry over the chaos Serena had created.
He was dying. Not his body, but the part that made him, him. Even before he’d visited Faith, he’d known the truth. After Ashlynn had fallen asleep the night before, he’d gone to his parents’ home and spent the entire night searching the archives with them and their most trusted advisors. They’d found references to the curse in multiple books, dark books that were kept hidden and locked away in the dust-covered depths of their archives, so they could do no harm. But the spell itself hadn’t been there and neither had a counter spell to heal him. No, that would have been too simple. Serena would have made sure they’d find no cure.
He’d left them behind, still searching, still praying to whatever ancient deities would listen, so he could go to Faith. She’d been his last hope but now even that was gone.
Cian wound his way through the streets he’d known all his life and wondered how much longer he’d remember his life the way it had been. What would losing his soul do to him? He blinked away tears and sudden dark spots that floated across his vision, as he used the back of his hand to wipe his eyes.
There was so much to decide, so much to do, he just couldn’t wrap his head around it. His soul was decaying, and soon he would be… what? Evil? Dead? Gone forever or just left empty? Cian blinked again and reached for a pair of sunglasses.
If he did turn to the dark side, what would that mean? His magic came from the earth and was pure. Would it decay like him? Would he use his power against others without remorse?
The thought of hurting his people, his parents...Ashlynn...made Cian’s stomach twist painfully. He gulped in a deep breath and willed himself to think clearly. Falling apart now wouldn’t help anyone.
Then there was the offer Troy had brought up the night before. The travelers were well aware of the unrest among the clans, which is why they were trying to regain something of their people’s past with the gatherings. With the weight of the world pressing down on the clans, maybe it really was time for a new one. And with the little girl’s abilities… well, it was a sign as far as Cian was concerned. If he could just find a way to do both; legitimize this new faction and unite the clans.
It wasn’t likely.
Like his mother said, though, uniting the clans would take a promise of strength and lasting dedication from him and Ashlynn. A wedding, no, a marriage. With Ashlynn by his side, they could bring peace to the people and give them hope of a new way of life.
But how could he do any of that when he wouldn’t be himself soon?
An incoming call from his mother’s phone lit up the console. Cian hesitated for a moment, feeling the weight of exhaustion, then clicked accept. “Hi, Mom. Please tell me you’ve found something.” But he didn’t hold his breath.
Her heavy sigh confirmed his intuition. “No baby, nothing yet but we aren’t stopping. I promise.”
“Your mother did find a rejuvenation spell that perked us right up, though,” Patrick said in a muffled voice. “Sorry, just eating something.” He cleared his throat. “We’re going right back down, Son. I promise.”
Cian smiled, picturing his parents working seamlessly around each other in the kitchen. They knew each other’s moves to perfection and never so much as bumped into one another, unless they wanted to. When she went low, he went high. It was like a dance, watching them, seeing how good they were together. God, Cian’s heart ached, how very much he wanted that with Ashlynn.
“I know, Dad,” Cian r
eassured his father, knowing how hard this was on both his parents. “I love you guys, you know that, right?”
Cian heard his dad choke up and blinked rapidly to hold back the emotion that welled. His dad had never been a staid guy, too manly to show emotion. He’d doled out hugs and kisses as needed, sometimes more than necessary, but he was strong and formidable, a real man, the perfect role model. Cian knew how hard this would hit his parents if they didn’t find a way to save his soul. To lose a child was unthinkable, but to lose a child’s soul to an unspeakable darkness and be forced to watch as he terrorized the people he’d once loved and pledged to protect?
Cian gritted his teeth and gripped the steering wheel tighter.
“We love you, too,” Patrick murmured through thick emotion, then cleared his throat. In the background, Cian could hear his mother quietly weeping and it broke his heart. It also made his furious.
Serena was destroying his world and had to be stopped. He’d grown up knowing her, seeing the deviousness in her actions but even then, he hadn’t known the lengths she’d sink to. He’d never seen the real darkness inside of her. Why hadn’t he seen it?
