Chapter 21
Morgan”s pulse thudded in her ears as she led her sisters through the underbrush toward the jagged cliffs. The forest seemed to hum with a vibrancy that prickled against her skin, causing her intuition to flutter with warning. They moved like shadows, silent and swift, taking each step with deliberate care.
The normally tranquil woods felt charged, alive with an eerie undercurrent that seeped into their bones. An ominous breeze ruffled their hair and made the leaves dance wildly on their branches. Even the wildlife acted strangely, with birds circling in dizzying patterns above them and squirrels chattering in an unnerving discordant chorus.
Morgan held up a hand, signaling for them to stop. The trees thinned here, giving way to a rocky outcrop that sloped steeply toward the cliff”s edge. She peered through a thicket of hawthorn, squinting against the glaring sunlight that bounced off the ocean below. A lone figure stood at the edge of the precipice, a billowing green cape fluttering around her like an emerald cloud.
”She”s here,” Morgan whispered.
The sisters crouched low behind a large boulder, eyes trained on Sofie Dove.
Huddled behind the sheltering boulder, Morgan glanced at each of her companions. Luke”s eyes were hard, a predator ready for the chase. Celeste, on the other hand, wore an expression of thoughtful caution. The sisters exchanged glances, a silent conversation flowing between them.
”Luke,” Morgan began, her voice low but steady, ”we don”t want to escalate this more than necessary. We”ll try talking first.”
Luke”s jaw clenched, but he nodded, his gaze never leaving Sofie Dove”s solitary figure. Celeste let out a soft sigh of relief.
Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Morgan stepped from behind the boulder. Her boots crunched on the rocky terrain as she moved into the open.
”Sofie!” Her voice echoed across the cliffs, swallowed by the crashing waves below. The wind caught her hair and whipped it around her face as she stood there, exposed and vulnerable.
Sofie turned with unhurried grace, her eyes wide with surprise that quickly melted into cool composure. ”Morgan,” she acknowledged, her gaze flickering to take in the group emerging from their hiding spot. ”I see you”ve brought reinforcements.”
Morgan forced a tight smile onto her face. ”We”re concerned, Sofie.”
Sofie”s eyebrows lifted slightly as she folded her arms across her chest. ”Oh?”
”It”s about Alex Summers,” Fiona chimed in, stepping up next to Morgan. Her red curls gleamed brightly under the sun, a stark contrast to the tension that lined her face.
”Alex?” Sofie”s gaze flicked toward Fiona before returning to Morgan. ”What about him?”
”You never mentioned you knew him, yet you bailed him out of jail,” Jolene stated bluntly from behind them. Her sky-blue eyes bored into Sofie with unwavering intensity.
Sofie didn”t flinch at the accusation but instead tilted her head slightly. ”And why would that concern you?” Her voice held a note of challenge.
”It concerns us because you lied, Sofie,” Morgan said, meeting the older woman”s gaze squarely. ”The alignment is coming, and you”re disrupting our ability to reach the epicenter. We need to stop the worst from happening.”
Sofie”s laughter died down as she regarded Morgan with a look that bordered on pity. ”Oh, you poor, misguided girls.” She sighed dramatically. ”You”re looking in the wrong direction. It”s my brother who”s causing the disruption.”
Jolene stepped forward then, her blue eyes flashing with anger. ”Stop lying, Sofie!” she snapped. ”We”re onto you, and so is Maynard. He”s trying to help. He even saved me.”
Something flickered in Sofie”s eyes at Jolene”s words—a momentary softening that was quickly replaced by steely resolve.
”Is that so?” she retorted coolly. ”Well, if Maynard is such a good guy, maybe he should consider giving up some of his power to save everyone from the effects of the alignment. He hasn”t done that, has he? No, I didn”t think so, because I”m the one that is trying to help, and he is the one making things difficult.”
The sisters glanced at each other at Sofie”s words. There was an edge to her voice that hadn”t been there before—a hint of desperation beneath her usual confident facade. Morgan felt a twinge of unease but pushed it aside.
”If that”s the case, then, why did you lie about knowing Alex?” Fiona asked.
”And why did you have him pawn the stones? You did, didn”t you?” Jolene added.
”And why did you have him steal the lumiscope?” Celeste chimed in.
Sofie raised her brows at Celeste”s question. She sighed and turned to them. ”Yes, I had Alex working for me. But I did it for the good of everyone,” Sofie admitted, her voice a mere whisper against the ocean”s roar.
Morgan glanced at her sisters, their faces mirroring her own surprise. The green-cloaked woman had been orchestrating things from the shadows all along.
”He stole the stones and pawned them because I knew Calvin would sell them to you,” Sofie continued, her gaze never leaving Morgan”s. ”I wanted you Blackmoores to have them in your possession so they wouldn”t reach the epicenter.”
A scoff escaped Morgan”s lips before she could stop it. ”Why all the intrigue, Sofie? Why not just give them to us directly?”
Sofie sighed, a gust of wind catching her cloak and sending it billowing around her. ”It”s simple,” she replied. ”I didn”t want Maynard to find out you had them. If he did, he would insinuate himself into your plans, and things wouldn”t turn out well.”
Morgan felt a knot of frustration tighten in her stomach. They”d been used, manipulated into this game of magical keep-away with an impending celestial disaster hanging over their heads.
”But alas,” Sofie said with a bitter laugh that was carried away by the wind, ”it looks like all my efforts were for nothing. You didn”t keep the stones, and Maynard has insinuated himself into your plans anyway.”
”If what you say is true, you won”t mind helping us out,” Celeste said.
Sofie”s lips curled into a smirk. ”How, exactly, do you propose I help you?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ”You”ve already lost the stones.”
Celeste stepped forward, her expression determined. ”We need the lumiscope to keep the lines from flickering so we can find the epicenter.”
Sofie”s brows furrowed in a scowl. ”What makes you think you need it?”
Celeste cast a quick glance at Morgan before replying, ”We have the celestrolabe, but the ley lines are jittery. Maynard said the lumiscope will help keep them straight. We need it to find the epicenter.”
A laugh burst from Sofie”s lips then, high and clear against the crash of the waves below. ”I do have the lumiscope, but perhaps you should think twice before putting your trust in Maynard.”
”Or in you,” Morgan said. ”If you really were the one that wanted to help us, you”d hand it over.”
With a sigh of resignation, Sofie reached into her cloak and pulled out an intricate device that gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. The lumiscope.
The device was roughly the size of a small compact, shiny gold decorated with gemstones and complex etchings.
Sofie held it out to them, her expression unreadable. Morgan stepped forward to take it, her fingers brushing against Sofie”s as she did so. A jolt of energy passed between them, causing Morgan to flinch slightly.
Sofie retracted her hand and tucked it back into her cloak, her gaze following the lumiscope as Morgan handed it over to Celeste.
They had what they had come for, but instead of relief, a knot of dread settled in Morgan”s stomach.
”Thank you,” Celeste said, her voice sounding small in the vast expanse of the cliffside.
Sofie merely nodded, her gaze lingering on the lumiscope a moment longer before she turned away from them. ”Remember what I said about Maynard,” she warned over her shoulder as she focused her attention on the invisible ley lines.
As they turned to leave, Morgan couldn”t shake off the nagging feeling that they had just made a monumental mistake.