by Brea Viragh
“We can only imagine,” Karsia commiserated. She took a seat next to Nasira on the couch and scooted closer. The woman obviously had no concept of personal space. She flashed a serene smile that rounded her cheeks.
“In the effort of being entirely open and honest, we’d like to invite you to tell your story. And we’ll tell ours,” Astix stated. She stood by the door and worried her hands. “Needless to say, this isn’t the type of scenario we could have predicted.”
“Yea, of course. I’m proof your father…our father, wasn’t faithful in his marriage.”
She expected a few gazes to turn nasty. Maybe luck was on her side after all. Instead of upset, the three sisters shared looks with a combination of anticipation, curiosity, and melancholy among them.
“It’s a lot to take in,” she finished.
“I’ll be honest,” Aisanna started. “I have nothing against you personally. Dad? He’s another story. Our mother is god knows where hooked up to ventilator and now it comes out he had an affair? I’m not happy. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the man I’ve known my entire life, is a liar.”
Nasira twisted her hands on her lap. “I wouldn’t be happy, either. I’m sorry.”
Karsia waved the apology away. “Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault. None of us asked to be born to a certain set of parents. What matters is, you came to find us, and we’re together. Whatever else there is we can work on it later.”
Nasira wished it were simple. As simple as Karsia made it out to be. Sparing a glance at the other two girls, she doubted they felt the same way. There would be bitterness and a learning curve for most of them, not to mention a healthy adjustment period where they not only took each other in, but tried to wrap their heads around a new idea of their father. A new idea and picture that wasn’t necessarily the greatest.
“You came to Chicago from where?” Karsia asked.
“Madison. Indiana,” Nasira clarified. “But my mother’s family is from Egypt, and I have a lot of family in Boston.”
“How interesting.” The look Karsia shot her sisters told them clearly to play nice.
And they weren’t being rude by any means, Nasira thought. Just cautious. Hesitant and a little distant. “I’m sure you can guess about me. There isn’t much to tell.”
“I beg to differ,” Aisanna replied.
She felt her heart give a quick lurch. Nerves ate at her like a parasite and she tried not to fidget, filled with a sudden unease. This wasn’t like her. The complete opposite of how she normally conducted herself. Nasira was confident, clear headed. Cool at times. That night, she fidgeted and felt her smile strain her face.
“I’m not here for myself. I’m here to find Thorvald.” She tried not to think how close she’d come. How far she still had to travel, and what might happen if she didn’t follow through on her goddess’s instructions.
The thought brought back a stabbing disappointment in herself. She turned her gaze to the floor.
“First, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions. I hope you don’t mind.” Astix also had her eyes firmly planted on her feet. Evidently uncomfortable being the ringleader in the circus. “Just a couple things I—we—need to clarify before we go on. I mean, you showed up at a pretty bad time. We need to know it’s safe to keep you here.”
Nasira nodded against a flash of frustration. “Sure.”
“Have you…been hearing voices?”
“Come again?”
“Voices. Kind of eerie. Sound like their just over your shoulder or in your head,” Karsia clarified.
“Or maybe you’ve seen things.” Aisanna glanced over. “A shadow figure or someone standing right behind you then they’re gone? Anything out of the ordinary. Something you can’t explain.”
She let her shoulders drop until they hit the back of the couch. “How…how did you know?” Nasira asked with a laugh that had some nerves at the edge.
The three sisters shared a look. Then Astix closed her eyes. Let out a breath and lifted her hand until her empty and open palm faced the ceiling. On an inhale, a deep purple aura rose above her skin. Seconds later she held a lump of rock in her hand.
Nasira stared at it, her eyes wide, and her mind a tangled web. What had she just seen?
“This will help block out the voices. It’s orange agate, the best for protection against evil spirits. I’ve fine-tuned the properties of the stone to help against any sort of physic inception as well.” She bent in front of Nasira, twirling her finger above the stone. It changed shape and became a ring.
