Mara #2
“Good is only good in doses the world can handle,” she explains, watching the storm rage inside the sphere. “Dark magic is the drain that keeps the world from drowning in its own light.”
“So you can’t just get rid of it,” I wonder.
“You can’t have good magic without the bad.
It’s not the magic itself that makes dark magic dangerous.
” Tiana’s voice drops, and the playfulness is gone.
“It’s the people who gain access to it. Bad people make dark magic worse.
The magic is just... balance. Take it away, and everything that’s left becomes too concentrated. ”
She flicks her wrist.
The sphere shatters. The water breaks into a thousand tiny particles that scatter across the room, each one glowing with a faint blue-gold luminescence.
They drift through the air like fireflies.
They float over the desks, across the board I just cleaned, and settle into the corners of the room like stars falling in slow motion.
My hand moves to my belly.
Tiana notices. I pull it away and tuck it behind my back. Tiana frowns at that but doesn’t say anything about it.
“Something is going on with the Glen,” she says, watching the last of the glowing particles dissolve into the air. “And I think Eric is using Aaron because of it.”
I look away from the fading light. “Yes. I agree.”
Tiana frowns. “I need to go there. Confront my asshole of a sperm donor.” The word comes out flat, like she’s said it enough times that it doesn’t cut anymore.
“He doesn’t come to me and my sisters, and I think I know why.
We accepted Jacob as our father. Eric may be our true father, but his rejection of us changed me.
I understood it, and I moved on.” She pauses, and her gaze turns inward. “My brother hasn’t.”
She starts pacing again, slower this time, her cloak dragging across the floor.
“There’s still a longing in him for a father’s love.
Jacob tried. He really did. But after Seth was born, things changed.
The longing came back.” Her voice catches.
“I think my brother envies Seth and Jacob’s bond.
Me and my sisters, we all know we’ll never have the same thing with Jacob that Seth has.
We’ve made peace with it. Aaron hasn’t.”
My face falls. The nesting warmth in my belly turns cold for a moment, and I think about Aaron this morning. The tremble in his hands, how he pulled away from me like gentleness was something he couldn’t afford.
“I’m sorry,” I say softly. “No child deserves to experience that kind of rejection. It’s cruel.”
Tiana’s lip curls. “It’s manufactured.”
My gaze lifts.
“I know my father,” she says. “He put a spell on my mother to get her to fall in love with him, he knew she was different. He shouldn’t have pursued her.”
“Then why did he?”
“Eric loves to play the long game.” Tiana stops pacing and faces me dead on. “He saw a reward in making children with my mother. He helped birth a new Blackwood coven. And he knows he’ll always have a connection to Aaron.”
I exhale hard. I think about the forest, how Eric looked at Aaron with that careful attention that didn’t feel like love.
“How can I help him?” I ask.
“Distract him,” she says. “I’ll go to the Witching Glen tonight and figure this out myself.”
I push off the desk and shake my head. “No. Not alone. I’ll come with you.”
Tiana throws her hands up. “Hell no. I know my brother. He’s crazy. If anything happens to you, I’m the one he’s coming for.”
I smile at her. “You’re my sister now,” I tell her. “I have to protect you too.”
Tiana rolls her eyes so hard her whole head moves. “You’re clearly hardheaded.”
“Tiana.” I hold her gaze. “Why don’t you like me? Did I do something wrong?”
She snorts, sharp and dismissive. “My mom doesn’t like you. If she don’t like you, I don’t like you. End of story.”
My tail starts to sway behind me, slow and agitated, the tassel flicking back and forth. Angie is the key. If I can work things out with her, the sisters will follow. I sigh. That’s a problem for another day.
“Tonight, then,” I say. “I can tell Aaron that we’re—“
My ears snap forward. My tail goes rigid, the tassel frozen mid-swing. A shift in the air and scent I can’t live without. Coffee beans and sandalwood.
I look toward the door.
Tiana gives me a strange look, then groans when she turns around.
