Winter Fire (Witchling Series) (18 page)

“You create and I destroy,” she said sadly.

“The story meant something to you?” he asked.

She nodded. Opening her eyes, she broke contact with the earth to wipe her face.

“What?” he prodded.

“The tree is like me. It’s a survivor, and it found its way here. To you,” she replied. Her intent gaze was on him.

“That’s a good thing,” Beck said, warmth blooming within him.

“No, it’s not,” she whispered. “Nothing can save us from the flames. We find a moment of happiness, and it goes up in smoke.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“You can protect the tree. It’s too late for me.”

Beck studied her, concerned.

“I gotta go.” Morgan stood. “Thank you for sharing your magick with me.”

“Morgan, wait,” he said, hopping to his feet.

“No. Walking away.”

I don’t want to walk away.
The words stuck in his throat at the determined look on her face. Beck couldn’t help feeling a little hurt by her rejection.

“Sure. I remember,” he said and smiled widely, trying to pretend like it didn’t matter. “I was just going to say not to forget how to meditate. It might help you control your fire better.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. “Bye, Beck.”

“Bye, Morgan.”

She turned and walked away. Beck instinctively asked the earth to clear a path for her. His phone rang. He answered it, eyes on her.

“Beck?”

“Yeah.”

“This is Noah. I was wondering if you had a minute to meet me.”

“Yeah, sure,” Beck said. He doubted Dawn’s brother was coming for a social visit. He had always liked the Dark water witchling but knew there could be no friendship between them anymore.

“I’m in the driveway.” Noah sounded amused. “Decker said I can’t come any further.”

Beck smiled. His twin hated the new rule about Dark witchlings visiting the Light Campus. So far, he’d obeyed it and ensured all the other Dark witchlings did, too.

“On my way,” Beck replied. He hung up and made his way through the forest towards the road. It always made him smile to see the random Dark witchling standing in the middle of the driveway. They’d soon need a parking lot on one side to ensure the drive stayed clear.

He reached the gravel and glanced towards the school. Morgan was seated on the front porch. He waved then trotted towards the point where the Dark witchlings were instructed to come. Noah stood, leaning against his motorcycle. Dressed in heavy winter clothing, the blond witchling had grown and filled out since the last time Beck saw him. Noah was tall with a square jaw and naturally slim frame, his layer of muscle reminding Beck how fast the track runner was. Noah was uneasy, and Beck had no problem understanding why.

“Welcome back,” Beck said and offered his hand.

“Thanks,” Noah said and shook it.

An awkward silence fell. Noah shifted, and Beck waited, at ease despite the situation.

“Look, I, uh, just wanted to talk about my sister for a minute.”

Beck nodded and crossed his arms.

“She doesn’t know I’m here, and our parents would kill me for telling you this,” Noah started. “I guess I’m hoping … I don’t know. Anyway, I spent the past year working on Dad’s board. The company is a disaster right now. Hemorrhaging money, borrowing money, losing money … it’s always about money.” Noah paused then shook his head.

“I did an internship with my dad’s company two summers ago. Definitely not my thing,” Beck agreed.

“Not my thing, either, but it’s the family business. I think you get that.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, mind on the magick Master titles he and Decker inherited.

“I don’t know how else to say this, but Dad is broke. The company is about to file for bankruptcy, which means his assets will be frozen,” Noah continued. “Which, in turn, means –“

“The court issues between Dawn and me are at risk.”

“I’m excited about being an uncle,” Noah said. “My sister is a little crazy, but she doesn’t deserve to have her daughter taken away from her. I wanted to ask you if you’d consider working out an agreement outside of court -- joint custody.”

Beck listened. His decision was already made; he’d never leave his daughter with Dawn. Noah had no idea what his sister had done. Beck didn’t fault him for wanting to make things fair. If anything, it showed that someone in their family had a good head on his shoulders. 

“Or put things on hold, until we’re solvent again,” Noah added at his silence.

“That could be years,” Beck said.

“We have a plan and an investor who will buy us out, if we liquidate everything. It’ll take a year, if things go well.”

His daughter would be born in four months. She didn’t have a year.

