The Opal Witch: Prophecy (Book Two)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Three times in the last hour, Kitty had almost driven the car into a ditch, but it was difficult to keep her eyes on the road when the man in the passenger seat looked like he might expire at any moment. In the hours since Morgause took over Lux and fled with her body, he'd retreated inside himself until he resembled a shell of his former self. She almost wondered if he was even there anymore, his body nothing more than an empty vessel waiting for a new occupant.

Just the thought made her shiver. They'd had enough body snatching for the day. For eternity.

On the bright side, his current state of mind meant he hadn't asked her the one question she hoped to avoid after locking him and Lux inside their hotel room last night. She imagined they'd both been too distracted to wonder how she used magic since they'd searched her for bloodstones before allowing her to come on the trip to see Elaine, but she fully expected them to demand an explanation once that post-coital glow wore off.

It had been a stupid risk, and one she would make again if not for the tiny fact her pushing the two of them into each other's arms led to the very thing she'd ruined her life to avoid–Declan told Kitty that much as she loaded him into the. Gods, Morgan was really a devious bitch for designing something so cruel. To ruin that moment for two people who so clearly loved one another.

She jerked the car back into the middle of the road and forced herself to stare straight ahead. Attending to Declan would have to wait, and no one she knew had really ever died from a heartache, but she didn't know anyone else who'd lost their soulmate either...

"No," she said out loud. "You can't give up. We can still save her, and I know as long as that is even a sliver of a possibility, you won't give up on her."

He stirred but said nothing. However, it was something. More sign of life than he'd given since sinking into the leather seat with tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping from his jaw. It strengthened her own resolve because even as she encouraged him, she couldn't banish the visions of doom from her mind. The ones that drove her to madness and to ruin. The ones that told her there was no hope now that Morgause had arrived. Every path from this point forward pointed to Morgan's victory.

But it confirmed a truth she'd always known. For all her talk about ending Lux to save the world, Kitty couldn't do it because existing right now, knowing her friend wasn't physically in this realm of existence, nearly broke her, and if she dwelled on it too long, she would remember the pieces of herself she had sacrificed–was still sacrificing–in order to stop this very thing from happening and realize it had been for nothing.

A sign whizzed by in a green and white blur. Bluethorn was still eighty miles away, but the exit for Nashville was next. Vanderbilt was in Nashville, and at Vanderbilt was Travis. He might cut her clean open with that sassy tongue of his, but she needed all the help she could get right now. And she missed her friend.

Deciding, she cut across multiple lanes of traffic, ignoring blaring horns, and managed to just make the exit. Declan didn't protest any of it–not the change of plans or crazy driving, and if the price wasn't so high, she would cast a spell to snap him out of it. Something to numb the roaring pain inside him so he could function like a normal person.

An hour later because Nashville traffic was crazy this time of day, she parked in a visitor's spot at the University. Grand red brick buildings with white columns and trim sprawled across the campus, and elm trees sprawled over the quad and pathways, their long slender branches bare and swaying in the winter winds.

Tears filled Kitty's eyes, and she let them fall freely. Long ago, she and Travis spent hours talking about college, planning their dorm rooms, and dreaming of college boys. Vandy was their one and only pick. No other school would do, and now he was here without her. All alone.

Her spine went stiff as she spied the students walking across the quad, their heads huddled together. Magic or fate or some force had brought him to her, but it was the person with him that had her blood thundering.

"You bitch," she screamed, leaping from the car and running at the pair, who froze mid-step and gaped at Kitty. "What is this?"

"Kitty, what are you doing here?" Travis asked, his thick red brows dipping sharply over his freckled nose.

She took a moment to appraise him. Nearly all traces of childhood were gone from his face. He'd grown into his gangly limbs, and his form fitting shirt revealed a chiseled body. Since when did Travis work out? But the thing she noticed most was the pain etched into his features as he stared at her.

"You need to leave," Sara Elizabeth hissed, magic and animosity sparking in her eyes.

"Shut up."

"Excuse me?"

"Let's make things clear. You're an off-brand stand in for the real deal, so unless I speak to you directly, be quiet."

Sara Elizabeth squared up with Kitty. "Or you'll what? Kill me? Steal my magic, you Bloodwitch."

"Okay, okay," Travis yelped, jumping between the girls as they launched themselves at one another. "Kitty for real. Why are you here?"

"You know what..." She shoved him away and drew her knotted hair over her shoulder. Fingers tugging on the strands, she sniffed. "This was a dumb idea. I'll figure it out."

"Mmkay, bye," Sara Elizabeth said, making a move to walk away and only pausing when she noticed Travis didn't follow.

"Kitty, what is it?" he asked again.

Behind her, a car door opened and closed. The three of them saw Declan at the same time. His skin was pale and haggard, and he walked toward them like a man three times his age. Sara Elizabeth and Travis shared an alarmed look before rushing to his side, but he waved away their offer of help.

"Good idea," Declan said finally, directing his comment to Kitty. "Lux's Circle should be involved. It's the only way we might save her."

"Save her?" Sara Elizabeth clutched at her chest. "What's happened? And why is Kitty involved?"

"Get in the car, and we'll explain it all."

Neither of them hesitated. There were no protests about missing class or work. Kitty reached for Travis before he climbed in the back seat with Sara Elizabeth, but he shrugged away her touch and slammed the door, the barrier between them far bigger and stronger than a car door.

"Kitty," Declan said, holding out his hand. "I'm driving."

"Are you sure? Just five minutes ago you were catatonic."

When he continued to glare, she threw up her hands and went to the front passenger seat. Buckling her seatbelt, she caught sight of Travis and Sara Elizabeth in the back, their faces close together as they whispered furiously, and she sent up a prayer to whoever might listen that her visions were wrong and losing everything was worth it.