Beloved Beast

Chapter Thirty

Don stared hard into that fixed scrutiny of glacier blue, his body a solid unit of tense muscle and bone as Veda's words slowly registered, eliciting an unmitigated blow of shock and disbelief. "What?"

Beyond the window, the sun climbed higher, igniting the undulating landscape aglow, that said golden light jutting across the wan face opposite of him, its concentrated brightness doing nothing to lessen the harsh contours of her angular countenance as her voice drifted to him from across the room, "Elle was not meant to be blind."

"That's impossible," he exhaled on a ragged breath, disconcerted. "Even your sister does not have that kind of power."

"It was a cloaking spell," Veda divulged, "Created in an effort to shield the elemental host from my sister, and from those who sought to benefit from it." She held his rapt gaze, her fathomless, wintry eyes easily being the coldest thing in the room. "But no magic is wrought without consequence. As a result of the spell, it subsequently made Elle blind. My sister inadvertently broke the spell when she bestowed her with sight." Shaking her pale head, she deviated from that deadpan inflection, admitting with incredulity, "I cannot believe she did it. If anything, it is a testament to her power, to what she is capable of."

A startling realization struck Don, the shock of it slackening his rigid jaw, "Are you saying you cast a spell nearly twenty years ago, before Elle's conception?"

Veda nodded, the gesture irritatingly subtle as she imparted, "Give or take. Almost two years after my sister and I fled England, an image of Elle came to me in a vision." She began to meander about the room, her unhurried strides taking her further from the focus of the sun. "I felt her energy; I recognized her for what she was and without delay, I shaped a spell that concealed her from Sera, and others like her."

His eyes narrowed, "What do you mean you 'felt' her energy? That you concealed her?"

She leveled that ice-blue stare at him, "Elle emanates a vitality that is inviting to those who brandish magic. Like a moth to a flame." Veda expressed, "There is an engaging essence about her that is palpable, discerned only by magic wielders, and it was that natural energy I felt."

"That is why your sister returned to England," Don remarked, "Sera sensed the host here ... but could not distinguish who it was, because of your cloaking spell?" he questioned.

"In no uncertain terms, a cloaking spell is exactly that. It is created to shield its subject from discovery." Veda went on to say, "Apart from my prophetic insight, there is an involuntary physical awareness that accompanies a vision." As his frown deepened, she abridged, "I see and feel things, often in unison."

Flashing a cynical grin, "Aye, and I suspect when one's sister intends to beget mass destruction, it hardly elicits warm and pleasant feelings."

Her expression and tone were as he would expect, equally and uncannily emotionless, both wildly misplaced given their concerning circumstances, but for a fleeting heartbeat, Don thought he had perceived a visible shudder.

The icy one was not as unmoved as she would have liked to portray to the world. Sera wanted power, and with that power came imminent death. Veda knew that, felt that.

"Something to that effect," She muttered, supporting his thoughts, and then volleyed, "The same cannot be said for you, beast."

"Indeed," Don grumbled, his grin slipping. "There's only so much a beast could inspire. Horror. Disgust. Pray tell, which is it?"