Page 136 of Solar Shadows

Whoa.

My littlest brother entered the room, his back to me.

“P-Preston?” I said, my mouth dry.

Unseen starlight. Had I been seeing him subconsciously?

Preston turned, looking right at me. “Huh?”

Winded, I reached out for him.

He sees me.

He sees me.

And I see him.

“Who are you?” he questioned.

But the vision collapsed, leaving me in the snow, Piper cackling her rotten head off.

“Preston,” I breathed.

“Fun times are coming!” Piper bellowed. “Get ready to dance, Sunshine One! Get ready!”

I returned to the rain, sat on the ground, drenched to the bone.

“Isaac?” Ollie’s voice licked at my ears, his hands on me. “What happened?”

“I saw him,” I whispered. “I saw him.”

Unseen starlight.

A parallel world.

“So did I,” Riley said, sitting beside me, shoulders slumped. “I saw him over there. I saw him in the other place.”

I slid over to him, gently wrapping my arms around him as he whimpered.

Together, unified in our confusion in the rain.

“It’s okay,” I said, my head pressed to his. “We’ll find him. We’ll make this right.”

“Because we’re Auroras,” he answered, a kernel of his positivity tickling my senses.

“Absolutely, honey. Auroras who aren’t giving up.”

He lifted his head. “You can’t keep a good sacred witch down.”

“Preach it.”

He smiled, closing his eyes against the deluge. “We’re coming for you Preston.”

The witchcops carried the fake Star away.

“Yes, we are,” I agreed, closing my eyes too.

No matter the obstacles and the onslaught of revelations, we were fighters.

This was a war we’d win in a tempest of sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. The triple whammy Piper and every other threat should be getting ready for.

If they all wanted a party, we’d give them one.

Mark my fucking words.

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