The Opal Witch: Prophecy (Book Two)

Chapter Three

Lux

Silence. For five long beats of a heart. Thorne cleared her throat and everyone started speaking at once. Alina, always collected, merely sighed and looked at Lux as if to request her assistance in calming everyone down. Lux, for her part, was as anxious on the inside as everyone else was behaving outwardly, but as the leader of her Circle, she couldn't afford to let them see it.

"Okay, enough, enough," she said, holding up her hand. "Alina, you didn't mention any of that, and I feel like I'm speaking for everyone when I say I don't much care for the idea of having my memories tampered with."

Sara Elizabeth crossed her arms and nodded. "Sorry, no way, no how."

"It's just memories of me, and as the witches, you'll be in charge of the spell. Nothing goes that you don't approve of."

Thorne raised her hand in the air. Brooke elbowed her. "You don't have to request permission to speak."

"Sorry, you all just talk over each other all the time. Look, Alina, I don't know you, like at all, but what you're asking for isn't simple. You said memories make us who we are, and that's true. If we do this wrong, you're a vegetable."

Some of Alina's calm slipped, and the dark cloud sweeping across her face worried Lux. She directed her question at Thorne. "Have you heard of this being done before?"

The northern witch steepled her fingers together and rested her chin on them. A single curl fell into her eyes as she considered her answer, and Lux almost repeated the question after Thorne remained silent for over a minute.

Then, she inhaled and exhaled. "Yes. It's not forbidden exactly, and there are witches who specialize in memory magic. Spirit witches tend to be best at it, though earth witches would like to argue. Removing memories is like removing the very essence of a person, and if you destroy the memory, then..."

Ruby finished her sentence. "You destroy the person. So, you'd have to have an anchor of some sort."

"Exactly. It's a fail safe, too. A way to get them back if you need them."

Alina shook her head. "But that's too dangerous. What if Morgan got a hold of them?"

"She can't access them. The anchor would respond to no one but you."

"That still seems so dangerous," Lux fretted. "If the anchor is destroyed, then you're destroyed."

"Like a Horcrux?" Travis chimed in, earning some laughs from the girls. It helped ease a bit of the stifling tension in the room.

"Not quite," Thorne giggled. "Alina wouldn't die, but she'd be less. She might even lose your abilities."

The Guardian considered Thorne's words. "It might not be a bad thing. Some of my Talents are unique. Morgan would know the moment whispers reached her."

"But you'd still be safe because your signature would be different, right?"

"I suppose."

"Good," Lux said, clapping her hands together, "I'm not one hundred percent convinced that removing your memories is the best thing, but I for sure won't remove your abilities. Now that I know what's out in the world, I think everyone needs as much help as they can get."

"So what about us?" Sara Elizabeth demanded. "Are we all going to have anchors out there that will make us vulnerable? I'm not really interested in signing up for that."

"No, I'll have to call the High Priestess of my Circle, but I think the spell we need will tie all of our memories of Alina to her memories of herself. If we see her, it'll be like deja vu, but unless Alina restores her memories, we won't remember her. She's removing everything, we're just picking and choosing."

"But what about The Grail?" Travis asked. He looked concerned, and it hit Lux then that The Grail was his legacy as much as Alina's.

"I don't think the women guarding it will be affected. They don't really exist on this plane, and Morgan's powers won't work on them."

"So, we're doing this, then?" Ruby asked.

Alina's expression turned hopeful. "Lux?"

"Thorne, please talk to your High Priestess. Iron out the details, and we can go from there."

"On it," the girl said, jumping to her feet and running out of the room.

"Y'all excuse me for a moment," Lux said.

She went back into the entryway, grabbed her coat, and stepped out on the front porch. White Christmas lights spiraled around the railing, casting a soft, white glow on the wooden boards and into the dark yard. Mama had even wound them around the chains of the porch swing, and when it moved, it sent light shivering along the walls and ceiling. On either side of the front door were two tiny Christmas trees, standing like sentinels adorned in lights and glitter, and in between them rested a mat that played "Jingle Bells" when stepped on.

This was her favorite time of the year. From January to September, she wished time- and heat- away, impatient for the decorations, food, and family time that flooded the last three months of the year. And then, there was New Year's Eve. A day that looked toward the future. One full of hope unsullied by disappointments and setbacks. A day when everything seemed possible.

And a night that was supposed to end with a kiss from the one you loved.

Last year Declan had kissed her on this very spot. Their toes sliding as the swing swayed. Inside, everyone counted down to midnight. They looked into one another's eyes with heated promise, and then he dipped his head to catch her mouth in the most perfect kiss.

Her fingers had curled around the lapels of his coat, and she'd drawn him deeper into herself, urging him to finally cross the boundaries they'd set. Over an entire year had passed of nothing but kissing and touching until they were both panting with frenzied longing yet refusing to go further.

She knew it was wise. Knew they had moved too fast, caught up in the chaos of the summer, and when he told her he wasn't ready to go any further, she agreed- with her heart. Her body had other things to say.

"Lux," he moaned against her lips. "I know what you're doing."

"It's been four months since all that happened. I think we both know how we feel, or at least, I do. Don't you?"

Lux wrapped her arms around herself as the memory of his tender touch on her face washed over her. He'd pushed back her hair and leaned in for another taste. She remembered thinking it was almost like he was testing his control. 

What would she do if she lost that memory? Perhaps, nothing would be different, but somehow she knew some fundamental part of herself would be gone.

But Declan was gone. Months without a word. Not even a whisper. She was a fool to think he'd be home by New Years, and a dark part inside her whispered he might never return. She rubbed her chest, where the old ache had once been, a new one pulsed. Only it wasn't caused by magic but by heartbreak.

"Lux, you all right?"

"Hey Daddy," she said as she spied her father walking up the stairs to the house. Strange that he had ever been absent from her life. Her mother was happier than she'd ever been before, and if Declan was still here, Lux thought she might be at her happiest too.

"It's cold out here."

"I know. I'll be inside in a minute. Is Mama with you?"

"She's on her way. Had a late client meeting."

"Okay good. I need to call Memaw, too. We've got a lot to do and I don't think we have very much time."