Edge of Pathos (Book 4 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 38

For the next three days, Valerie's house became the headquarters of the Fist, as she planned her attack on Silva and the Fractus's camp in the Atacama Desert. It reminded her of planning for the battle against the Fractus a year ago, until she saw the empty places at her kitchen table that her father and Gideon had occupied.

Valerie never missed them more, as everyone looked to her for final approval on battle plans. Henry, Thai, and her friends advised as best they could, but it wasn't the same as having a wiser head to rely on.

And always, in the back of her mind, was the thought of her mother encased in stone, waiting for eternity for a freedom that would never come. It was a steep price to pay for the possibility that her leadership was necessary to expel the Fractus from Earth.

Emin enjoyed the bustle of planning and the constant stream of visitors, and seeing some of his grief lift was one of the few comforts Valerie had.

Valerie had just finished talking with Kanti through a hand mirror when a strange, almost irresistible impulse came over her to leave her house. It reminded her of when Sanguina or Kellen had controlled her mind, except that she wasn't afraid.

Instead, she was drawn toward something sweet that tugged at the part of her that was connected with Darling. He needed her. She walked and then ran deeper and deeper into the woods. The path wound by the Lake of Knowledge, and she found herself on the hidden path that she had last walked with Henry to find Azra when Clarabelle had been born.

Her heart was warm in her chest, and she saw a faint red glow under her shirt. She'd seen something like it before—Darling's heart pulsed red when he healed someone with his vivicus power.

She'd been so connected to him since she'd saved Henry that she hadn't realized that she hadn't actually seen him in over a year. Guilt followed the realization, and she swallowed it down.

As she continued to run, the gold faded from the bark of the trees, and she knew she was in the remote reaches of Messina. She recognized the grove where Clarabelle was born. She slowed her steps and nearly tripped over a ball of fur on the ground.

"Darling?" she asked.

The little creature barely resembled the Darling she knew. His gold fur had lost its shine, but his eyes were more aware than she'd ever seen. They sparked with something like intelligence.

"You heard my call." Darling's voice was nothing like the little squeaks that she'd been used to. It was deep and powerful, and utterly shocking.

"I didn't know you could talk," Valerie blurted.

"I think it's because this is the end," he said. "My life has been a hazy dream to me for so long, and now I am awake."

Valerie moved to his side. "I'm here. I'll use my power to—"

Darling rested a paw on her hand. "No, please. I am grateful that my time to be absorbed into the ether has come at last. I did not call you for that."

"I'm glad you let me be with you."

"You are the only person I know. All of the other interactions I've had, even before my powers stripped my mind, have been burned away, save yours. For a few months now, my mind has slowly returned to me, and I hoped it meant that I'd fulfilled my duty as vivicus at last."

"Is that why we've been connected?" she asked.

"Indeed. Vivicus are always linked heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind. But while my mind was a blank, there could be no connection."

Valerie rapidly blinked back her tears, but they were less bitter than the ones she'd shed for Dulcea, or her father. It was different when someone went peacefully, ready for the ether, rather than ripped from life too soon.