The Opal Witch

Chapter Thirty-Three: Foretold

Lux

The world fluttered into focus, and so did all Lux's aches and pains. Her temple throbbed where she'd been struck, and small, sharp objects pricked her back, digging in as she rolled to her side. But none of that scared her as much as the absence of her channeling stone.

"Lux?"

She pressed the heel of her palm against her brow bone and fought the urge to vomit as she sat up. Vision blurring, she looked around the dark space. "Declan?"

"Oh, thank god. I couldn't tell if you were breathing when they brought you in here." Sharp gasps punctuated his words.

"Where is here?" she asked, the room becoming more visible as her night vision adjusted. A thin stream of light filtered from a crack in the doors above her head.

"The cellar." A rattling sound drew her eye to the right corner. Declan's long legs were stretched out in front of him, and his arms were raised above his head. Iron cuffs bound his wrists, the chains hooked to them attached to the wall.

She crawled to him, holding her stomach to ease her nausea, but at the sight of blood oozing beneath the cuffs, all thoughts of her own discomfort fled. "What have they done to you?

"Don't," he commanded when she reached for the chains. "It's cold iron. Any attempt to magic it off will only result in harm to you."

"But you're bleeding," she cried.

He dropped his head against the wall, the movement clearing the hair from his face and revealing a large bruise across his cheekbone. "Cold iron is a weakness of sorcerers. They did it to keep me from drawing on any of the magical properties in this room."

"It was Kitty. She's working with the Bloodborn."

"I know," he said. He sounded tired. Defeated.

"But why? She has her own magic. Memaw said that Kitty is from a family that's been part of the First Circle for generations."

A cough and a groan sounded from another corner, making Lux and Declan tense. "Kitty is being forced to work with that witch."

"Memaw," Lux shouted, scrambling to the other side of the small room. Memaw's petite frame was slumped against the wall, the area not reached by the dim light. "How did you get down here?"

"I followed Kitty into the woods when I saw her carrying you out. Thought I'd rescue you and solve the mystery of the Bloodborn all at once. What an old fool."

"It's Daphne, Phoebe. I saw her," Declan groaned.

"Daphne. As in my great, great grandmother? How is that possible?" Lux asked. She put her arms around her grandmother and helped her move across the room so they could all sit together. Lux ran her eyes across Memaw's body, searching for wounds, but none were visible.

"She's been collecting magic from other witches because they bound her powers," Declan explained. He jerked on the chains, the movement making a fresh wave of blood drip down his arms. His next words were part of a sob. "She tricked me. She said her vision showed her I needed to be here when the Circle was reborn, but she's the one who set the parameters of the sleeping spell. She must have set it so I would awaken when the next High Priestess was born. My waking didn't save you; it put you in danger. I lost my family for nothing."

"Hey," Lux whispered, grabbing his face and pressing her forehead against his. She could feel the heat of his tears against her cheeks. "Not for nothing, and it did save me. Without you, I would've succumbed to my power a long time ago. We're soulmates. Don't you remember?"