Page 30 of Shadowed Spirits (Haunted Magic #2)
CHAPTER 30
IZZY
“ A ngerona?” Levi frowns at the old woman sitting at a weathered oak table. Her curly white hair is pulled back from her wrinkled face in a braided bun, with wisps escaping to frame her tanned face. Pale blue eyes crinkle as she assesses our group.
“Leviathan.” She nods at him before turning her keen gaze on me. “Isabel Gallagher. I have been waiting for you.”
I gulp. Well, that’s not ominous or anything. “How do you know my name? And how do you know Levi?”
Angerona’s eyes twinkle with mirth as she pushes up from the violet upholstered chair. She smooths her hand over her denim dress embroidered with red and yellow flowers. “I know many things I have yet to experience, young one.”
When she doesn’t answer my second question, Levi explains, “Angerona was one of my praeceptores , what humans call teachers, when I was a child. She hasn’t been seen in many millennia.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully as he stares at her.
“By cura ,” she corrects, her voice crackling like she doesn’t speak often. “Earth has seen me plenty.” Her slipper-clad feet are soundless as she shuffles over to the small kitchen behind the living room. She busies herself with putting on a kettle of water and placing tea leaves in faded teal mugs.
Mateo rushes over to her side. “Let me help you, abuela .” She gives him the kettle with a smile. My eyebrows shoot up as I look between the two of them, wondering if they’re related. They look nothing alike, so I’m guessing she’s an honorary grandma or something.
None of us speaks as they get the tea ready, the silence settling uneasily over the room. When Mateo and Angerona set the cups at the table, she motions for us to come over. Hesitantly, I walk over and lower myself into one of the purple chairs with my mates sitting around me. Angerona motions for me to drink the tea, so I do. Taking the first sip cautiously, I’m pleasantly surprised when I taste the minty and fruity notes of the drink. It’s actually pretty good, and I’m tempted to drink my entire cup in one swig.
“So, you said you’ve been waiting for me?”
She dips her chin in response, and I refrain from groaning when she doesn’t say anything more. I’m getting the sense that she doesn’t talk much.
Mateo confirms it. “ Abuela Angerona doesn’t speak often. Asking yes or no questions will make the conversation easier.” She reaches over to pat his hand and gives him a soft smile, which he returns.
“Why doesn’t she talk much?” I blurt, wincing at how rude that sounded.
“I was cursed by Lua many lifetimes ago. Along with stealing my youth, she also made it painful to talk.” Angerona’s voice is bland, like she’s talking about the weather, not about being cursed. She doesn’t even seem particularly upset about it. If it were me, I’d be pissed and plotting my revenge. Then again, I’m a particularly bloodthirsty and vengeful person.
“She can do that?” I squeak. Man, everything I learn about Lua just keeps getting worse and worse. For once, I’d like to learn something nonthreatening about her, like she turns into a hamster when enraged or secretly has a bunny tail, not that she can steal voices and make people old.
Levi shakes his head. “Not naturally. It’s likely part of her stolen powers.”
“Great,” I mutter as I tap my fingers on the table to “Everything I Didn’t Say” by Ella Henderson. “Anything else I should know about her? Can she shoot laser beams out of her ass or obliterate me with an interpretive dance?”
Archer snorts at my question, and Bishop pinches his nose in exasperation. I think it’s a perfectly reasonable question, so I don’t know why he’s so put out by it.
Angerona’s smile drops as she watches me somberly. “You will be able to stop her, Isabel Gallagher, but the price will be high. You will have to choose between your life and that of someone you love.”
“What?” I whisper. My stomach bottoms out at her prediction. While I know which I would choose without a doubt, I was starting to believe that I could have it all—happiness, love, a life filled with laughter, my mates, and a future. I was starting to believe that it wasn’t my destiny to die early. I was starting to believe I was meant for more than heartache, but I guess I was wrong. “How can you possibly know that?”
