“We have to get you to a healer,” Seren said, cold creeping into her voice. “Your hand isn’t healing. It’s not a magic I recognize.”
Cal looked down and saw the wound on his brother’s palm was still flowing freely and laughed. “You are so stubborn. Even after all that you held onto the compulsion spell?”
He stood and walked to the boundary, testing it for weakness and finding none. “It isn’t a magic you recognize, dark Seren, because my brother used blood magic.”
The witch with purple eyes scoffed. The scars on her arms glinted silver in the moonlight. “Foolish.”
Cal grinned. “Indeed, it was. Care to tell us why that is?”
The witch rolled her eyes at him but stepped forward, looking down her nose toward Icarus’s injured palm. “It’s foolish because he is not a blood witch and that wound will not heal until he ends whatever spell he bound with his blood. Witches and wizards like him never stop and think why they shouldn’t use magic they weren’t blessed with.”
The last part was said under her breath, but Cal heard her and nodded his agreement. She rewarded him with a cutting glance.
The redhead behind her grinned. “Beautiful and smart. My favorite combination in a woman.”
“We have that in common.” Cal winked at Ara whose mouth twitched in a smile. “Now, Icarus, are you going to lift the compulsion or will you bleed to death because of your stubbornness? The spell ends either way.”
Icarus sighed. “I release you, Calder Darkmore, you may walk the grounds of Calami once more, though I warn you–”
“I’m sure whatever you’re about to tell me is very ominous and threatening. Duly noted.” Cal felt the magic seep from the wound on his calf as he stepped through the border, the boundary brushing against his skin like the web of a spider. He stood before Ara and took her in, basking in the subtle glow the newly awakened magic left on her skin. She was magnificent. If his magic had harmed her, had injured her in any way, he would never forgive himself.
Instead, she stepped into him and lifted a hand to his face, quieting his many thoughts with only a touch. “None of that sort of thinking.”
He tilted his head into her hand and raised a brow. “And what is it you think I’m thinking, Ara?”
She smiled a lovely soft smile that made him forget the pain of his bruised, probably fractured, perhaps even broken ribs.
“You, Calder Darkmore, want to know who my friends are.”
The redhead bounded up behind her, pulling the arm of the reluctant blood witch along with her. “I’m Roxie, this is Lily, and you are trouble.”
Cal’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I suspect that’s a trait we share.”
Lily pulled at Roxie’s arm and looked past him at Icarus and Seren. “We shouldn’t be here. Your curiosity as to why Professor Atwood was storming into the woods has been sated, Roxie. Whatever is happening here could get us all expelled. My aunt will skin me if we are caught out here with a rogue baby wizard and a professor who is clearly lacking in judgment.”
“What is happening here?” Seren scowled at him, rising to her feet and wiping her bloody hands on her skirt. “Why were you two going at each other as if to kill? Had I not stepped in–”
“Had you not stepped in, we all would likely be in much better shape,” Cal said, cutting her off. “Your magic almost did the job of killing Icarus for me. If anyone gets to kill my brother, Seren, it’s me.” His tone was light despite the severity of his words.
Ara smothered a laugh, and Seren narrowed her eyes. “And what about Ara? Your magic could have killed her, and where would you be without your precious vessel? Or would another simply take her place?”
Lily stopped trying to pull Roxie away and frowned, looking between Ara and Cal closely. “The vessel is a myth made up by Lynorians to excuse their barbarous acts against the world.”
Icarus leaned against the massive trunk of an ancient oak. “There is historical evidence the vessel did indeed exist, Ms. Sinclair.” The color returned to his face now that the strain of the compulsion spell was lifted.
“Spare us all the history lesson, brother. It is no myth.” Cal turned to face his brother, his voice low and venomous. “The Age of Unity is within reach. What happened to our family won’t be in vain if I find the omnis stone. If the three are united, the vessel, the grimoire, and the omnis stone, the humans will no longer lord over us all. Witch and wizardkind will no longer fight for dominance under them. There will be equality once again amongst the three.” His chest was heaving now.
Icarus shook his head. “Calder, do you hear yourself? You sound just like father. He was driven insane by the hunt for the grimoire and this quest for unity. You can’t tell me you honestly believe—”
“The grimoire?” Lily’s sharp voice sounded through the night causing Eiridis and Horacio to take flight and land overhead, shuffling on the branches, Horacio cawing in agitation, but her question went unanswered.
Seren shook her head in frustration, walking past where Icarus leaned without a second glance. “I do not care about this. My sister is not a pawn to be used in whatever game this is between you.”
A chill ran down Cal’s spine as the air grew dense and cold and he turned to Ara. The blue of her eyes seemed to disappear as her pupils dilated, the black taking over in her anger. “I am no one’s pawn.”
She was a beacon in the dark night, lighting up the forest around them as surely as if the sun was overhead. The others shielded their eyes, but Cal stepped into her light, cupping her cheek. She raised her hand to his and whispered, “I am not a pawn, right?”
“You aren’t,” Cal reassured her, his breath visible now as the night air cooled.
