Chapter Sixteen
SIXTEEN
‘So, Crystal Master! What do we do?’ Tilly asks Xavier as the three of us sit knee to knee on the grass near the cliffs. Our clear quartz crystals lay nestled in between the blades of grass within the circle we’ve created with our bodies.
The wind is cold. I’m wearing my thickest of jackets while Tilly and Xavier both have woolly hats over their heads to keep the chill at bay.
Moonlight peeks through the branches above us.
It’s eerie and silent out here; other than the sound of waves crashing in the distance and our own whispers, it feels like the world has gone to sleep.
Though in the distance, I can see a few windows that glow with yellow light in the tallest parts of the towers.
Xavier snorts at the nickname and picks up his crystal. ‘I did some research, and I think the easiest way to charge them is through intention.’
‘Intention? So do we need to cleanse them first?’ Tilly asks, picking hers up and laying it flat in the palm of her hand to inspect.
Xavier’s head shakes. ‘Not usually if a crystal hasn’t been used before, and I don’t think these would have been. Clear quartz is naturally cleansing, so maybe after you’ve used yours a few times, then you can cleanse it yourself.’
‘How do you know so much about this?’ I ask in awe. I know a fair amount about crystals and stones, mainly the ones my parents used at home. But nothing to this extent.
He lifts a shoulder. ‘I was sent to the attic a lot as a kid. My dad didn’t really want me around, and one day I came across a box of books.
There was tons of information about sympathetic magic and crystals inside.
Each time I was locked up there, I read to pass the time and distract myself.
Over time I ended up really enjoying what I was learning, until I’d read all the books from the box and wanted more. ’
My heart constricts. I can tell by his tone he’s trying to make light of the situation, but I know what he hides beneath his clothes now. The trauma he was forced to endure. Did he read to distract himself from the pain of the burns, too?
‘Is that how you decided you wanted to be placed into Agate?’ Tilly asks.
He nods. ‘Part of it, yeah.’ His eyes meet mine for a quick second and unspoken words float between us. I give him a soft smile, but I feel it wobble on my lips.
‘So, what do I need to do to start banishing that dreadful cousin of yours from existence? We’re doing banishing spells, right?’
Both our gazes shoot to Tilly, who has a mischievous glint in her eyes. I can’t help but laugh.
‘It’s funny that you think I wouldn’t have tried that already if it were possible.’ Xavier chuckles. ‘Not unless I want to use dark magic of course.’ It’s a passing comment, but the hairs on my arms rise beneath my sweater.
‘Dark magic?’ I question. That’s what the council claimed Lukas did. ‘I didn’t think you could do that with a crystal like this. Don’t you need – I don’t know – dark crystals?’
Xavier’s brows furrow. ‘If I’m honest, I don’t know enough about dark magic to give you a proper explanation. But crystals aren’t inherently evil or bad. Think of them more as the battery to the intention one person is feeding into it.’
I nod. ‘So, if we were to sit here and, like Tilly said, try to banish Moira – would it work?’
‘No.’ He shakes his head with another chuckle. ‘Dark magic is more complex than that. Plus, you’d need a very powerful crystal, or several, and you’d need to be inherently powerful yourself.’
‘I heard that for dark magic to work, you have to offer something of yourself first,’ Tilly adds, and it’s only now that I realise our heads have huddled together, edging closer as this forbidden topic is passed between us.
‘Like your soul?’ I ask as goosebumps pebble down my back.
‘Probably.’ Tilly shrugs. ‘I can’t imagine calling on dark magic wouldn’t take a piece of someone’s soul.’
My brows dip together. Even just the thought of having to sacrifice something of yourself, be it a soul or blood, or whatever – I can’t imagine my brother going to such lengths.
Just then the sound of a branch snapping behind a cluster of trees has the three of us whirling around.
‘Who’s there?’ Xavier shouts. We all listen intently, but no one replies and because it’s dark, the shadows between the trees are thick and black.
‘Maybe it was a bird?’ Tilly offers softly after a long stretch of silence.
Maybe.
We turn back, facing each other as Xavier quickly changes the mood around by offering to show us how to charge our crystals. Not wanting to be stuck out here too late, I try to ignore the prickling sensation at the back of my neck.
He starts by instructing us to think of a clear intention for ourselves or for someone else. ‘Nothing too heavy. For example, Aria, you could use it to help banish a negative emotion or thought that you associate with being here.’
I nod, glancing down to the chunk of stone in my palm.
I have a hundred of those negative thoughts and emotions.
It’s just a matter of choosing one. I try to locate a feeling and latch onto it, but all I can focus on is my brother.
I wonder where his soul is right now. If it’s still lingering here or if it’s moved on somewhere else.
If he had one at all after they burnt him, or if it was burn t along with his body, trapped within the flames.
The more I think about it, the more certain I become that I won’t be charging my stone with a banishing spell, but rather a protection one. To protect my brother’s soul, wherever it might be. I close my eyes and squeeze the stone between my palms, urging, pleading, feeding my intention into it.
Protect his soul.
Protect his soul.
Please. Protect his soul.