Southern Secrets: Book 2 in Southern Charms Series

Chapter Twenty-Five: Before

Rose

If I had to go wandering into someone's dream, why couldn't I have stumbled into Clemmy's. There was a more terrifying question I should ask myself. Why hadn't Clemmy entered mine?

Pushing away that morbid thought, I focused my attention on the two men standing by a creek. One, I recognized as a younger version of my grandfather- his dark hair worn long and braided down his back and his flesh smooth and scaleless. Scales weren't the only thing missing. He lacked the bulk the man in the throne room possessed. The muscles existed, but they were the kind possessed by boys entering manhood. This Atticus could barely call himself a man, and as he laughed at something Malphas said, I wondered if he was an excellent actor or if evil had not yet claimed his soul.

Malphas.

I suppose I'd never given much thought to what he looked like before. When Charlie was possessed by him, he'd sprouted horns. Ash attributed that to dark magic, but the boy in front of me was just that: a boy. This moment in his life must have occurred before they excommunicated him. Before revenge consumed him.

He shrugged off his jacket, revealing defined arms covered in swirling black ink. I swallowed hard. Shaggy blonde hair fell into his eyes and brushed his shoulders as he wandered along the stream picking up rocks and flowers. Part of it was pulled back, twisted into a knot at the back of his head and pierced by a raven's feather. Occasionally, he sneaked a peek at my hiding spot, giving me a glimpse of olive green eyes framed by long, black lashes.

"Have you received your form yet?" Atticus asked.

Malphas had his back to my grandfather, so he only heard the casual tone. He did not see the intensity of my grandfather's stare as he waited for the answer.

"No. Not yet."

"But you turned seventeen three months ago."

"So," Malphas replied, dropping his collected items into a satchel. "Our forms are not like our Gifts. They prefer to wait until the magic has settled in our bodies and determine which spirit will suit us best."

"Mmm. Are you ever worried that you might receive something bad?"

Malphas paused. The dark slash of his eyes brows dipped into a v. "There is no bad form."

"Your people are a superstitious lot, right? I heard they kicked out a man whose form was a snake."

"Yes, well, his human form was a snake as well. They caught him in the rooms of too many adolescent daughters, and they gave him a choice to step through the portal or death. He chose the portal. Why all these questions? You've never been interested in this before, brother."

Had Malphas asked Atticus that in real life, or was this Malphas' subconscious trying to make sense of a moment that happened long ago?

"Has Chavi guessed at your form?"

Malphas chuckled. "She possesses an eagle, so she wishes for me to have wings as well."

A horn sounded in the distance. Atticus exhaled before embracing Malphas and slapping him on his back.

"The king is entertaining a delegation from the merfolk today."

"This is good news. Perhaps the war will be ended, and your people will have access to the resources they've been without for so long."

"I doubt that. The king is weak. If an agreement is struck, it will not be in favor of the Atlanteans. The Custodians gather in two nights. You will be there?"

"Where my brother goes, I follow," Malphas said, placing a fist over his heart and dipping his chin toward Atticus.

"To fight or die," Atticus replied before turning and running in the ocean's direction.