“I, ah, don’t like to wear rings. I work with my hands. I’m a vet,” she felt the need to clarify.
Astix nodded and focused on the stone again, until slender tendrils of the tone formed a sort of chain. “Then wear this around your neck and against your skin at all times. I can’t guarantee it will work, because the closer we get to the eclipse, the stronger she gets. At least this should help keep the words and the shadows from driving you insane.”
Nasira finished attaching the clip around her neck. “Stop who?”
“An evil entity.”
“A…say what? Evil.” she asked, her voice small. She felt silly for repeating the question.
No one paid her any mind. Or if they did, they didn’t care to answer.
“This is going to be the fastest history lesson of your life, but better I explain it than Morgan. It’s his thing,” Karsia stated. “He’d keep you here until next week telling you every intricate detail of our story from start to finish. What you need to know is that the shadow used to be a person. Her name was Cecilia Cavaldi, and almost nine hundred years ago, she was our ancestor. Now, she’s a demon.”
“She’s kidding,” Aisanna insisted. “About the demon part. Really Cecilia is just an immortal unhappy with the choice she made. She and her husband tried to find a way to separate the two realities and save their people from the rogue magic.”
“She did what?” Nasira rubbed her temples. Her mouth pinched. “I don’t understand.”
Karsia patted her knee. “You will. Anyway, Cecilia and Vane became the two elementals for Light and Dark, and together they make up the veil between our worlds. We like to call her The One Who Walks in Darkness, because it wasn’t until a few weeks ago we realized she was someone. In four days, on the night of the spring equinox, there will be a lunar eclipse. The veil keeping us separated from the world of ancient magicks will disintegrate and, so Cecilia says, the Harbinger Witch will help usher in an era of Darkness.”
Nasira was silent for a minute. Two. Silent until the words in her head were the only sounds she heard, blocking out the sounds of the others breathing. She blinked rapidly in an effort to understand the information.
“She’s not taking this well,” Aisanna whispered.
“Yeah, I didn’t either,” Astix answered. “Do you blame her? It’s a lot.” The women shared another round of knowing glances before shifting their attention back to Nasira.
She forced herself to swallow. She’d been in the presence of Bast. Could she really find such fault with what her sisters said? Hadn’t her goddess told her something of the same?
She set aside her emotions and let her clinical mind push to the forefront. Okay, what they had in theory was a viral infection. If left untended, it would spread through cells and tissue destroying everything in its wake. What did one do to a virus? You find an antidote. You find a way to kill it.
“The Harbinger,” she began, “I heard about this somewhere before.”
“We used to think it was superstition, but it’s said there is one witch or wizard born into times of great change and great need. The Harbinger has the potential to restore the veil before balance shifts. Or, as Cecilia wants to believe, unleash her from her chains and let her have free reign causing chaos in our world,” Astix said.
“And do we know who this Harbinger is?”
Aisanna speared a pointed look at Astix, who ran her tongue along her teeth and tried
not to look like she’d rather be eating dirt. “No, we don’t.”
“There’s a prophecy from a great-something-or-other-grandfather on our mother’s side,” Karsia told her. “Here. I have the paper kept in an old spell book. Be careful, though. It’s not really legible and the ink is almost gone.”
Karsia rose from the couch and took hold of a leather bag next to the loveseat. From its depths she removed a book the size of a blue whale. She flipped to the right page and held the book out for Nasira.
Holding it in her hands, a sense of powerful longing took her over. She wanted to devour it from cover to cover. To run her fingers along every single line of texts and memorize each spell. The strength of her desire was shocking and she pushed it aside.
She read the text inside her head:
Ancient power in time eternal.
Perpetual Love. Perpetual War.
Fate to seal, fair and vernal.
Power rise and settle the score.
Eclipse to dawn, veil runs thin.
Balance destroyed under shrouded pall.
