Page 67 of When Storms Ruin

“I’m not?” I asked, my voice strangled.

If there were others that had been in this same predicament, did that mean there was an answer to this? A way for me to learn to control this magic?

Alastir shook his head. “You certainly are not the first. The Kotova bloodline has always been particularly plagued with this affliction. This level of power. It isn’t a blessing, as I’m sure you’ve seen. More of a curse.”

I swallowed hard, my mind reeling. “What do I do?”

“You already have part of the answers you seek,” he replied cryptically.

“What does that mean?” My chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, my mind spinning with the possibilities.

“It means…your grimoire has already shown you the answer.”

“The key?” I asked, my gaze darting towards Tess.

She is the only one I had told about that dream, the one with the key spell. The one where the page must have been ripped out of the grimoire…because no matter how long I searched and searched I could not find that spell in the book of shadows.

“What key?” Nik asked.

My gaze fell on him. “I had a vision. My grimoire showed me…as if I was watching from someone else’s point of view. Someone else’s hands before me. The vision was short, and I had absolutelynoidea what it meant.”

“The key is a spell from the Kotova book of shadows. It is the only way a Stormshade can control her powers. Without that spell, without the key, there is no other way,” Alastir replied.

Noother way?

What about those Stormshades who never had the good fortune of knowing the spell existed? What happened to them?

“But I searched the grimoire over and over again, that spell wasn’t in there,” I insisted.

Alastir nodded, taking another sip of his coffee. “It has been ripped out. You will have to travel to The Shadow to find the answers you seek.”

“The Shadow?” Nik’s reply echoed my own thoughts.

“Why would the spell be in The Shadow? Is that where the person is who ripped it out? Why would theydothat?” I asked, the questions spilling out of my mouth.

Alastir held my gaze with a knowing expression in his eyes. “Not everyonewantsa powerful Stormshade to have the ability to control their magic. Not every Stormshade requires the key, and those that do areexceptionallypowerful.”

“How did you know I would need it?”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he replied, “I saw it.”

“If you saw it, why didn’t you tell us?” Nik asked, his voice ragged as he ran a hand down his face, exhaustion threatening to take over.

“Because that would have interrupted the sequence of events. If I had intervened and told you earlier, we never would have been here, now, having this conversation.” Alastir inclined his head in Nik’s direction. “You know I cannot interfere in what I see. My gift is from the mother above, and she can take it away just as easily as it has been given.”

“So, who do we need to go searching for in The Shadow? We can’t exactly go waltzing in asking questions. Diana’s location must be kept secret, and The Shadow is full of questionable Shades. Have you seen that much, at least?” Nik asked, exasperated.

“The man you are searching for is named Phineas Wolfe. He is a Nightshade, as you are. He is a wolf, as you are. And he has the answers you seek.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, more than mildly irritated. I ran a hand through my auburn curls, wanting to rip them out. “Does he have the spell, or not?”

“I have given you all the information the mother will allow,” Alastir replied simply. “You can stay here for the night, and journey to The Shadow in the morning. After that, you’ll need to find new lodging. I am too old to be pulled into this war. I have seen enough war for my lifetime, and many more.”

I wanted to curse the mother above for what little information we were given. I wondered if we might be able to get Liss or Saanvi to escort us tomorrow as they had in the past. We didn’t know our way in and out of The Shadow, and itwas too unpredictable of a place to get lost in. We had no idea what this Phineas looked like, or where we might find him. He might not be willing to give up the spell so easily, and we would need to be ready for a fight.

I wanted to know how he got his hands on it in the first place. The spell was part of the Kotova grimoire, and only Kotova blood could open it. How had he had the opportunity to steal it?

“We will leave first thing in the morning,” Nik agreed.

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