Dark Vision (Ballad of the Seer, Book Two)

Chapter 40 - Into the Unknown

"Everybody out." Lily told her friends, when she pulled to a stop in front of the diner. It was very rude, she knew that, but she was under a time crunch. There was no time for pleasantries or worrying about hurt feelings. She hoped that they understood that.

After a bit of arguing, mostly from Dianna, they did as she said. Duncan, however, wouldn't budge. "You aren't getting rid of me that easily." he insisted, crossing his arms over his chest, raising a brow in defiance.

She appreciated him wanting to be with her, but she didn't have time to argue. "I love you, baby. And I'm so, so sorry about this."

"No, not again." he yelled, realizing what she was about to do.

She locked onto his bright green eyes, focusing her power into her words. "Get out of the car and go straight home." she commanded.

"Straight home," he repeated.

She felt terrible for pushing him again, after explicitly promising that she wouldn't. "I'll call you when it's done." she told him as he got out. Though, she wasn't sure if he even heard her. She watched as he crossed the street, walking down the path into the heavily wooded park.

She took a deep breath, putting the car in gear, heading back to her house, where she saw Ms. Birch's gold Volvo parked out front. She and Jacquelyn were seated in the living room, sipping tea, looking seriously anxious. "This is the tensest tea party I've ever seen." Lily joked.

They both looked up at her with alarm. "What are you doing here?" Jacquelyn asked. She put her cup down, giving no thought to the hundred year old china. It clattered, spilling over the edge onto the antique coffee table. "Didn't Dianna find you? Did you get my letter?"

"She found me." Lily nodded. She then produced the small square of folded up stationary from her pocket. "I read it." She tossed it onto the end table beside the sofa.

"Clearly you didn't read the whole thing," her mother said, standing up. "If you had, you would be on your way out of town by now."

"I'm not going anywhere." Lily stated plainly. She didn't want to leave. If she did, she would never get answers. Because this seemed to be coming out of nowhere. It hadn't been that long since she had been called before the Council, to be thanked for defeating Maxwell Caine. If this was true, then they had done a complete one-eighty in barely a month's time.

"The Council won't listen to reason on this." Ms. Birch said, setting her tea cup down beside Jacquelyn's, though being much more careful. "We spoke to Paulina Vasquez, earlier. She said that Camilla is determined to bring you to justice. She's been secretly trying to gather support for almost a week now, with the 'evidence' that she supposedly has." She made air quotes to show that she didn't believe that any such evidence existed. "Paulina has been trying to talk her down, but she won't listen."

"Why would Camilla do that?" Lily asked, tuning her locket over in her fingers. "I've never done anything to her."

This time it was her mother that had the answer. "Camilla has coveted our family's position on the Council for decades. She wants to lead the Council. With Gran missing, you are the only one that stands in her way of that. You're Gran's only suitable heir, and if something were to happen to you - like say, having your powers stripped - there would be no one to take Gran's place. The Council would have to elect a new leader from their ranks. Then they would fill our spot at the table with someone from another prominent witch family."

"We think that, all this time, Ian was a spy for Camilla." Ms. Birch told her. "It was a way for her to gather evidence against you. Or, in this case, make up a pack of lies."

"Well, it's not all lies, though," Lily said. "I did do all of the stuff they're accusing me of. When I was under Sebastian's mind control spell, I did all sorts of terrible things. I still can't remember all of it clearly."