Levi’s knuckles are white where he grips his mug, and I’m worried he’s going to shatter it. He grinds out, “One of her abilities is foresight. It’s a gift from the fates themselves.”
“Are your predictions always accurate?” I don’t know if I even really want the answer, but I need it.
She gives me a solemn nod.
I squeeze my eyes shut, but not before a tear drips down my cheek. I swipe it away. Bishop pulls me into his arms. “We’ll keep you safe, sweetheart,” he vows as he kisses the top of my hair.
I let out a watery laugh and pull away from him to stare into his baby blues that are darker than usual with the worry swimming in them. “If you think that’s what I’m worried about, you don’t know me as well as I thought you did, St. James.”
He clenches his jaw and bows his head. “It’s the only thing I can promise you right now, Isabel. You know any of us would happily die for you.”
“I know. That’s what I’m afraid of.” My voice is barely audible, and my lips are trembling as I try to pull myself together. Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath. While this isn’t the news I wanted to hear, it doesn’t change anything. “How do we find her?”
“No,” Luca growls as his eyes turn the pure amber color of his wolf. “No fucking way are you continuing to look for her. You could die, and that’s not a chance I’m willing to take.”
Instead of matching Luca’s anger with my own, like I normally would, I sigh, feeling tired. “That’s the thing, wolf boy. It’s not your choice,” I tell him softly. At my calm tone, his wolf recedes, and he blinks back at me with his normal aquamarine eyes that are clouded with concern. “Part of having a mate is that I, probably frequently, do things you don’t like. But helping others is part of who I am. You’re free to dislike it, but you don’t get to change me into someone I’m not. I’m open to compromising with you, but I’m not going to have my whole life and what I’m allowed to do dictated by anyone, even you.”
As much as I want to be what my mates want, I don’t want to lose myself in the process. Since I got my magic, I’ve spent my whole life trying to be someone I’m not, and it’s exhausting. I don’t want to have to do that with my mates. I want to be good enough as I am, as much of a pipe dream as that probably is.
Luca closes his eyes, his mouth turning down at the corners as he’s silent for a long moment. “You’re right,” he rasps when he blinks his lids open. “But it’s never been my intention to change you, Izzy. You’re an amazing woman as you are. I just… I can’t lose you, wildcat. Please don’t make me bury my mate, too.”
The raw anguish in his voice is like an arrow straight through my heart, and I want to scream. I want to rage at the fates or whoever decided this was what should happen. It’s not fucking fair that Luca lost his parents and will probably lose his mate. He deserves so much more than the lot life has given him.
I don’t voice my rage. Instead, I lie to Luca’s face like the shit mate I am. “We’ll find a way that you don’t have to.” I can’t stand him hurting, but I also know what choice I’d make if it comes down to me or any of them. I suppose it’s not a total lie, because I will do everything I can to take down Lua without dying. I don’t have much confidence I’ll be able to succeed, though.
“Promise?” His voice wavers as vulnerability flashes across his expression, something I’m not used to seeing from my normally composed mate.
“I promise,” I choke out, hating myself for lying to him. I look away before he can see how much I’m struggling. I have to swallow a few times before I can speak past the lump in my throat. “How do we stop her?”
“That is something you will have to discover on your own,” Angerona rasps.
“Awesome. So, what am I supposed to do? Just throw spells at her until something works? Try to turn her into a frog? Ask her politely not to be evil?” Angerona gives me an enigmatic smile that’s tinged with amusement but doesn’t answer. I take it that’s all she’s going to say on the matter, and I resist the urge to groan in frustration. Huffing, I ask, “Do you at least know where she is?”
“I do,” she croaks.
Now we’re getting somewhere. “Where?”
Her lips twist in frustration. “I cannot tell you.”
Never mind, apparently. We’re not getting anywhere. In fact, I think we’re farther away from finding Lua than we were before. I groan and put my head in my hands, beyond done with today. “So, this was a waste of time, then,” I mumble into my palms.
