Page 47 of Pure Magic
I can’t blame him for being afraid. I am too. “Evidently this visit to a hidden house of a kind witch is how we were to be told and the proof we are to undertake this quest. Perhaps she couldn’t be sure unless Goddess led us here.”
“I really hate being manipulated by deities,” he mutters under his breath.
“Ah!” Jasper grips a roll of black silk cloth. It’s about a foot long and perhaps an inch in circumference. He carries it to the table. He looks at me, and then at Adam. “I think this is for you, though I can’t say why. It’s just a feeling.” He places the rolled cloth on the table in front of Adam.
Magic vibrates from the bundle in a way I’ve never felt before. As Adam reaches for it, I touch his hand. “It’s not aligned with light. Whatever it is, it’s neutral.”
With a nod, he carefully unrolls the silk until a long slim piece of black crystal catches the fading sunlight despite not being polished. “A wand. I know no witches that use a wand.” He touches the matte stone. Wide-eyed, he jerks his hand away. “Did you hear that?’
I shake my head. “I heard nothing, Adam. What did you hear?”
“It said, ‘For you.’” He touches it again. “It’s so clear.”
The wand is cool beneath my touch, and its magic is not familiar, but not dark either. “I hear nothing. It’s full of power. Power meant for you. Power created by Goddess I think.”
“If this was delivered here twenty years ago, I was only a child. How can this have been left for me?” He lifts it from the end that’s slightly wider. It’s not perfectly round, but it does taper to a point.
“I don’t think Goddess and those in her sphere are constrained to time to the way we are.” The air pulses.
Jasper lets out a short sigh as his eyes close, and his head slumps to one side.
I jump up and feel his pulse at his throat. “Only sleeping.”
“He does not need to hear what I have to tell you.” Goddess is stretched out on the bed, as if she’s been listening the entire time.
Still holding the wand, Adam faces her. “What am I to do with this?”
“That is your destiny, Adam MacNab. You may use it for good or evil, light or dark. It is not for me to tell you how to live your life.”
Adam throws his arms up in the air and turns his back on her. “Deities! Why must they always be so cryptic?”
Appalled, I say. “He is only scared, Goddess. He means no insult.”
She laughs. “I know all he is and is not, and I am not offended, Sara Beth Ware. Do not fear for him. It is never easy to be the hope of worlds.”
My heart lodged firmly in my throat, I ask, “What do you need of us, Goddess?”
Despite his complaint, Adam stands by my side and takes my hand. “Forgive me, Goddess.”
“Dear one, there is nothing to forgive. You have a long, hard road ahead of you.” She rises from her repose and floats above the slatted wood floor. “After the brother Donnoble’s attempt to rule this world and that of gods, hallows were made should another rise to try again. In this time, she comes, and you, Adam MacNab, are her third.” Goddess smiles warmly at him. “But her brothers are not dark, and so she must make them so. She will come for you, but you must resist until you must not.”
“What does that mean?” Adam huffs. His shoulders are tight and the muscle in his jaw ticks.
She acts as if he hasn’t spoken and looks at me. “You will need two more items. I made the wand, but it is not enough to stop her once she has both of her brothers.”
My chest aches. Adam will turn and betray me, just as Orin did. I have to swallow twice to ask, “What are the other two?”
“A staff of Birch, white as pure light. The crystal you bear makes it whole. The shield staff is made by my father’s hand. He can protect but not interfere.”
Adam squeezes my hand. “I’ll never betray you.”
Unfazed, Goddess smiles. “The third is a shard from the sacred hart’s antler. He is a creation of the fae. He shan’t give a piece of himself if you are not worthy, children.” She gestures to Jasper. “Go before this kind soul is in danger. His part is done for now.”
“And where do we find these items?” Annoyed, Adam narrows his gaze.
“Go north to the hills, then west to the sea. The beasts know the way.” She shimmers out of sight.
Once she is gone, Adam drops my hand and stomps his foot. His knuckles are white where he grips the wand. “Why can’t she just give us what we need and tell us how to use them?”
