Page 66 of When Storms Ruin

“Of course I know who she is. I am no fool. Now, inside with the lot of you, quickly.” Alastir glanced back and forth down the street before stepping aside and letting us pass through the open doorway.

His shop was exactly as I had pictured it, littered with potions and charms placed on rickety wooden shelves. The back wall was filled with bookshelves that almost swallowed the little door set into it that likely led up to the living quartersabove the shop. The floor was carpeted with a dark blue tapestry, and the wooden floors beneath creaked as Alastir led us towards the back of the shop.

“Upstairs, quickly.”

He ushered us up the narrow staircase, one after the other, before shutting the door and sealing it with a spell. The door glowed an indigo hue before we heard a pop, and Alastir followed us upwards.

His living quarters were quaint but comfortable. There was a small kitchen and a wooden stove that roared with a crackling fire. There were two comfortable-looking couches, and two bedrooms off the main room. To my dismay, there wasn’t a cat in sight.

Alastir lifted a hand and the shades on all the windows rolled closed with a snap. He moved to the small kitchen and poured himself a mug of steaming hot coffee from the pot on the stove.

Had he been…expecting us? He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned towards us, his cane in one hand, the mug in the other. “I have spelled these walls so nothing can be heard from outside them.”

Alastir moved to the living room and fell into a chair by the fireplace. “Now…would one of you like to explain why you brought the heir to the throne, the daughter of my dear friend Osiris, to my house in the middle of the night?”

We joined Alastir and curled up on the sofas surrounding the fireplace. I brought my knees up to my chest, resting my chin on them.

“Well? Would one of you care to explain?” Alastir watched us quietly from his chair, taking a sip of his midnight coffee.

“We can’t just pay you a visit, old man?” Puck grinned, throwing his arm over the back of the sofa behind Tess.

Alastir’s mouth thinned as his gaze fell on Nikolai.

“Explain. I know more than you think, so don’t try to hide anything from me.”

“Did you see us coming?” Nik asked, rubbing his hands together in front of the flames.

Alastir held his gaze before subtly nodding once. How was that possible? How could he have seen us coming?

“I am a seer, girl,” Alastir replied as if reading my thoughts, his eyes darting towards me. “And no, I cannot read your thoughts.”

“I have a name,” I bit out.

“Ah, yes. Diana. The youngest Stormshade of the Kotova bloodline.” Alastir gave me a wry smile before turning back to Nik.

“We didn’t have any other choice. Donika is coming after us, and she might know of our location. She has a powerful dream walker at her side, Corian. He pulled Diana into a dream against her will and tried to hold her there. They claimed to know our location. They want to capture her again, throw her in the Stormvault. She has created these demons with her darkness that siphon magic. I don’t know if she plans to siphon Diana’s magic and turn her mortal, or steal it for herself, but either way…I won’t let Donika get her hands on her.”

Nik swallowed hard, running a hand through his mess of blond hair. He leaned back against the couch, exhausted. It had been a long day for all of us.

“And you knew this is the one place she wouldn’t be able to find her,” Alastir replied simply.

“Yes,” Nik admitted. “We will leave tomorrow, but we didn’t want to lead her back to the resistance.”

“I understand. You came to the right place.” Alastir nodded.

“You knew who she was this whole time?” Nik asked.

“Yes. I have known who she is since the moment she was born. Osiris was a dear friend of mine. I have watched over her these past years, ensuring her safety, for his sake. I sensed her outside the charm shop that day you came in, and I saw you coming here, tonight.”

“What else have you seen?” Nik asked.

“Nothing that will helpyou.” Alastir held Nik’s gaze a moment longer before turning towards me, his gaze haunting. “Have you lost control of your magic yet?”

I reared back as if slapped.

Had he seen that, too?

“You are not the only Stormshade to be grantedtoo muchpower. Too much to wield. Too much to control.”

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