“I did not say that.” While her voice is brittle, it has an edge of frustration and disappointment.
I snap my head up and stare at her. Her eyes are pleading with me to understand. I’m clearly missing something here. Rather than screaming in exasperation, I attempt to think through the problem. Maybe I’m just not asking the right questions. Deciding to try a different tactic, I ask, “Can you help us find her?”
She grins at me and nods. Reaching up, she pulls a pendant on a long gold chain out from under her shirt. Unclasping the necklace, Angerona reaches over the table to hand it to me. When I take it from her, I realize it’s a small, burnished gold compass with a deep purple gem in the center of it. A matching purple needle points directly at me. When I tilt the compass back and forth, the indicator stays trained on me. It doesn’t matter how I move it; the compass arrow remains fixed on me. “Um. I think it might be broken.”
Angerona chuckles silently, her shoulders shaking with mirth. “You have to use your magic to make it work.”
My cheeks pink in embarrassment that I didn’t think of that. I let my magic out, the blue strands floating toward the compass. When it reaches the small gold pendant, my magic feels like it hit a brick wall. At the violent collision, my power rebounds back into me with a sickening snap. I feel like I just got gut punched.
With wide eyes, I look up at Angerona. She’s wincing in sympathy. “Not your mage magic. Only cura magic works on curae artifacts.”
I blink at her. While that makes sense, I have no idea how to access my cura magic. It seems to come out whenever my emotions are heightened. Turning to Levi, I ask, “How do I call on my cura magic?”
“Hmm. I’m not sure. The only magic I have is cura magic. Perhaps I can activate it instead?” At Angerona’s head shake, Levi tilts his head thoughtfully. “Maybe call on your familiaris ? Perhaps they can help direct it for you?”
Cerberus, I call in my head, wondering if I can talk to them in my mind or if I have to speak out loud.
“Yes, sagana ?” Cer’s serious voice sounds in my mind, answering the question as if they can hear me.
Can you help me use my cura magic?
“We can!” Russ chimes in enthusiastically as they come bounding into the dining room in their Chihuahua form. When they reach my chair, they stand up on their hind legs and scratch at me to pick them up. Giggling, I reach down and carefully haul my familiaris up onto my lap.
“Just how many three-headed dogs do you have?” Mateo eyes Cerberus like he can’t decide whether to be horrified or amused.
“Just the one,” I tell him with a laugh. “Cerberus has at least three forms that I know of. They prefer to be in their Chihuahua form on Earth, at least when I’m not in danger.”
“Larger forms allow us to protect you better ,” Bear rumbles.
“Ah, that makes sense why you show up in your rottweiler form often. So, how do I reach my cura magic?”
“It should live in your chest next to your mage magic. We can pull it forward, so you know where it is when you need it next, sagana ,” Cer says. When I give them a nod, all three of them close their little Chihuahua eyes.
I stare at them, uncertain what I’m supposed to be doing until I feel a sharp tugging in my chest. Letting my eyes slip closed, I feel like I’m free-falling as I tumble through space in my mind until I land in a shadowy area with twin flames. One flame is electric blue, and the other is the same royal purple as my cura magic.
A tendril of the purple flame floats toward me. When it wraps around my hand, I flinch and close my eyes, expecting it to burn me. After a few seconds of no pain, I hesitantly open my eyes to find myself sitting back at the table, with a wisp of purple magic winding playfully through my fingers.
Now that I have the magic in my hand, I can feel where it connects in my chest. I don’t think I can call it as effortlessly as my mage power, but at least I know how to now. When I’m done staring in wonder at the magic, I direct it toward the compass that’s resting on the oak table. I hold my breath as my power sinks inside the pendant, but nothing happens.
I flick my confused gaze to Angerona.
“It only shows those who are in the same realm, and Lua is not here currently. To use it, you need to place the compass on a map and picture her in your mind. If Lua is on Earth, it will direct you to her general area. Once there, you can follow it to her precise location.” When she finishes her instructions, Angerona starts coughing violently. She covers her mouth with a napkin as she shakes with the force of her coughing.