Maybe if he’d been more observant, more fastidious, he’d have recognized the devil in her, and he’d have worked to stop her. Cian shook his head, blinking away new floating black spots, and argued back. He had known there was something off. He’d hated the idea of marrying her, not because it would mean a lifetime of awkward encounters and a cold marriage bed, but because he’d been reticent about giving her access to the kind of power that came with that union. He’d been right. Maybe his instincts weren’t so wrong after all.
He’d also trusted Ashlynn immediately and fallen head over heels in love with her. That had been the best decision of his life, not that it had been a decision at all, he’d been swept up by her. Their love had been fated and was brightest beacon in his dark world right now. He’d cling to her light until the darkness overtook him.
Cian decided to follow his instincts once more.
“Dad,” he said, glancing down at his speedometer. He was driving too fast for these city roads, his frustration and fear pressing down on his foot as much as his heart. He slowed down, noting the white minivan ahead of him with stickers on the rear window that indicated it held three small children and maybe a dog. “Could I talk to mom for a minute? Please?” he added immediately. He’d been raised polite and it tended to stick.
“Sure, just give her a second.” Patrick whispered something to his wife before passing off the phone. Cian heard his mom blow her nose before picking up with a forcefully chipper “Hey baby.”
Cian’s heart twisted. As much as he loved Ashlynn, and she was now as much a part of him as his skin, his mom had been the first love of his life. She’d taught him compassion and fairness and had watched every Marvel and DC movie with him. She was his rock and she was in tears.
He needed her strength now to see him through.
“Mom,” Cian forced his voice to remain calm, “I need your help with something.”
“Anything.” She sounded eager to have a way to actually help. He understood how much she hated feeling useless.
Cian took a deep breath and took the plunge. “I know you don’t want me to be morbid but I’m next in line to lead our people and like it or not, I need to be responsible and make plans for the worst-case scenario.” He waited a beat for her to fight back.
She didn’t. Eadlyn spoke softly after a moment. “I’m so proud of you, you know that right?”
His throat tightened, making it almost impossible to swallow. “I know, Mom,” Cian murmured. He blinked a few times, still annoyed by the floaters swimming in the corner of his vision and explained his plan. “If I lose my soul and join Serena, the clans will be in very real danger. I need to do as much as I can now to keep them, you guys, and Ashlynn safe.”
“What do you want me to do?” she asked immediately.
“Talk to the elders. Figure out a way to protect her. But, if you can’t,” he took a steadying breath, “find a way to return her to the past so she’ll be safe.”
Eadlyn sighed. “Oh, my darling boy. I promise to do everything in my power to keep Ashlynn safe from Serena. Whatever it takes.”
“And me.” Cian frowned, hating the reality of his situation. “If I lose my soul, there’s no telling how I’ll react. If I become a threat to Ashlynn or anyone…” he trailed off, not wanting to ask his mother this but knowing it needed to be done. “Whatever it takes,” he repeated her promise back.
“Maybe there’s another way.” Eadlyn’s voice hitched and caught with passion, making Cian’s heart leap. “What if you married Ashlynn now, before….” she cut herself off, refusing to finish the question.
Cian’s mind whirled. He hadn’t wanted to marry Serena because of the power she’d receive from the ceremony of their union but what if she wasn’t the one to receive it? What if Ashlynn had all that magic bestowed upon her, instead? With that kind of power, she’d be protected as much as possible from the dark magics that would haunt her. Cian felt a small fraction of the stress he’d been wearing like a cloak for the last day lift from his shoulders. He opened his mouth to discuss the logistics of a hastily planned wedding and froze as the world went dark.
Cian slammed on the brakes as he remembered the minivan ahead of him and tried to steer to the side of the road, praying desperately to avoid any pedestrians. Flashes of light filtered through miniscule slits in the darkness that had descended over his eyes, blinding him, bringing terror and destruction.