Fight the tide to never win.
Harbinger come or world to fall.
“It’s a prophecy,” Aisanna replied.
“I can see.”
“I know this sounds crazy, and I have to tell you the truth, I thought the prophecy was a big load of crap,” Astix said.
“Ugh, I hate the word prophecy,” Nasira responded, keeping the book open on her lap. “It’s too damn weighty.”
“That’s what I said,” Karsia interrupted.
“I was pretty skeptical at first. Then I felt the shifting in power, experienced it firsthand, and realized everything I’d heard was true,” Astix finished. She kept her eyes averted.
“Our parents,” Aisanna said in the hush, “think the Harbinger is Astix. She’s special, although she doesn’t like to admit it. She’s the only female in recorded history to be born with her father’s magic. And in our world, you inherit power along gender lines.”
Astix shook her head, stepping away from the rest of them to physically detach herself. Maybe Nasira wasn’t the only one who felt a distinctive discomfort in the group. “It means nothing. I’m just caught in the middle of this mess and doing my best not to sink. If you want to find the best candidate for Harbinger, then we should find Zee.”
“We already agreed what happened to him was a strange fluke, and we were better off trying to find a way to stop Darkness ourselves,” Karsia replied. “Remember? Finding Zee was my idea and you shot me down. Zenon is our brother.” She turned to Nasira to clarify. “The Claddium took him because he was exhibiting strange magic. Except he’s a null, so he never had magic to begin with.”
“One of Herodotos’s tricks,” Astix lashed out.
“I think I’m here to help you,” Nasira replied eventually. The moment she said it, knowledge settled deep in her chest, and she got the impression of a feral smile inside her mind. Bast? “My mother had a vision from the patron guardian of our line. I had the same dream the next night. The goddess told me you would need me here. She told me finding my father was the next step I had to take. Maybe…she meant to bring me to you.”
Neret thought her daughter was in Chicago trying to connect with the father she’d never known. She would lose her mind if she knew the truth. Or maybe she already did know, and she’d sent her only child into a war zone.
Nasira wished she could speak to her mother now. It wasn’t that she was scared, or worried about the outcome. Okay, she was both. No sense in hiding the truth from herself. She wanted the familiarity. The one person she loved more than anyone on the planet telling her everything would be all right. It wasn’t an unreasonable desire.
The only way she would be able to talk to her mother was to win whatever fight she faced and get her life back to normal.
Not a terrible thing. No, it was. Never mind.
“I became the living embodiment of Darkness for almost a month,” Karsia put in. “If we managed to beat her then, I don’t think we’re in a position to doubt you now. We’ll deal with whatever implications of you being here later. After we’ve beaten the bitch. For right now, welcome to the family.” She held out her hand again, and it was symbolic when Nasira reached out and took it. “Prepare to kick a little ass.”
Nasira sighed and shook her head. But she didn’t leave.
CHAPTER 12
“Well, it’s about time you decided to call. I’ve been worried sick about you!” Neret’s voice came through loud. Clear. Angry.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I got a little caught up with everything. I know I should have called you the second I got to Chicago.”
“You’re damn right, young lady. I’ve gotten zero sleep since you left and I’ve been checking the phone nonstop. You have explaining to do and I’m all ears. Are you ready?”
“I’m sorry. Okay? It’s—” Nasira broke off, scratching her head and wondering what she should tell her mother. What she should hold back. Thoughts churned in her mind like sharks around a piece of chum. Ready to dive in for the kill. “It’s been different. Not what I expected by a long shot. I’m still trying to work it out.”
As she spoke the words, she felt the unadorned simplicity of the challenge ahead. She also sensed its blunt danger.
Her mother sighed. “No one said it was going to be easy.”
“Yeah, but Mom…this is so much bigger than we thought. Than I thought.” Nasira flopped down on the bed and prepared to tell her mother everything.
