Page 82 of Wild Ivy
I nod, letting my awareness spread further. The changes aren’t just here at Thornfield, they’re everywhere. The supernatural world is evolving, and we’re at the heart of it.
“But I still don’t understand everything,” I admit. “There’s so much power, so much knowledge. How do I access it all?”
“You don’t need to know everything at once,” Gran says gently. “The knowledge will come when you need it. The power will guide you.”
As if to prove her point, a new memory surfaces. A spell my ancestors used to communicate across vast distances using the natural energy fields of the earth. Without thinking, I reach for it, letting the power flow through me. Green energy spreads out in a web, connecting to the ley lines Elizabeth showed me.
Suddenly I can feel everything happening on the grounds. I feel Bram, Torin and Ivy.
“They’re coming,” I say, feeling my friends moving towards us. “They felt the power.”
The ancestors begin to fade, returning to whatever plane they inhabit now. Soon, only Gran, Malcolm, and Sophia remain.
“Remember,” Malcolm says, his form growing transparent, “the power is yours now, but we’ll always be here when you need guidance. Just reach for us through the earth itself.”
Sophia nods. “You carry our legacy, but you’ll forge your own path. That’s as it should be.”
Gran is the last to fade. “Make us proud, little spark. Though you already have.”
As their presence fades, I feel my friends approaching. The ancestral magick hums through my veins, stronger than ever but finally, completely under control.
“Holy shit, Tate,” Bram calls out as they reach the oak. “I could feel that display from the other side of campus. Since when can you control the weather?”
I grin, letting green energy dance between my fingers. “Since about ten minutes ago, apparently.”
Ivy’s power reaches out instinctively, connecting with mine where life meets death. “Everything okay? We felt the power spike all the way inside.”
“More than okay,” I say, meaning it. “Just getting some family guidance. You should have seen it, a Well family reunion.”
“Your mother?” she asks carefully.
I shake my head. “No, but that’s okay. She will come. So will my dad and the Black side. It’s all here when I’m ready.”
I smile at Torin, who returns it, and then, in the blink of an eye, he’s gone.
“Err, where did Torin go?” Ivy asks.
“Hopefully to somewhere he can have his little epiphany like me and Tate have,” Bram states.
“Good luck,” I whisper, knowing he can hear me wherever he is.
43
TORIN
“The thing about chaos magick,”Ivy’s Aunt Cathy says, perching on the edge of her desk in The Resistance’s hidden library as I spin towards the sound of her voice, “is that it doesn’t follow rules like other types of power. It exists in the spaces between. Between order and disorder, between what’s possible and what isn’t. Rather like you.”
“Did you bring me here?” I ask accusingly.
“Yep. Get over it. Sit down, kiddo. There’s a lot you need to know.”
I sit, surrounded by ancient texts and artefacts I can feel humming with power. The room seems alive with it, centuries of accumulated magickal knowledge pressing against my heightened senses. Being both vampire and mage means I can feel every pulse of energy, every whisper of power.
“What do you mean?” I ask, though part of me already knows.
She smiles, reminding me so much of Ivy it hurts. “You’re a contradiction, Torin. Vampire and mage. It is very rare in the grand scheme of things, even more so now. Two types of powerthat shouldn’t coexist, yet in you, they do. That makes you uniquely suited to understand chaos magick.”
“I know lots of vampire mages,” I argue. “Whole covens of them.”
