The End of Magic (The Witches of Echo Park #3)(72)

"Stop The Flood in your world. Do that and it affects all the rest of the universes, as well."

"Why are we so important?" Lyse asked.

"Because your Earth expelled magic. No other universe was ever able to do so. If you can excommunicate magic . . . you can do the same to the darkness."

Lyse shook her head.

"No, that's not right. There was still magic there."

"It was only the residual of what once was," Thomas said, and sighed. "It's why The Flood had to use you to bring magic back fully. What none of you modern witches realize is that the blood sisters were the ones who exiled magic from your world. And then they used the residual magic that was left to keep magic out."

"I don't believe you," Lizbeth said.

"The rituals you did . . . they weren't to keep the balance," he said. "They were to keep magic at bay. Magic is what almost destroyed them. Magic is why they were hunted and burned. Magic was the great divider between the blood sisters and normal human beings."

Lizbeth didn't know what to say . . . or what to believe.

"Yes," he said. "I can see the questions on your face. You don't believe me. Though part of you knows that I'm right. By the way, I'm not reading your mind-though I could if I wanted to."

"Well, don't," she said, glaring at him.



       
         
       
        

He raised his arms, palms out in supplication.

"Only with your permission. Though I don't think Temistocles asked for your permission, did he?"

She glared at him.

"That was different. I couldn't speak. It was how we were able to communicate."

Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"He could easily have given you a voice. That is within his power."

She hated how he was trying to sow seeds of discord between her and his brother . . . and she hated how it was working. She could hear the doubt in her own head. The cynical voice questioning Tem's motives, pulling on this single thread until, if she didn't get a handle on it, the whole sweater would come undone.

"No, I'm not gonna let you do this!" she said, pushing back with her mind and shoving the thoughts away.

He smiled, pleased-and it dawned on Lizbeth he was provoking her for a reason.

"First lesson. Don't let anyone in your head. Not me, not even Temistocles. Not anyone."

She nodded, realizing with a start that her training had already begun.

"What if I don't want this?" she asked.

"Destiny is destiny."

His tone was light, but the meaning was clear: You don't get a say in this, Dream Keeper.

The slam of a door undercut the moment. Lizbeth turned to see Ginny and Marji running toward her. She'd left them dreaming in the Red Chapel, but Tem must've woken them up. They were bright-eyed and full of energy, speeding down the path that led to the lake.

"Girls?" Lizbeth called.

"We talked to Mama and Daddy," Ginny cried as she flung herself at Lizbeth's waist. "On the phone! There's a lake behind you. Why is there a lake?"

The little girl's mouth was moving a mile a minute.

"Slow down and tell me all that again," Lizbeth said, stroking Ginny's hair. The girl was clinging to her like a little mollusk, her stick-thin arms stronger than Lizbeth could've imagined.

"There's a phone in the Red Chapel," Marji said, breathless from running. "And it started ringing and Ginny answered it. It was Mama and Daddy."

The girls were ecstatic from the effects of one phone call. Lizbeth could imagine the sheer joy they'd experience once they'd been reunited with their parents. 

"LB," Marji continued as she sat down in the sand and looked up at Lizbeth. "Are we going home soon?"

Lizbeth wasn't sure what kind of home the girls would be going back to, but she supposed that wherever Freddy and Dev were, it would be home enough.

"I think so, lovey," Thomas said, before Lizbeth could answer.

The girls looked back at him and he smiled. Neither of them seemed afraid of the man, and that made Lizbeth feel better about him.

"I miss home," Ginny said, turning back to Lizbeth.

"Soon, Ginny," Lizbeth said, letting the girl tuck in under her arm. "Did your mom and dad ask you to tell me anything?"

Marji nodded her head with vigor.

"They said to take care of us and keep us safe."

Nothing could've crushed Lizbeth's heart more-

"That I can do," Lizbeth said, pulling them both to her and hugging them tight. She felt responsible for Dev's daughters, and she vowed right then and there to do everything in her power to keep them as safe and sound as possible.