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“What do you mean, protect Sunny?” Cullen interjected forcefully. “If anyone is going to be protecting her, it’ll be me.”
“We’re talking about a different kind of protection,” Eben replied. “Sunny needs to come to understand her magic before Nathaniel Fox returns to claim her.”
“What did Fox say when he realized you could see the ship in its true form?” Celeste quizzed. “How did he look at you, did you sense his interest?”
Next to her, Willow rolled her eyes. “Celeste, you simply can’t be trusted when Fox is around.”
Celeste turned on her seat and glared at Willow. “I’m asking for all of us, not just my own personal interest.”
Sunny noticed Celeste’s face turned pink. She shrugged. “He mentioned Grandma Hanna straight away.”
Both Celeste and Willow grumbled. There was mumbled agreement around the table.
“And, what does it mean?” Sunny asked.
Celeste still looked concerned, her face appearing gaunt in the colored light reflecting from the glass lampshade over the table. “Fox was trading Cullen to the dark tides, but you’d caught his eye. He was doubly invested.”
“And doubly thwarted,” Willow added.
Celeste nodded. “He needed Cullen to get on the ship in exchange for more power. Your intervention has undermined him in this goal.”
Willow nodded enthusiastically. “So the vagaries of time have left him less powerful than he might otherwise have been.”
“I think so too,” Celeste said. Murmurs were exchanged around the table. “He’s also invested in you.”
“Why? Because I spoiled his plan for Cullen?”
“No, he was already interested before you trampled his lawn. Fox is seeking a new apprentice and I suspect he’s drawn to you because he believes you’ve inherited your grandmother’s power.”
“Which you clearly have,” Willow interjected.
Celeste sighed aloud. “He won’t be happy.”
Again the assembled group mumbled an agreement, a somber mood falling over the table.
Sunny swallowed. Somehow she didn’t want to know the details. She could quite easily imagine how Fox might respond. He sent shivers down her spine.
“I had no idea,” said Cullen, who’d been listening attentively throughout, “Nathaniel had become such a dark soul.” He paused. Sunny squeezed his hand. “I must ask something,” he continued. “Did you send Sunny to find me?”
Celeste shook her head. “Sunny had already dreamed of you in the cottage, because you’ve been there. She made a connection with you all by herself. That’s what led us to believe she had magical powers inherited from her grandmother. It also leads us to believe she’d be the one who’d be able to account for your whereabouts. What we didn’t know was Nathaniel Fox was involved in your history.”
Sunny put her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands.
“What Celeste is trying to say,” Willow said in clarification, “is we’re up against a more difficult and complex situation than we’d originally bargained for. Seeking a soul who’d been lost to local history seemed a good challenge for Sunny. In fact, it turned out to be way beyond her assumed ability. But Sunny coped well because of her double gift. What we need to face up to now is Fox.”
“None of this is making me feel any more confident.” Sunny leaned back in her chair. She folded her arms across her chest and sighed, staring at the colored glass in the lampshade. Doing so seemed to calm her somewhat. Was that its purpose, she wondered?
“I’d feel the same if I was in your position,” Willow said. “We’re always wary of Fox, but this situation could have ended very differently, had it not been for your magic coming through so strongly when he got involved. Celeste needs to face up to this now.”
“I’m not gaining confidence here,” Sunny stated, her frustration erupting. “One minute you say you’ll teach me what I have to do, the next you say as a team you aren’t able to stand up to him anyway! What am I supposed to make of it?”
“I didn’t know Nathaniel had such a dark soul,” Cullen muttered.
Willow rolled her eyes. “Believe me, if you knew some of the things—”
“Hush,” Celeste interrupted.
“Don’t you dare defend him,” Willow said, disgruntled.
