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I looked over and shrugged. “They’re just people. You only have to know how to communicate with them, is all.”
Alma smiled. “Spoken like a born leader. You could have been an alpha if not for your alpha king.” She picked up the remote and took the seat the nanny had left behind. “Let’s relax and watch some TV now. I don’t have much in my schedule today and there are a few episodes on the DVR that I’d like to catch up on while I can.”
I smiled and sat with her. It wouldn’t be long now, just a few hours and a satisfying meal, and then I would indulge in my favorite way to unwind.
And I’ll be able to prove to everyone that I don’t need to be coddled anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brady
I was going over paperwork in my office when a frantic knock came at my door. Before I even had time to respond, Marlin bounces in with a new stack of books tilting in his arms.
“What the hell?” I exclaimed, gasping as the large librarian tumbled the books onto my desk.
“She’s the direct descendant of the first witches,” he gasped, his eyes widened with fear. “Both of them. The dark and the light.”
“Who is?” I asked, picking up the closest book and flipping it open to find a family tree that dated back centuries.
“Minerva. Her bloodline stems from the first two, and they aways come in pairs when they are born. One of light and one of darkness. She is the darkness of her generation hundreds of years ago.”
I found a page that showed a small rendering of Minerva. It was undeniably her, and standing beside her was another depiction of her sister named Euthenia. Between the two, you could easily tell their differences by looking into their eyes.
While Euthenia’s eyes were bright and clear as the summer’s day sky, Minerva’s were riddled with dark veins, giving show to the dark magic she held.
“How is this connected to her presence here today?” I asked.
“It has everything to do with what she’s doing now,” Marlin said as he pulled free another book. “Look here, look what she did to her sister.”
I took the book and read, my eyes widening as I took in the new information. I looked up from the dark history, the words unveiled and met eyes with Marlin as he waited for my reaction to the news.
“Why?” I murmured, more to myself than to him.
“She had to break the balance. Without the balance, she thought she would be able to give rise to a darkness the world has not known for centuries even before she was born.”
I flipped through the book, searching for that darkness’s name. Marlin’s hand stopped me, and he pressed the book back down and brought my attention to him.
“The name is not documented. I’ve searched. I’m not even certain of how Minerva knows what she is doing or who she is trying to summon. I only know that all these books make note of what she did to Euthenia and the way she ended her bloodline.
“She believed she was bringing forth the end of light witches, but the sacrifice of her sister brought the opposite. The magic of their family had to transfer somewhere, and since there were no next generations to pass the magic to, it dispersed into the world. The light magic found its way into every witch on earth, no matter if they were dark or light. It swept the dark magic to near extinction, starving the magic source of its natural right of balance.”
“This is why dark magic feels so addicting to those infected by it. This is why we rarely see any dark witches, and why they are never born with dark magic. Because Minerva tried to wipe the world of light magic, but instead, she nearly brought the extinction of her own magic to the world.”
“But why would she do that? What was her goal in attempting to wipe the world of light magic?” I asked, not understanding this new revelation.
“It only says that the light must give way to shadows. She was trying to bring something powerful and forgotten out, and she seemed to believe that ending the balance of light and darkness would do just that.”
There was the word again. Shadows.
“What was she trying to bring from the shadows?” I asked, my voice lowering with nerves.
“I don’t know,” Marlin said, his head bowing in defeat. “I have looked through all of these books. I searched every tome and scroll that our coven has kept safe for all these centuries. Nothing explains what it is. No, but Minerva herself seems to know what it is she’s searching for and who it is she is trying to summon. All we know is, the moment she succeeds, we are all doomed.”
Another knock interrupted us, just as panicked as Marlin’s had been before he burst into my office with this news.
“What is it now?” I demanded, my heart racing as I thought about the prophecy I had read in the book back home in the library.
“An urgent message from the Rigel Pack’s beta,” the voice called back.