Aaron’s leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his dark eyes locked on Tiana.
“What about tonight?” he asks. His voice is low and even, but I can smell the fury underneath it. “And tell me what?”
I back up as he pushes off the doorframe and walks into the classroom, still fixed on his sister.
“This isn’t the Witches and Warlocks Wing,” he snaps. “Why are you here, messing with my mate?”
Tiana lowers her hands to her sides and blue-gold light flickers at her fingertips, casual, almost lazy. “Just a sisterly chat.”
“Hmmm.” Aaron keeps walking until he’s close enough to touch her, and then he stops. He lifts a finger and puts it right in her face. “You stay the fuck away from my mate.”
“Aaron, enough!” I snap.
Tiana laughs. “What’s wrong, big brother?” She tilts her head and the smirk that crosses her face is dangerous. “Forget it. You’ve always had a problem with sharing. You like to gatekeep until it serves you. Then you share. You’ve always been that way.”
Her smirk sharpens. “Just like Eric.”
Aaron’s jaw locks, and the blue-gold sparks at Tiana’s fingertips brighten, ready.
“You’re going to take her from me,” he snarls. “I’ll kill you before I let that happen.”
I get between them. My hand presses flat against Aaron’s chest and I push, forcing him back a step, my eyes locked on his.
“Aaron, that is enough. I’m telling you to stop it right now.”
“It’s fine, Mara.” Tiana’s voice is steady behind me. “Whatever is going on, I’ll find out.”
They glare at each other over my shoulder. Neither of them moves and the silence is thick enough to choke on.
Tiana turns and walks toward the door, her cloak sweeping behind her. She pauses in the doorway without turning around.
“You’ve been building a relationship with Eric,” she says. “For how long? I know he didn’t just come around.” She glances over her shoulder. “And since you aren’t going to tell me, I’ll find out myself.”
“Stay away from my mate,” Aaron warns.
I grab his arm. I squeeze harder, my claws pressing into his skin, and he finally tears his eyes from the doorway and looks down at me.
“See you later,” Tiana says. The air splits behind her with a crack of blue-gold light and she steps through the portal and is gone.
“What is your problem?” I hiss the moment the light fades.
Aaron doesn’t answer. Instead he cups my face with both hands, his palms warm and shaking, and presses his forehead against mine. His eyes close. I can feel his breath coming fast against my mouth, and the scent rolling off him isn’t anger anymore.
It coats my tongue, thick and sour, and my lion goes still inside me.
“I need you to do something for me,” he whispers.
“What?” My hands come up to grip his wrists. “Aaron, what is it?”
“Stay away from Tiana. You have to stay away from her.”
“Why?” I pull back enough to search his face. His eyes are open now, and what I see in them makes my tail snap upright. He’s terrified. “Tiana is your sister. Why would I—“
“Please, Mara.” His voice breaks on my name—cracks down the middle like something inside him just gave way. “Please.”
I stare at him. His hands are trembling against my cheek. Whatever he’s carrying, it’s pulling him apart from the inside.
“Okay, Aaron.” I cover his hands with mine and hold them against my face. “Okay.”
His breath shudders out and he sags against me, and I hold him there, my lion pressing into me, straining toward him, not understanding why he won’t let her close.
“Well, well, WELL.”
We both freeze.
Meekah steps into the classroom with his tail and ears perked straight up and his nostrils flaring. The fury rolling off him is so strong I can taste it from across the room. He plants his feet and crosses his arms, his golden eyes bouncing between me and Aaron.
“Which one of your funky ass witches put a spell on me?” he demands.
Aaron doesn’t move. His eyes stay on mine, his hands still cupping my face.
“When we get home,” I say quietly, holding Aaron’s gaze, “you are going to talk to me. Do you understand?”
He nods.
“Was it your limp warlock?” Meekah cuts in, jerking his chin at Aaron. “Just because I let the cat out of the bag that you’ve been using magic for birth control—“
I groan and close my eyes.
I love Meekah like an uncle, but he has the worst freaking timing.