Esha’s muscles tensed, ready to flee or throw a fireball or do whatever it took to protect herself. But she couldn’t flee without the Chairman, there wasn’t really anywhere to hide, and unless Aurora made a move on her, it wasn’t smart to start something she wasn’t sure she could finish. She decided to play along. And maybe Aurora wasn’t as bad as her shadows might suggest.
She followed Aurora to the lounge chairs that overlooked the sea. It was hot as any of the hells, so Esha stripped off her jacket and sweater until she was left in only a tank top, then warily lowered herself to the lounge chair next to Aurora’s. She glanced around surreptitiously for Aurora’s familiar and finally caught sight of a sleek black cat lounging by the pool.
“Where the hell are we?” Esha asked.
“In the aether. I created this place.”
Wow. It took some serious power to do that. But she’d been locked up for hundreds of years. How’d she know to add all the modern amenities, like the pool? Her magic must be greater than Esha had realized, which freaked her the hell out. “Why’d you enchant a portal to bring me here? Why the whole runaround to find you?”
Aurora shrugged and raised her purple-umbrella drink to her lips. “I wanted to find you, no’ Warren. He’s trouble for another day. When I sensed your presence at that damn place they imprisoned me, I wanted to meet you. But I had to be certain that it was you who found me and no’ anyone else at the university—hence the howf, a place that only another soulceress could enter, and this city, a place that only another soulceress could find.”
“Why me? And why didn’t you just appear to me?”
“I wanted it to be on my terms, my turf. I won’t be caught by the university and thrown into that prison again. And I’ve never really met another soulceress before, except our mother, so of course I wanted to meet you. And I wanted to see you specifically because there’s a lot I need to know about the modern world, and you’re the only one I can trust… since you’re like me.”
The breath whooshed out of Esha’s lungs. Trust? The only one who really trusted her was Ana. Warren too, she was starting to believe. Now Aurora?
This was all coming too fast, too soon. She hadn’t known what to expect from meeting Aurora, but not this. There was supposed to be more time to plan, to think about it. She’d have the upper hand, or at least an even footing.
But now she was totally out of her element on some tropical island, with no familiar, less than half a power supply, and she was being thrown for a loop by her unexpectedly friendly half-sister. Was she lulling her with a false sense of security so she could snatch her power away? Esha eyed the black shadows that hovered around Aurora. No matter how friendly Aurora seemed, she had a dark side that was all too obvious.
“How did you know I’m your sister?” Her voice was squeaky, surprised, and she flinched at the sound. Badass. Esha, you are supposed to be a badass.
“I thought you might be when I sensed you, but now that I see you, you’re the spitting image of our mother.”
“You sensed me?”
“When I was in the aether and you came to the witches’ creepy little cabin to bind me there. Bitches and their awful prison.” Aurora shuddered.
Esha nodded in commiseration. A prison in the aether was the worst, and it explained why Aurora was hanging out at a beach party on a sunny island. It was the complete opposite of the aether, which was vital to their world but had sections that were dark, cold, and lonely if you were trapped within it. The space between here and nowhere was like air, but not. Some reincarnated souls were held over there until they were needed and were reborn for their fated task. But if you were trapped there with your soul and your consciousness, it would be hell.
“Anyway,” Aurora said, “when you dinna agree to their plan, I figured I could probably trust you. And you’re my sister and all.”
There was that T-word again. Esha tried not to let it warm her, but it was damned hard. She was here for Warren, not just for herself. As much as she wanted to grill Aurora for information about their mother, about their kind, about how she might possibly control her power collectio
n so that she could have a normal life, she had Warren’s soul to worry about too, and she didn’t want to let him down. There would be time to learn about her mother later.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could give my friend back his soul?”
Aurora’s friendly eyes hardened and the black shadows around her writhed more aggressively. A chill crept across Esha’s skin. The fun lightheartedness that had radiated from Aurora was replaced by darkness, as if a switch had been flipped.
“No’ going to happen.” Aurora’s voice was diamond-hard and her eyes had blackened.
Esha braced herself so she wouldn’t flinch and asked, “Why not?”
“He’s responsible for our mother’s death.” Rage twisted Aurora’s features and dark clouds rolled across the blue sky. The water turned gray and choppy as a cold wind rushed across it.
Esha shivered as Aurora’s shadows leapt and writhed. This wasn’t the same Aurora. This was the Aurora that Warren had warned her about.
“The power of his soul is mine,” Aurora said, her black eyes flashing. “He gave it to me of his own free will. I’d kill him if I could, but I’d have to give his soul back to do so and that is no’ happening.”
Oh shit. Aurora was deadly serious. This was not going to be easy.
The sleek black cat loped up to them with a grace that the Chairman could never dream of mustering and leapt up onto Aurora’s lounge chair. It rubbed against her, purring.
Before her eyes, the shadows that writhed around Aurora calmed. Her face smoothed out and her eyes lightened to gold again.
Huh. Something was wrong with Aurora and her familiar knew it. Under the cat’s calming influence, she came back to normal. So did the island, its blue sky and bluer water now bright and shiny.