The horrible sound of metal on metal filled his ears a split second before his body slammed against his seatbelt and the airbag deployed. He didn’t have time to use his magic to keep himself and others safe, he didn’t even have time to think, before he was sucked under into oblivion.
Chapter Five
The bed jostled, waking Ashlynn from a thin sleep. Just as she was about to roll over, a cold arm slid across her hip from behind. Chilled lips pressed against her naked shoulder. His touch, no matter the hour, always set her skin afire. Ashlynn rolled onto her back and smiled up at Cian as her hand tangled in his brown waves.
“Where have you been?” A yawn crept out. “What time is it?”
She watched his smooth, pink lips move. “It’s just passed three. I was at Mom and Dad’s. Sorry to wake you.”
“It’s okay,” she replied and kissed his lips quickly. “I’ve missed you. We’ve hardly seen one another for longer than a breath in the past day and a half.” Cian let his tired head hang and Ashlynn worriedly rubbed the back of his neck. “What have you been doing over there?”
“I’ve been helping my parents look for something in the archives,” Cian replied, head still hung low. He leaned forward and let it rest against Ashlynn’s sleepy chest. “I’m just…so tired.”
Ashlynn shifted a little more so she could cradle her body against his as she comforted him. Cian’s face nuzzled her warm chest and she felt the vibration of a low moan erupt from his chest. Ashlynn threw her head back as lips slowly caressed the skin of her bosom, barely hidden under a thin green silk nighty.
A small gasp squeezed from her throat as his fingers hungrily climbed the length of her neck. His thumb trailed the width of her lower lip as he pressed himself against her. Ashlynn’s body instantly reacted; going from half asleep to set on fire in a mere matter of seconds. Cian always had that affect on her. Hot goosebumps swarmed the surface of her skin and pooled in the center as Cian’s fingers plucked the thin strap from her shoulder and tugged it down, revealing Ashlynn’s naked chest.
Cian moved swiftly atop her, but then winced in pain. He fell back to the bed next to Ashlynn and favored one of his arms.
“What’s the matter?” Ashlynn asked him, worried. Panicked.
Despite whatever pain he must have been in, Cian still smiled at her. “I’m fine. Just pulled something during training.” His hand reached up and fanned the back of her head as he pulled her close.
“Have you given much thought to what Troy proposed?” Ashlynn finally asked him, thinking she may get something out of him about that.
Cian appeared distant as he thought, then lowered his gaze to the sheet below them. “You mean, the offer to leave my clan high and dry so I can lead some rogue group of travellers? Otherwise deal with an uprising of old magic?”
“Well,” Ashlynn replied, unsure of what to say. “I wouldn’t quite put it that way. I suppose I see the pros and cons to both decisions.”
“And what would be the pro to any of it?”
Ashlynn thought about it for a moment. Tried to imagine what her father would do. What Conal had lacked in fatherly love he’d more than made up for in strategic leadership. Two impossible choices before you. How do you choose which way to go?
The one that gave you most power.
“There’s a very easy answer to all of this, Cian,” Ashlynn told him. “If you unite the two remaining clans under one leadership, then you’ll possess the ability to legitimize the rogue travellers as a new clan. This ends all feuds. The hostilities. A potential uprising. All of it.”
Cian beamed at her with a look of abject wonder. “You’re right. You’re so right. But that still leaves the new clan without a proper leader. There must be structure implemented from within. A system of decision makers and leaders to represent the group. And I…” His gaze dropped once more as he pursed his lips. “I can’t be the one to do that. I can’t leave my parents with no one to help lead the Boswells Clan.”
Ashlynn was surprised by the tinge of sadness that stung her heart. She had assumed they could help lead both the new clan and the Boswells together. But Cian didn’t seem to think that was a possibility. Her stomach twisted. Or did he not want to share that great responsibility with her?
Dark Magicks Page 4