Down the hall, after locking himself in the tiny powder room for a little privacy, Brock dialed home. Odessa answered on the fourth ring sounding like he’d jolted her from a deep sleep.
“Boy, you better have a good explanation for waking me up.”
He smiled despite the admonishment. “It’s only eight o’clock. I’m surprised you got Callie down in time to take a cat nap.”
“Cat nap!” The term didn’t go over well. “Do you know how old I am? Being in bed by eight isn’t a cat nap. It’s called bed time. You should try it sometime.”
At once he felt bad for asking her to watch his kid. “Nan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you through this.”
“Don’t you be sorry. Everything is fine here, like I told you. No need to worry over what we’re doing. The little girl and I are fine. She’s been decent for me, and I’m used to handling tantrums. You threw them until you were sixteen! Now, how are you doing?”
Brock spared a glance at himself in the mirror. Everything looked the same. No new changes. But he knew everything had changed. Like someone clicking a button to adjust the picture on a television.
“We found Nasira’s sisters,” he said in a low voice. “The three of them.”
“Well that’s good. Do they seem like nice people?” Simple as that.
“They do.” Nice, sure. Stressed and going out of their minds? Definitely. “Things seem to be a little more…I don’t know. Crazy? Crazier than I expected. I mean, I knew we were in for a wild ride, but we’re delving into seriously mystical shit here, Nan. I’m not equipped for it.”
“You remember me telling you about the little something extra we have in our family?”
“At the time, I thought you were joking.”
“It means you can get through this. Don’t ever doubt yourself. She’s gonna need you. Everything in time and everything in its place.”
She’d been saying the same thing since his parents died. There was a small comfort in the familiar saying. “I don’t see how. I’m worse than useless here. She has her sisters, and this one fellow the youngest is engaged to is a…” He decided to keep to himself the fact that Morgan was actually the demigod Morpheus. “He’s a college processor. I think I should just come home. It would be better for everyone. Then I can be with you and Callie and let Nasira handle things her way. She prefers it anyway.”
If it was possible for a slap to carry over the phone, Odessa managed it. “Brock Anthony Lockhart.” The reprimand was harsh.
“You are staying there and you will see this through to the end. If I catch wind of you coming home I will find a way to make your life miserable. Do you understand me?”
“I do,” he insisted. “I just don’t understand why me?”
“I think that’s a conversation you need to have with your woman. I’m a lowly messenger. Now get off this phone and let an old woman sleep. I’ve got the monitor by my bed and I’ll be ready when the baby wakes. Go on with yourself.”
Brock chuckled even with the tension knotting in his chest. “I will. Can you put Callie on the phone for me? I really want to hear her voice and tell her daddy loves her.”
“She’s already in bed, sugar. Didn’t you hear me? Call in the morning and you can talk to her then. I’m not waking her up. You understand?”
They said their goodnights and he clicked a button to end the phone call. Once again, the man in the mirror captured his attention. An overwhelming sense of loneliness engulfed him. Brock wasn’t one to indulge in self-pity, especially when he had so much to be grateful for. But in the moment, exhausted and knowing the worst was yet to come, his heart felt brittle.
He missed his baby. He missed his home. He missed the intimacy he used to have with Nasira, instead of the cold shoulder she’d shown him since they’d left.
He tiptoed back to the room to find the woman in question already in bed with the covers tugged up to her chin. Her eyes watching him.
“You look like you’re prepared to take first watch,” he said, only half joking. “Do you have a pair of all terrain boots on under that comforter?”
“Ha ha.” Her voice was muffled.
“Or maybe you’re the Big Bad Wolf with your Granny disguise and you’re going to eat me.” He pretended to think. “I might be okay with it. Depends on what you have on and how far you took the Granny thing.”
He could only see her eyes, but they narrowed, disgusted with his jokes. “You’re not funny.”
“I know this is uncomfortable for you, but I’m taking half of the bed. It’s been a long day for me, too.”