I watch her in concern, wanting to do something to help her but unsure what will. After a long minute, her coughing quiets and she pulls the napkin away from her mouth. She hurriedly folds it and places it on her lap, but not before I see it covered in blood.
Mateo notices it too, if his jaw clenching is any indication. “You’ve talked a lot, abuela . Maybe it’s time for some rest? I’m sure I can answer any other questions our visitors have.”
Angerona reluctantly nods and pushes up from her seat. Once she’s on her feet, Mateo offers her his arm to hold. She takes it gratefully, and they start to walk out of the room. Before they can get very far, Angerona pauses and pins me with her intense stare. “Follow your magic, Isabel Gallagher. It will never lead you astray, unlike the lies your mind whispers to you and the deceits your heart plans.”
With that confusing warning or advice delivered, Angerona slowly shuffles out of the room with the help of Mateo. I sightlessly stare after her for a moment, trying to figure out what she was talking about before glancing around at my mates. “Anyone know what that means?”
Archer shakes his blond head before flashing me a wry grin. “Not a clue, sunshine.” When no one offers up any explanation, I let out a soft groan at yet another thing I have to figure out.
The good news is that we now know how to find Lua. The bad news is that we still don’t know how to stop her. A whole army of cura wasn’t able to kill her last time, but apparently, a clueless twenty-two-year-old mage- cura hybrid is supposed to be able to. I’m sure nothing will go wrong with that half-assed plan the universe cooked up.
Before I can go down the rabbit hole of every way I’ll screw up and fuck over everyone on Earth and in all the other realms, Cerberus licks my chin, nose, and cheek. I jerk back from the three doggie tongues that just slobbered all over my face. I snort when I see how pleased they look with themselves and give them a scratch behind all six ears.
It’s only a few minutes before Mateo comes back to the dining room. He doesn’t sit, instead choosing to lean against the doorway. “So, I guess you will be able to stop Lua Mater .”
I let out a choked laugh. “Supposedly. I’m at least seventy-two percent sure Angerona is talking about another Isabel Gallagher because there’s no way I’m the only hope the world has. I mean, have you met me?” I gesture at all of my five-foot- six inches of pure trouble, with a dash of snark and a heavy heaping of screwup thrown in for good measure.
“We’re all going to die, aren’t we, kid?” Aggie floats to sit on the table in front of me and puts her head in her hands in despair. That is the only sensible reaction to learning that the fate of the world rests on my shoulders, not the cautious hope my mates and Mateo are staring at me with.
I shrug. “Well, you’re already dead. But the rest of us? Probably.”
Levi sighs at Aggie and me. “You need to have more faith in yourself, little raven. We all believe in you, and the fates do as well, it seems.”
“I’m pretty sure I have the exact right amount of faith in myself, but sure.” From everything I’ve seen, the fates make extremely questionable choices, so I’m not going to put much faith in them. Fastening the compass chain around my neck, I gently set Cerberus on the ground before shoving to my feet. “Should we go check out the final meeting place and then make a plan of attack?”
“That’s probably a good idea.” Bishop stands up and opens a portal. The rest of my mates voice their agreement before going through, grim determination on their faces.
Once they’re all on the other side, it’s my turn. “Isabel?” Mateo calls right before I step through the portal.
I pause and twist to look at him over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“If you ever need it, the entire armed forces of La Esperanza are at your disposal.” He thumps his fist over his heart and bows at the waist to me.
“Why?” I whisper. “You don’t even know me.”
“ Abuela Angerona believes in you, so we do too,” Mateo tells me with a nonchalant shrug, like it’s just that simple.
I give him an uncertain nod as I walk through the portal, wishing that stopping Lua were as easy as having people believe in me. Unfortunately, it’s going to take way more than that, including one of our lives, if Angerona is correct.