“I’ve always respected you and your family, Noah. But I can’t do that,” Beck said slowly. “I’m sorry.”

Noah stared at him hard. “That’s it? You’ll just take her baby away?”

“I don’t have any other choice.”

“Is this because you’re angry at her? Revenge for whatever happened between you?” Noah’s voice rose.

“Nothing like that,” Beck said. “I have an obligation to protect witchlings, including my daughter.”

“And Dawn? She’s just screwed?”

“Noah,” Beck paused. If ever he needed to be careful choosing his words, it was now. “Some things happened while you were gone that prevent me from dealing with this any differently. I’m not doing this for revenge. This has nothing to do with how I feel about your sister. I don’t want to take her baby away. But, I have a responsibility as the Master of Light, and I can’t overlook what Dawn has done. She crossed a line that I can’t ignore.”

Noah’s face grew pink, and his blue eyes shot fire. But he drew a deep breath.

“Is this about Tanya? Because Dawn said it was meant to be a joke,” Noah pursued. “You can’t hold an accident against her!”

“It’s partially about Tanya and partially what happened to make Dawn choose Dark. Tanya wasn’t an accident,” Beck replied calmly.

“How do you know? Are you just assuming the worst about my sister, because you’re upset with her?”

“I know, because one of my gifts as the Master of Light is the ability to see the memories of Light witchlings who died,” Beck replied with patience. “I know exactly what happened. I know it can happen again. I found Tanya’s body, Noah. I’m not going to risk that the next girl I find is my daughter.”

Noah appeared taken aback.

“I’m sorry. I appreciate you coming to me, but I can’t and won’t change my mind.”

Dawn’s brother said nothing. With jerky movements, he yanked on his helmet. Beck stood back as the angry water witchling released the kickstand and started the motorcycle. Noah left fast, gravel spitting from the back tire of his bike.

“He’s a good brother,” Morgan’s quiet voice came from behind him.

Concentrated on Noah, Beck hadn’t heard her approach. He faced her, saddened by the interaction.

“Yeah, he is,” he said. “You have a way of sneaking up on me.”

“Just making sure no one else does.”

Beck laughed. She was so serious about protecting him. Morgan watched him closely.

“You need to stay on the Light Campus,” he said with mock sternness.

She lifted an eyebrow at him then held out her hand. He saw the small flame. She sensed when he needed the comfort only she seemed able to create. Beck took it. It left him feeling energized and cheerful.

“Now, back to campus,” he ordered.

“You’re a good person, Beck,” she said. 

“So are you,” he replied. He started back towards the schoolhouse, nudging her arm as he passed. “Did you overhear everything?”

“Yeah.”

He waited for her to say something. Did she think he was mean for wanting to take away Dawn’s baby? Had her impression of him as being a good Master of Light changed?

What she thought of him mattered, and he wasn’t sure why. He would do what he had to either way. She was unusually quiet. Sad, even, and Beck didn’t like that at all. He wanted to sweep her up for a kiss, just so she’d be pissed enough to talk to him. He wondered if her thoughts were on her own family and the pain at least one member caused. It infuriated him to think of anyone hurting her.

“I’m sorry for threatening the tree,” she said at last. “I didn’t know it was alive like that.”

“Everything is alive in some way,” he replied. “You wouldn’t burn it down anyway.”

“You don’t know that. Sometimes I get angry. Fire happens.”

“I do know that,” he countered. “Another of my gifts is the ability to see the good in people. I see it in you, too.”

Morgan glanced up at him, the emotion on her face one he couldn’t fully decipher. Yearning maybe, as if she wanted to believe him, but couldn’t. He wondered why she wouldn’t let herself trust him.

“I believe in you,” he said with a smile and nudged her arm again.

“Like I said before. You have poor judgment in girls,” she retorted.

They climbed the stairs to the schoolhouse. Beck said nothing, sensing she was distressed again without fully understanding why.

“Bye Beck,” she said and left him standing on the porch. The screen door closed loudly behind her.

“Bye Morgan,” he replied. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to be around her.

His gaze went to the forest. He was too restless to return to class. Instead, he went to the woods, in search of peace and a friend. Beck waited until he was far enough away that the companion he had in mind wouldn’t be seen from the road.

