Page 165 of A Courage of the Chosen

“I have to do this, Cal. I chose her as my sister long before I knew who she really was. She’s my family, too.”

“We’ll speak to Brodie in the morning. He has a say in this.”

He fights the fear snaking through him, since he knows that this is ultimately my choice.

I’m risking myself to save her. But she’s lying bound in chains that smother her magic because of me. Raghnall was trying to corrupt me, and Rachel didn’t know there was already shadow magic in my veins. She gave her life in place of mine.

So, if I die trying to save someone I love, then that’s a pretty good way to go, if you ask me.

Chapter 49

Elsie

We’re up early the next morning. Me too filled with anticipation to sit still, and Callahan watching every move I make. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place. Try this and endanger us both, or do nothing and lose his sister anyway.

We knock on Rach’s rooms a little after the sun has risen. Brodie answers in rumpled clothes and tired eyes, like he hasn’t slept at all in the last three weeks.

Looking at his drawn expression, I’m suddenly hesitant to tell him about our plan, and sharing the fact that Dorche magic resides in my core.

“We need you to come with us,” Callahan says in a low voice.

Brodie looks over his shoulder to where Freya is sleeping on the bed I had moved in for her.

The guards posted outside the door bow as we turn back to our room, without waiting to see if Brodie will follow. He’s barely left Rachel’s side, our wedding the furthest he’s been from her.

I know we’re asking a lot of him, but we can’t talk openly in the halls, and the less people know about my power, the better. Curiosity must get the better of him, since his footsteps trail us.

Callahan locks the door behind Brodie when he enters.

“What’s going on?” Brodie’s eyes dart around.

“I have an idea to get the Dorche magic out of Rach,” I begin. “But there’s something I have to show you first.”

Callahan positions himself between Brodie and I off to the side, feet squared, arms crossed. “We’re gonna need you to fight any initial reaction,” he adds. “It’s not what you might think.”

The unease rolls off him, and thanks to the fragment of his soul that I possess, my body coils the same way his does, ready to jump into action if Brodie makes a wrong move.

“Not suspicious at all,” Brodie deadpans.

Ignoring his dry attitude, I plough ahead. “Remember what the Druids said in Ruival? About balance, and me fearing who I am?”

Brodie’s dark, confused eyes move slowly between me and Callahan. “Yes . . .” He drags out the syllable.

“It’s because of this.”

I attempt to slow my racing heart and summon my powers. They form quickly in my waiting palm, and when black begins veining through the knife I’ve sculpted with light, my breath stalls, and my pulse thunders as I wait for Brodie to piece together what he’s seeing.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it appears Elsie is wielding shadows.”

At least he’s making jokes and not trying to murder me, so that’s a win.

I hold the magic steady for a few moments, heat from my light counteracted by the iciness of the shadows. As I let it sit there, the songs they both sing begin to blend and harmonize. They were never at odds with each other, as I always thought.

“An explanation would be really great right about now,” Brodie says with a scowl.

“When Tavish took the Craobh, he sent his darkness into my bloodstream, only it didn’t affect me the way it does others. He didn’t corrupt me, because that power was always there.”

The massive man eyes me speculatively, thick arms crossed over his chest. “How do you know?”