Zalira dropped out of the circle, already exhausted from having done magic earlier. She sat down hard, pulling air into her lungs.
“I’m going to stop,” Io said, her voice shaking. “Dea Khloe.”
The roots immediately went still and we all collapsed near each other. I felt drained, like all my energy had been taken from me.
“So we can power one another,” Zalira said.
I sucked in a deep breath and held it for a moment before saying, “If we’re using magic to fight, if we’re powering each other, we wouldn’t be able to do magic of our own.”
“We would have to figure out a way to stagger it,” Io said as she leaned against Suri.
“Does everyone have a light?” Ahyana asked. “Could we touch anyone and it would power us?”
“We should test it.”
Ahyana got to her feet. “I’ll do it. There are guards outside the gate.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said. It seemed like we were currently the most recovered of the group.
We walked through the temple grounds quickly. It used to feel eerie to do so, as if we were disturbing a grave. But since we had started using the magic ... it no longer felt that way.
Instead it was like this was a place that could have life in it again because we were using it the way it was meant to be utilized.
When we arrived at the gate, Ahyana quickly called up her aspect. “No lights on any of them,” she said, and then uttered the words to turn it off again.
Curious, I quickly did the same. She was right. There weren’t any white lights around the guards.
“So it’s only specific people who can power us?” she asked.
Our adelphia made sense. We were bound to one another by blood and ceremony and, now, magic. Of course we could help one another.
But why did it happen with Quynh’s unborn baby?
And Xander?
When we returned to the palace, I sent for Parthenia. I asked her to take a message to Themis asking if we could resume our meetings at a later date because of how busy I had become. Those get-togethers were for me to teach her and Zalira, Ahyana, and Suri how to read, but Themis didn’t want anyone to know what we were actually doing.
I didn’t think it would be a problem to delay, as I supposed that she was probably just as preoccupied with the council, trying to figure out their next moves.
“I’ll do it right now,” Parthenia said. “Do you need anything else?”
She made an oof sound and put a hand over her belly.
“Is the baby kicking again?” I asked. This was my chance to test whether I could sense her baby the same way I could Quynh’s.
“Yes. Always.”
“May I please feel?”
She nodded. I came over and she showed me where to put my hands. A second later I felt a sharp jab.
But there wasn’t any light. No connection. I whispered, “Dea Erinys.”
Still nothing. Not on Parthenia, either. Strange. I quickly turned my power off so as to not suddenly pass out in front of my maid.
“It will be your turn soon enough,” she said. “I’m sure of it.”
I weakly smiled at her. “That would be something.”
