“We call it Luster. The Light. It’s the energy in this realm, fed to us from Viterra. It lives and breathes with us. Looks after us.”
Sean paused. That sounded…religious.
“There’s Luster in everything here,” Kywyn said, “but Luxorians can use it in the other realms, too. It’s just harder.”
“It’s sobright.”
His father smiled, soft and sad. “It’s fading. Indigo uses the same type of energy, but it’s called Shade. The Light may look bright, but the Indies take so much from Viterra that our entire realm has darkened.”
Sean inhaled and exhaled as slowly as he could just as Anna had suggested, though his heart was begging for oxygen, wanting to panic. Literal magic floated in the air around him. It shone from his skin like shimmer dust.
Fairy dust.
“As Lhynion’s heir, you will be a symbol of hope that things will soon change,” Kywyn said. “Without Viterra to feed her, the Great Mother, who protects us all, will shrivel and die—and us with her.”
The Mother. Blaire’s goddess, who she believed controlled all their destinies. It made so much sense in hindsight.
Kywyn cleared his throat. “Why don’t you have a seat. I’ve some food here.”
His father led them to an elaborate dining room, where a round table was overloaded with berries and cold cuts.
Sean sat. “So how are they stealing so much of our…magic?” He tripped over that last word. It felt strange in his mouth. Cole glanced his way and laughed under his breath.
The others filled plates while Kywyn said, “As mortal creatures age and die, they release a sort of potential energy that extracts naturally from their world to ours through the mist.”
Mouth full of berries, Sean only nodded. What was this fruit? Sweet like a ripe watermelon, but crisp like an apple.
“Glowberries,” Autumn whispered in his direction.
He glanced at her, suspicions forming. This wasn’t the first time she’d replied to his thoughts.
“The Indies are parasites,” Kywyn continued. “They possess humans and thieve the Light from their bodies before it can reach us.”
Cole, riveted to Kywyn, hadn’t eaten a bite. He leaned his elbows on the table. “So what happens if this place doesn’t get enough of the energy?”
Beside Cole, Blaire gripped his hand.
Kywyn’s gaze fell to the table. “Well, the Great Mother…she’s starving. We all are. Our elders are dying. Our women have difficulty bearing children. The Luster is fading. No matter how many of us go into Viterra to purge the Indies, more always take their place. With human technology, they’ve grown even more dangerous. Our numbers dwindle, and we can’t replace them fast enough.”
“So what are you doing about it?” Sean asked.
Kywyn hesitated, so he shifted his gaze to Aunt Blaire.
“Lhynion Sidera was the last Sovereign to achieve a balance,” she said. “Under him, we thrived. The Indies were held at bay. After hewas gone and things got worse, it was said another would come, that Lhynion’s progeny would bring us freedom.”
“Who said that?”
Blaire set her fingers over her mouth, hiding half her expression, but Sean knew her well. Whatever she was thinking, she didn’t want to say it.
“Stillwith the secrets?” he asked, brows raised.
She frowned. “It’s— Some immortals can look into the future. There was a prediction you would be the one.”
The berries acidified in Sean’s stomach.Predictionwas only one step fromprophecy, and prophecies weren’t real. Every pair of eyes in the room landed on him, and he wanted to run, to scream, to laugh in their faces.
“You keep sayingimmortalas if we don’t die,” he said, his voice louder than he meant it to be. “Where is this Lhynion Sidera person if he can’t die?”
“We don’t age, but we can die, Sean,” Kywyn said. “Accidents, violence, suicide. Mortal or immortal, nothing lasts forever.”
