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“We all know what the Axis is.” I start and watch as the air changes and tension ripples through the group. None of us have had pleasant experiences with that term in the past. “The other day Archer, Miri, and I found a tunnel in the storeroom of one of our buildings. The tunnel has a casting room that someone’s been using.”
Ezra’s nostrils flare and Ruby slumps in her chair. Lena and Rhys sit up straight, looking more like twins with their similar posture than they normally do. Archer and Miri are the only ones who aren’t surprised by my announcement.
“It’s been recently used?” Lena pushes up her glasses then crosses her arms and sits back in her chair.
“Yes.” Archer answers and some of the steel in her spine melts.
“That’s not all we found. There was a journal in the room.” I pull out the leather-bound book and toss it on the table. Lena makes a disapproving sound, like she should have first dibs on all documentation.
Miri’s eyes flit to the book and back to me, her mouth parting as if she’s considering asking a question, but she doesn’t. Her elbows are on the table, and she clasps her hands together, the collection of bracelets on her wrists clinging as she rests her chin on her hands and watches me. We didn’t find the journal until we went back in without Miri, so this is news to her as well.
“Did you read it?” Ezra asks, looking at the journal like it’s going to sprout legs, run across the table and eat his face off.
“I did.” Archer responds again, and Lena sucks in a breath as if she’s been betrayed. I almost laugh, but it’s really not the time. “That’s why we needed everyone to meet. There are a few things in there we need to discuss.”
You could hear someone taking a piss two states over with how quiet the room is. Nervous energy surrounds us, and it’s making me twitchy. The urge to get up and start pacing buzzes under my skin, but I stay put, gripping my thigh harder than I should until the bite of my fingers brings my focus back.
“The journal is essentially a lesson in forming an Axis.” Archer watches Lena as she slides the book in front of her and flips through the pages. Miri stares at me, an uncertain look on her face. She knows a little about the Axis that was formed in the past, but she doesn’t have the same violent reaction that the rest of us do.
“Right now, the most important thing in that journal is the section that talks about a catalyst. It says that before an Axis forms there is an individual who sets things off. Someone who starts the cascade of events that will bring the Axis together.”
“Okay,” Rhys draws out the word, frowning at Archer. “We already knew that much, though. What else did it have to say?”
“According to this journal,” Archer pauses, his eyes flicking to Miri briefly. “The catalyst is always the alchemist.”
Lena frowns as if she’s connecting the dots that Archer and I have already linked.
Rhys, Ezra, Ruby and Miri all have various levels of confused looks on their faces, although Miri’s is slowly turning more uncomfortable the longer we talk. I shift in my seat, tempted to get up, pluck her out of her chair and sit in it myself with her on my lap. I suspected our magic was connected in some way, that it was possible her coming here meant more than just learning about her past, and that journal all but confirms it.
“And you think this is me?”
Miri might have studied chemistry and biology in college, but she has focused her work on creating potions and spells, regardless of if she calls them lotions and creams. At its root, what she’s doing is alchemy.
Four sets of eyes besides my own turn and take in Miri, who’s sitting up straight as an arrow in her seat. Archer is the only one who isn’t gaping at her. He’s still looking at Lena, who has the journal open in front of her.
“The book mentions the age of twenty-five being an important milestone, that young Fae fully come into their powers at this time. Once the alchemist hits this milestone, the other members of the Axis will begin to feel a draw to bond to their partner. The book calls it an iomlán, the other half of your power and your match within the Axis.” Archer continues as if the rest of the table aren’t still trying to reconcile that Miri coming to town might just mean that we are forming an Axis that none of us want. “It, um, it talks about the iomlán being the other half of your soul.”
“Fae? Soulmates?” Miri shakes her head. “Are we all buying into this now? Fairy is real, and this isn’t just folklore the town cooked up to bring in tourists?”
“When did you turn twenty-five, Miri?” Lena asks gently, but Miri rears back, crossing her arms as she leans away from the table. Fuck, this suddenly feels like we’re ganging up on her when that wasn’t the intention at all.
“No one is accusing you of anything or pointing fingers. None of this is anyone’s fault. We’re just all trying to prepare for this if we need to.” Archer says the words I should be saying, offering comfort while I stay silent like a piece of shit.
Ezra turns to look at Archer, then at me, his eyes haunted by his past. “How do you know we are an Axis? There’s no definitive way to know that one is forming or that we’re a part of it.”
“This book says that all eight members of an Axis might be in the same place, ready and waiting, but until there is a catalyst that brings them together their magic lays dormant, mostly. I know we all have some hints of magic that we can use but none of us are very powerful.” Archer taps a finger on the table. “But I feel my magic growing.”
Lena swallows, looking disconcerted.
“Tell me you haven’t noticed your magic has been getting stronger since Miri showed up.” Archer gazes around the table while the others glance from Miri to me. The tension in the room ratchets up as everyone absorbs that information.
Lena clasps her hands together, setting them on her knee while she looks at her brother. He’s equally as tense and the two of them seem to share some silent communication. Ezra slouches back in his chair while Ruby’s chin drops as she looks at an invisible spot on the table. I take a beat to look at everyone, seeing their panic, the pain from our collective pasts that makes this something awful instead of exciting. “I can feel it.”
“But you don’t know for sure.” Ezra is still sitting back in his chair, his posture loose and in complete contrast to the fire burning in his eyes.
“No.” I’m not going to try to convince him of what I feel. There’s no point. Everyone in this group will need to determine if they want to prepare for what’s coming or if they want to pretend none of this exists. It’s not going to change the outcome, regardless.
“Who’s the eighth?” Rhys’s brows are furrowed, and I know what he’s thinking. We’re missing a person. Not that we know for sure that this group here would form an Axis, but we’ve always been drawn to one another. Just like I was drawn to Miri the first time I set eyes on her and the way she’s so easily become part of our group, like she’s always been here.
