The End of Magic (The Witches of Echo Park #3)(67)

"Jesus, how do you know all this?" Evan asked.

Daniela had a ready answer.

"When Niamh over there saved me . . . she put them inside me-"

Evan realized Daniela was talking about the creature from the underground bunker. So it's moved bodies, Evan thought. Looking for a better host. Can't blame them. Daniela's perfect. A talented empath who can not only feel emotions but influence them, as well.

Daniela was still talking:

"They were there for all of it. While they were being tortured in some underground lab, The Flood has been using the witches' powers to jump-start their version of the end of days. That's why they stole the evolved ones like Lyse"-she turned to Niamh-"and your sister, Laragh. They had the most magic inside them . . . and when they died, their energy began to come together . . . to form the creature you put inside me."



       
         
       
        

"What would all this accomplish for The Flood?"

"They were trying to find the last Dream Keeper, the messiah, for lack of a better word. They used the power they'd collected from the evolved ones to make the spell . . . the one that pushed Lizbeth to dream the final dream. The one that would bring magic back into the world and start a war."

She pointed to Lyse.

"At first, they thought you were the last Dream Keeper, but I told them the truth. I gave them Lizbeth."

She stood frozen in the middle of the endless sea, hands clenched at her sides, her cheeks red with humiliation. She looked so miserable in that moment that Evan, who was about as un-touchy-feely as they came, felt the urge to hug her. Not that this was even an option.

No one said anything. Daniela just stood there and gritted her teeth, her anger bubbling just under the surface-though it was directed only at herself. She was rigid, her posture that of a small child on the brink of having a temper tantrum. Evan opened his mouth to say something-anything-that might break the uncomfortable silence, but Lyse beat him to it.

"You think you're the only fool here, Daniela?"

Daniela lifted her eyes, red-rimmed and shiny with unshed tears. She stared defiantly back at Lyse.

"No. You don't get to do that-" Daniela said, fighting back her anger and grief with every syllable.

"-do what? Forgive you for being human?" Lyse asked. "For screwing shit up? For not being perfect or knowing the future? It's impossible to be anything other than what you are, Daniela. An imperfect person who makes mistakes but has a good heart and learns from their experiences. That's it. That's the best any of us can hope for."

"Stop. Please . . . just stop," Daniela said, tears in her eyes. "I can't bear it."

"You are being so cruel to you," Lyse continued, ignoring Daniela's pleas. "You would never treat any of us as poorly as you treat yourself. You would never be so cruel to me if I were the one confessing a mistake to you."

"But it's not you," Daniela cried. "It's me."

"And I love you," Lyse said. "Regardless of the fact that your trust was abused. That you were taken advantage of and used-"

"But I should've known," Daniela moaned as she crouched down in the water and wrapped her arms protectively around herself. "I should've known who he was . . ." 

"You should've known that Desmond Delay was my grandfather, your father . . . and an all-around bastard?" Lyse asked. "What're you? Psychic? How could you have known any of it? Your mother and Eleanora kept the information from us."

"He never loved me . . . or my mom," Daniela sobbed. "Never."

Lyse got on her knees and crawled over to Daniela. When there were only a few inches between them, she smiled and said: "But I love you. Isn't that enough?"

Daniela looked up at Lyse, the tears flowing down her face like twin tributaries.

"You do?"

Lyse nodded.

"Of course, I love you. You're Daniela . . . my blood sister, my blood sibling of a sort . . . my friend. And if I could hug you right now, I would."

"God, we're pathetic," Daniela said, wiping at her face with the back of her arm. "Getting our asses wet in whatever the hell this place is, having an emotional moment out in public and I can't even hug you."

Evan, who was not an emotional person, found himself very moved by what he'd just seen.

"It's pretty sucky," Lyse said, grinning back at Daniela. "Now can you get up and get your wet ass in gear? We need to go find Marji and Ginny."

As Daniela and Lyse climbed out of the water, Evan and Arrabelle shared a look. But before either of them could say anything, an icy breeze cut across the water and a disembodied voice flowed around them: