Page 77 of Claim the Twilight
“Fine, so there’s a risk. But Moringa Lantana historically has never had a surge in any of her incarnations.”
Aster pushes open a battered wooden door, and sunlight kisses my skin.
I follow the witch out into a large, cobbled courtyard with a one-story building to the far left. I don’t take in much more,my attention focused on Harald as I try desperately to read him. “How do you know that?”
“Because he has been with her in each of them,” Aster says. “Your Harald has been bound to the Lantana bloodline through the incarnations of Moringa forever. A minion. Until he overstepped and killed the man she loved.”
Harald snarls, his breath hot as it skims the top of my head, and the hairs on the back of my neck quiver.
He growls, low and menacing.
So he killed Moringa’s lover, and she cursed him. Harald was obviously obsessed with Moringa. After being bound to her for so long, in so many incarnations, maybe he felt he owned her? “But surely Moringa would have had lovers or husbands in her past lives. Why this time?”
Harald turns his face away, and it’s Aster that answers. “Because this time, Harald fell in love with Moringa too. You must remember that each incarnation of Moringa remembers her past lives. She harbors the power, but she is different due to her lived experiences of that particular life. Our souls grow and evolve, and this evolution was one that Harald coveted for himself.”
“Wait, how come I don’t remember my past lives?”
“The memories come with the power,” Aster says. “You gave yours up.”
And now I’m going to claim them back and possibly go through a surge. “So what are the odds of me dying?”
“Slim,” Aster says. “But they exist.”
Harald looks down at me. “The question is are you going to walk away from the risk and leave your friends to die?”
“You manipulative bastard.”
He stares at me, unblinking, waiting for a response. The response he knows is coming.
“No. We do this regardless but with an amendment to our deal.”
He sighs heavily. “Fine. In the unlikely event that you perish, I will ensure your friends get the help that I promised you.”
“Your word.”
“You have my word.”
The clip of hooves and the clatter of wheels pulls my attention back to my surroundings and the horse-drawn carriage coming out of the building across the courtyard. A liveried man sits in the driver’s seat inside its own mini enclosed cabin attached to the main carriage. His gloved hands grip a harness that passes through holes in his cabin and connects to two huge beasts that looked like a cross between a horse and a bull. Both wear helmets that cover their whole heads, leaving only their glowing eyes on display.
“What the fuck?”
“Ah, I suppose the bulorse must look strange to you. They’re designed to walk the threads.”
“Designed?”
“Created, biomagically evolved, whatever you wish to call it.” She turns her attention to the driver. “Palmer, is everything packed?”
Palmer inclines his head. “All loaded.”
When had she requested supplies? My question must have shown on my face because she laughed lightly.
“I suspected that this journey might be required. I’m ready.” She stepped close and cupped my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes. “Just as I promised you I would be.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about, but I smile and nod, eager to get going.
“Come,” Aster says. “I’ll take you to where the curse was cast and then…then we can work at unmaking it.”
Chapter 32
