Daughters of Creation

Chapter Sixteen: Moira

"A person's fate or destiny"
—Moira

OCTOBER 16

The moment the library door shut Dana was gone. She hurried past Vela and Millicent, who more preoccupied than normal. She brushed it aside and was out of the front door before either witch could ask where she was going. Dana did let a quick message slip to Millicent through her ability to mind read. She wanted—no needed to tell Dae and Eytelis about the development they'd made in the case. For all they knew either one of them could be in danger. Hell, the entire world within the Veil was in danger. She needed to let them know about the Eight and maybe, just maybe, Eytelis might even know something about them. Dana left the apartment without running into anyone. (She didn't even hear anything coming from Steve's apartment).

Time seemed to have gone by faster than she had thought as she stepped out into the forested area beside their crumbling building. The sun crested below the treetops, the sky turning a dusky color. Twilight had fallen while they had been none the wiser.

"Dae? Eytelis?" her voice echoed. Only the birds and the critters answered her.

Dana frowned. Eytelis' tree wasn't too far from their apartment building, that's how she'd found them in the first place. (If stumbling by accident counted that was). One of them should've been able to hear her, right? Trying not to let her concerns get the best of her, she pushed aside her worry and went further into the woods. It was possible Eytelis was still asleep in her night lily and Dae was out doing whatever a Sentry did, but with night so close she knew neither strayed too far away from the tree.

Unless something bad happened, her mind whispered.

Shaking her head fiercely, she ignored the fear building inside her. She was simply letting her worries get the best of her. Dana let some of her frustration go in the form of flickering balls of light. She should be more cautious, but there were monsters other than murderers that hunted the Veil. And most of those creatures fled from the light.

"Dana?" A soft, masculine voice called.

Dana nearly tripped in surprise. Turning on her heels Dae's curious face materialized from the forest, his body brushing aside the ferns as he stepped closer.

She felt her shoulders relax. "Thank the Mother Goddess, I thought something had happened."

Dae's brows pulled together in question. "No, nothing's happened. Why? Have you learned more about the case?"

She closed the distance between them, hugging him briefly to make sure she wasn't dreaming and it was all real. The scent of woods and clove tingling her senses. She released him and said, "Actually yes, that's what I wanted to talk about with you and Eytelis."

Dae nodded. "She should be waking now," he tilted his head, looking to the sky, "the sun's almost gone."

He held out his hand for her and she willingly took it. Unlike the others who saw the Five more often than not, Dana was left scrambling to find time to be with Dae and Eytelis; one a Sentry chained to the day and the other a dryad, bound to the night and her flower. It wasn't easy for her and sometimes she wished her life wasn't so magical.

As they passed a clump of wildflowers her mind snapped back to the Rose of Sharon. "Was Eytelis able to find anything about the rose the murderer left for Rosalyn?"

His grip tightened for a split second before the pressure around her hand returned to normal. Dae's voice melted with the sun's glow as they traveled further into the shadows. "She touched it once and then refused to go near it again. I'm sorry, Dannie, but the magic involved with the creation of that rose was dark magic not even Eytelis is willing to be near."