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All of us had been spending not only more time together, but also more time with our families. After learning the truth about the Council and Halley’s past, I think we all realized that they could be torn from this world at any moment and we all wanted the comfort they could bring.
“Who wants to tell Knox that his little show of dominance didn’t work? I can volunteer.” Wilder snarked and we all laughed. Although Wilder had opened up more to the rest of us, sharing about his father’s death and how it affected him, he was still an asshole. He was just an asshole we now liked.
The door opening drew our attention away from the conversation, Knox reentering the room.
“You can all tell me later. Right now, we have more important matters.”
“More important than the Darkness?” Kalani questioned in disbelief, but we all quieted as a figure walked in behind Knox.
A woman glided into the room, grace in every step. Her hair was a deep midnight and although she didn’t look older than my own mother, her aura screamed of her true age.
“My young friend, the Darkness is always our biggest issue. But I anticipate this will be more important to you all.”
The woman’s voice trinkled throughout the room, light and breathy. Instinctively, my power reached out, wanting to get a read on this new intruder, but it pushed back at me instantly. The shield I was all too familiar with, blocking me.
“Willow?” I asked on a whisper, disbelief coating my tongue.
A twinkling laugh spilled from her lips, a musical quality to the sound. “Ah, I see you are all familiar with the signs of an Enchantress.” Willow glanced around the room, taking in the gaping mouths and wide eyes.
“I can tell you are all shocked at this development. Knox, here, was as well. However, as I explained to him, your Enchanter wasn’t the only one who had to stay behind. Centuries ago, I had to make the decision to as well. It is the only way to close a portal between realms, from the side you reside on.”
Still in disbelief, I couldn’t help but ask the most unnerving question. “How are you still you? If you’ve been here for centuries, how have you not been affected by the Darkness?”
If what she was saying was true, Willow had been alone on Agrum Di Vinum for over five hundred years. Not only should the Darkness have reached her by now, but if it truly hadn’t, I couldn’t imagine she was still in any type of sane mental capacity after centuries of isolation.
Floating further into the room, Willow seemingly danced around our group, taking us in with the eyes of a woman that hadn’t seen another Divine in too long. Stopping next to Kalani, her gaze darkened before she responded.
“Every few years, I strengthened the shield around the castle, keeping the Darkness out. I knew if it ever reached me, when the Heirs returned, they would have no help.” As she spoke, I wished I could get a read on her feelings, desperately wanting to know if what she spoke was the truth.
Before I could ask any more questions, her hand reached out to caress Kalani’s cheek. Kalani stepped back instinctively, Maeve grabbing onto her arm.
“No need to be scared child, I’m just surprised to feel thedilicudusvisin someone other than the Heirs.” Willow whispered, causing more confusion to run through our group.
“The what?” Kalani asked, wondering aloud for all of us.
“Thedilicudus vis,the distinct power. It is the power of our home, the power that created Agrum Di Vinum and each one of us. For eternity, it has run through the core of our realm and into the leaders. Each man in this room possesses the power, garnering it from their ancestors. However, you have it as well dear. I can feel it.”
“What does that mean?” Maeve questioned, always wanting to know as much as Kalani did.
“It means, we have more power on our side.” Gliding back to the middle of the room, Willow looked each of us in the eyes before speaking again. “But first, we need to open the portal to the human realm. We will need the power of both Enchantress’ to defeat the Darkness.”
Taking a step back, I couldn’t believe her words. I refused to grab onto the desire that had been lingering for the past four months. But as I looked at the others in the room, finally landing on Knox, I knew she spoke the truth.We were bringing Halley back to us.
Chapter Six
Madden
I didn’t trust her. Even as my heart beat faster at the thought of seeing my girl again, I couldn’t ignore the instincts that were making every hair stand on end. Willow’s immense power could be felt throughout the room, a lesser version of the power in the Sanctum Library, but noticeable still. But it wasn’t the power that was causing me to tense up, but something else entirely. As she spoke and roamed around the room, controlling the situation as only one could with years of practice, I could see the distance in her eyes. One could say it was from the past five hundred years of isolation, but my mind told me it was something else entirely. And after the past four years of honing my Shifter powers, I knew to always trust my gut, and the second I had a moment alone with one of the others I’d tell them my thoughts.
“You can open a portal to the human realm?” Kalani’s voice spoke above the silence and no one could miss the hope in her voice. I felt for the girl, I knew that she missed having her best friend. We were all missing a vital part of our lives that Halley had filled. I knew that over the past four months I had lost some of my own fire, the kind that she had breathed into me. I had also lost the person I knew I could lean on. However, without even noticing, Wilder had slowly stepped into that position. Out of the six of us, Knox and Eli had each other, Maeve and Kalani were the others shadow, and so ultimately, Wilder and I were pushed together. I didn’t hate it.
“Of course, I can.” Willow responded, breaking me out of my thoughts. “I did it once before, many years ago, and I will do it again.”
As she spoke, a glint sparked in her eyes and the distrust in my gut grew. There was something she wasn’t telling us, a reason she wanted to open the realm, and I was almost positive it wasn’t to bring Halley back. But I knew, that no matter the reason behind her actions, I’d follow through with the plan. I’d burn this entire realm to the ground if it meant I got my girl back.
“Once the portal is open, will we be able to close it again? We can’t let the Darkness seep into the human realm. Or else Halley stayed behind for nothing.” Knox said and I was reminded why he was running our makeshift Council.
From where I stood, there was nothing more important than the people I loved. And if others were the cost for their happiness, I’d pay the price. But people like Knox, like Halley, they considered the innocents, the entirety of our people.
