I place my glass on the table, indulging a moment’s delay before I say, “You’re right, prophecies are rarely wrong.” Lita nods, seemingly satisfied to see we’re in agreement. “But that doesn’t mean they’re infallible.” Her eyes narrow, her lips tighten. “Destiny really can be shaped by free will, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
“Meaning?” Xotichl shoots me a concerned look.
“Meaning that Dace’s absence is temporary.” An uncomfortable hush falls over the room as my gaze moves among them. Lita is the first to react.
She jabs a thumb toward the Codex, not one bit convinced. “Did you not read what I read? You’re doomed. And because of that, the rest of us are doomed too. Yeah, I tried to put on a happy face earlier, tried to pretend it wasn’t true, but facts are facts, Daire. And the fact is that Dace is destined to destroy us all, starting with you. As much as I’ve grown to like him, now that I know what I know, I’m really not up for sharing a pizza with him. And if you insist on bringing him around, then . . .”
She shifts uncomfortably, unwilling to finish the thought, though it’s not like she needs to. The silence that follows when no one jumps in to defend Dace, tells me they’re all in agreement.
While Dace may have succeeded in scaring them, he hasn’t scared me. I know I can help him exorcise the beast. At the very least, I have to try.
“So that’s it? We just turn our backs on him? We just run away the moment he needs us the most?”
“Daire—he’s beyond our help! He’s—” Before Lita can continue, Axel moves to her side, his presence enough to silence her. Still, I can’t help but notice how he fails to come to Dace’s defense, seemingly content to add no dissent.
“Listen,” I say, exerting great effort to remain calm and on point. Getting upset will only give them further reason to doubt me and with the way things are going, I can’t take the risk. “I understand how you feel. Really, I do. But here’s the thing, here’s what you don’t know: We can and will win this. But not if we continue arguing, taking sides, and accepting defeat before we’ve had a chance to get started. The only way we can win is by intending to win.” And possibly with another idea that I’m not quite ready to share . . .
“Is it really that easy?” Auden strives to keep his tone light, but his skeptical expression betrays him. “I’m sorry to say it, Daire, but I’m with Lita. Dace is dangerous, and what you’re offering sounds a little too woo-woo to effectively go against the beast he described.”
“I don’t expect any of this to be easy, but when has that ever stopped us from trying?” They all look at each other, but I can’t help but notice how they avoid looking at me.
“Daire, you need to understand that you make it nearly impossible for us to trust that you care about our safety when you insist that Dace can be rehabilitated. He told us point-blank that it was too late. That it wasn’t his to control. And, seeing as how it’s happening to him, I think he just might be the authority on the topic.”
I look from Xotichl to Axel, willing him to chime in. I can understand my friends’ unease, but I thought for sure Axel would be on my side.
“You too, Axel?” I fix my gaze on his. “Just this morning you said intent was magick’s most important ingredient—that belief was the spine of intent. Did you believe what you said, or were you just humoring me?” His eyes meet mine but his mood is impossible to read. “Are you willing to stand behind your words, or have you changed your mind? And Lita—” I switch my focus to her. “What about when you said that I didn’t have to go it alone? That you were all willing to help? Is that no longer true? Because it’s really starting to feel like you’re all standing on the sidelines shouting for the kill, when I’m the one in the arena—I’m the one fighting the fight—which means I just might have a better perspective than you.”
Lita flinches, drops her gaze to her feet, as Axel pushes away from the wall and swipes a hand through his halo of curls. Looking from Lita, to Xotichl, to Auden, then finally to me, he says, “I’m here for you, Daire. But, I guess there are limits. If it comes down to it, I won’t hesitate to save all of you over Dace and
I think we’re all hoping we could get that same assurance from you.”
They nod in unison, and I take a moment before I reply. “I assure you, that if it comes down to making that choice, your safety will be my first priority. But it’s really a moot point, since it will never come to that.”
“Not exactly the reassurance I was hoping for.” Lita scowls.
“Well, it’s the best I can do. Which means we’ll just have to call a truce on this one and agree to disagree because I’m not going to lie to you. So, that said, I was hoping we could put this behind us and move on. We have a battle ahead and we need to prepare.” I turn my attention to Axel, motioning for him to follow when I say, “I need your help in the bedroom.”
“Uh—should I be worried?” Lita feigns a look of mock concern that soon shifts to curiosity when we return with a beautifully carved, hand-painted wooden trunk balanced between us. “What is that?” She leans in to get a better look.
“Think of it as my tool chest.” I crack a smile. “Paloma gave it to me, along with all the tools I keep locked inside.”
“Tools of the Light Worker trade?” Auden says. He’s the least initiated among us, but that’s about to change.
“Something like that.” I spin the wheel of the combination lock I placed there shortly after Paloma passed on. How silly it seems now in light of all that’s just happened. Like this simple, metal lock could ever keep a Richter at bay.
Then again, a Richter would never have the slightest interest in the tools I’ve stashed here.
And that just may turn out to be one of my biggest strengths.
In every encounter with Cade, every time he seemed to get the upper hand, he always made sure to mock the wisdom of my ancestors—my collection of magickal talismans. The pouch I wear at my neck—the small double-edged knife imbued with Valentina’s essence—it’s all a big joke to him.
Cade relies solely on his devious mind, his abyss of a soul, and the snake-tongued monster residing within. Though last I saw, the beast had abandoned him. Unlike my tools which have never once failed me.
Where failure’s concerned, I’ve only failed myself.
But no more.
I kneel before the trunk and raise the lid. Aware of my friends gathering closer, as I remove the soft, hand-woven blanket I placed on top, then set the tools upon it, one by one.