The Opal Witch: Prophecy (Book Two)

Chapter Two

Lux

 Lux heard her friends before she saw them. As soon as she opened the door to her childhood home, the chaotic sound of people trying to talk over one another hit her full force, and she found some of the melancholy from earlier slip away. Whatever changes this new life brought, she would never regret this one. Being a member of the Circle meant always having family.

"Bitch, get in here."

"Travis," Lux shrieked, throwing her arms around the lanky redhead. They rocked side to side before separating. "How did you get away from your mother? All she has talked about when she comes through the coffee shop is how she can't wait for you to be home."

"I helped," Sara Elizabeth said.

The former cheerleader leaned against the entryway to the living room. Her hair rested just above her shoulders and was several shades darker than the platinum blonde she once favored. They smiled at each other, their animosity long gone, but they didn't make a move to hug. Beyond Sara Elizabeth, the others sat around the coffee table. Mugs of steaming cider and hot chocolate warmed their hands, and Lux could smell the velvet scent of warm chocolate and brown sugar wafting from the fresh cookies on a platter.

"Ooh, cookies," Alina said.

"You better hurry. They're vultures," Travis called out, but Alina didn't need the encouragement. She pushed Brooke out of the way and took two.

Lux eyed Sara Elizabeth warily. "When you say you helped, what exactly do you mean?"

"Oh, lighten up buttercup. We didn't do anything wrong. Travis and I have been working on his Talent at school."

"Oh, how is that going?" Lux asked.

The same summer Lux discovered her aptitude for witchiness, Travis found out he was a Guardian like Alina. Descended from the original Knights of the Round Table, their bloodlines were blessed by the Fae Queens of Avalon. In exchange, they were supposed to protect the human realm from those who abused magic. Most were raised knowing what they were, but it turns out Travis' ancestor never knew about the child he fathered.

Alina helped Travis as much as she could, and while she admitted to knowing Travis' great, great, great... great grandfather, she refused to help find him. Lux looked at Alina. Now on her fourth cookie, she didn't look like a fearsome, centuries old warrior woman, but she'd seen her in action. A thought whispered through Lux's mind. There was a power Alina was holding back. One that would worry even the strongest of Angels, and if she didn't help Alina with her favor, that power would be the end of them all.

"Earth to Lux." Travis snapped his fingers in her face.

"Oh, sorry. It's been a long day. You were telling me about your Talent. When you left for school, you hadn't really identified it yet."

"Turns out, I can create illusions. Like, really strong ones. I can't hold them for long yet."

"Which," Sara Elizabeth said, jumping in with excitement, "is where I come in. I created a charm that can put his illusions on a loop. We picked something really simple. Travis went home, visited with his parents, and then claimed to be tired. We put the charm on his desk, and now, whenever his mama pokes her head in to check on her baby, she'll see him asleep in his bed."

"That is impressive," Lux admitted, arching a brow. "Though, I'm a little concerned you're twenty and still sneaking out of the house."

"Um, girl. You know Lorraine ain't one to be trifled with. If I hadn't snuck out, I wouldn't see any of y'all for at least a week."

"Lux, quit hogging Sara Elizabeth and Travis," Brooke shouted.

"Are you sure you wouldn't considering shortening your name? Sara Elizabeth is a mouthful," a girl Lux had never seen before said.

She was sitting next to Brooke, and the family resemblance was strong. Though, Lux thought the girl might favor Corinne more than she did Brooke with her tawny skin and soft curls. Once Brooke embraced her heritage, she reconnected with distant family. Turns out one of her aunts refused to bind her powers when the First Circle fell apart. She went north and joined a Circle there.

"You must be Thorne," Lux said to the newcomer. She'd not had a chance to meet Thorne when she visited Mississippi during the previous summer.

"And she's got the balls to give me grief about my name. Who names their kid Thorne?"

Thorne blushed up at Lux, but cut her eyes at the blonde. "Most witch families put a lot of thought into names. They hold a lot of power. For instance, Lux is latin for light. Come to think of it, Alina also means light. Though, it may be Greek."

"So, why Thorne? Because you're a pain?"

"Sara Elizabeth," Lux admonished, pushing her finger into the middle of her forehead. It would seem no matter how much her former enemy grew up, some of her edges would never soften.

Thorne took it all in stride. "My mother had a dream while she was pregnant with me. She saw a Hawthorn bush sitting in the middle of an ocean. A seal was swimming around it. When she woke up, she knew she had to name me Thorne."

"She got that from all of that?" Brooke asked.

"Well, Hawthorn bushes symbolize protection, and she knew that the bush represented me somehow. We're still working out the seal part."

"Did you know the Hawthorn tree is also known as a Fairy Tree?" Alina asked as she licked chocolate from her finger. "People used to believe fairies lived under the tree, and the fairies guarded it. So, if the seal is actually Fae, maybe it's a symbiotic relationship. You offer protection to each other?"

"Wait," Ruby spoke for the first time, "there are seal fairies?"

"I think they'd prefer the term selkie," Thorne replied. "But surely not. Selkies don't leave their island much. The chances of me running into one is about as good as getting struck by lightning."

"Okay, well enough of that." Sara Elizabeth clapped. "Why did Alina call this little meeting?"

Everyone stopped chattering and turned to look at the Guardian. She stared back at them, her expression turning serious. Looking nervous for the first time since Lux met the woman, she swallowed hard and twisted her hands in her lap.

"Alina has asked us to wipe her memory," Lux answered. "But she hasn't said why."

When everyone started talking at once, Alina held up her hand. "Please, this will be easier if I just spit it out. I can't explain everything, but almost everyone in my life thinks I'm dead."

"Alina!"

"I orchestrated it. It had to happen, and those are the things I can't explain. But, I do know that Morgan le Fay suspects that I'm still alive. It's my fault. Running around like this instead of in disguise."

"But why go through such lengths to wipe your memory? How will that keep her from finding you?"

"Morgan can travel through dreams. She doesn't use it very often because it's draining and leaves her vulnerable. If she knows the person, she can find their signature while they're sleeping, and once she's in your head, she knows everything. I've warded myself against her, but it's only a matter of time."

Lux froze. "And if she gets in your head, she knows where the Grail is."

"That, and she would know where the gateway to the Underworld is. She wants that almost as much as she wants the Grail. Instant army. Without my memories, not only is there nothing to find, but my signature will change. Memories are what make us who we are."

"But why do you need us? Memory charms aren't that hard to come by," Ruby said with a frown.

"I need it to be powerful. Not just a cover up. They need to be out of my head. And," Alina stopped and drew in a deep breath.

"And?" Everyone prompted.

"And, it's got to be done with everyone in the Circle, plus your mother, grandmother, and father, Lux. Because we have to erase your memories too. I have to cease to exist."