“Sam,” he called.

A path parted for him through the trees. He walked down it, until he found the large alcove at the bottom of an ancient tree. It was one of the yeti’s many homes in the forest. Beck walked through the dark entrance and saw Sam seated by a small fire, drinking cider.

The ugly bigfoot looked up at him with an equally ugly smile.

“Hey, Sam,” Beck said. He sat, making himself at home in the forest creature’s house.

Greetings to the Master of Light,
the yeti replied into his mind cheerfully.

“How’s life out here?”

Very quiet. Summer brought me chocolate. I like it. If you see her again, ask her for more.

“The last thing we need is a fat yeti rolling around the forest,” Beck warned, chuckling.

Sam shrugged.

Beck grew quiet, thoughtful.

What troubles you today?

“The usual, I guess. Light, Dark, life.”

Is the fireball taking care of you?

Beck looked up at him curiously. “How do you know about Morgan?”

She found me in the forest. Offered to take Beck’s pet bigfoot home to him.
Sam laughed hard.

“Yeah, that sounds like her,” Beck said ruefully. “You only talk to girls who end up trashing my life. Please tell me that’s not the case.”

The impact she will have on your life has yet to be determined.

Beck sat up straight, alarmed by the vague answer.

She has heart, but fire witchlings tend to be a little emotional in their decision making.

“You’re talking about her trial, aren’t you?” he asked, hushed. “Will it be bad, like Summer’s?”

Bad? They are never bad by nature.

“You know what I mean!”

Sam smiled.

“Ugh, Sam!” Beck exclaimed. “I need some good news.” He remembered the notebook in his pocket and whipped it out. “The earth has been giving me some cryptic messages. Can you help me interpret them?”

Maybe.

“The first one was Sunday. It showed me Darkness eating away the Light source from its center. I checked it but didn’t find anything wrong.”

Sam cocked his head to the side, listening.

“The second was really weird. Fire then a rock.”

Rock?

“I don’t know how to describe it. It was a rock, but  not a normal one. It was black. Cold. Dark.”

Soul stone.

“What?”

Long ago, some Masters of Dark and Light figured out how to distill Dark souls into a physical form. We called them soul stones.

“Why would anyone do that?”

Initially, the Darkness was too strong. Nataniel-the-Darkbringer, the first Dark Master of your line, faced an incredible challenge. He did not live long enough to completely corral the Darkness. His son, Horus-the-Peacebringer, was just as strong and ruled for forty years. The third in your line, Bartholomew-the-Terrible, fell to the Darkness during a critical period that would determine if the Darkness could be vanquished. He grew Darkness for over fifty years, destroying much of the progress made by his predecessors.

Beck listened, intrigued by the history he’d never learn in school. Sam had lived for at least a thousand years and known each Light and Dark Master personally. Decker learned much of their history from their mother when he transitioned to his position. Beck transitioned alone, learning later that the Mistress of Light who should’ve helped him had been dead for twenty years.

The fourth in your line, Tranin-the-Restorer, never would’ve been able to withstand the Darkness, if he didn’t find a way to remove Bartholomew’s influence from his mind. His twin, the Master of Light, Tyron-the-Bright, helped him distill the soul for temporary keeping, in hopes that a few generations of strong Dark Masters would contain the Darkness and the soul would be returned to its rightful place.

“Was it?”

It was, but they discovered that the stone itself could not be destroyed. It is like a shell that can be filled with a new soul. It has the potential to destroy Light, if not safeguarded. They entrusted the soul stone to a line of fire witchlings for safekeeping. Only fire can withstand the coldness of the Dark. The soul stone wasn’t able to influence fire witchlings, but it could every other element. This is also why the Dark Masters are known as the Masters of Fire and Night. Dark Masters must be fire witchlings. Light Masters who are not fire elements cannot handle the soul stone. It will destroy you.

“That’s why I saw fire in the vision,” Beck said thoughtfully. “The earth wants me to know our history?”

Maybe. Maybe not. The Darkness is at the place now that it was when Tranin-the-Restorer lived. The immediate crisis may be over, now that Decker is stable, but the Dark remembers how it nearly took over before. It is still strong enough to try again.