Page 19 of The Shadowed Oracle (The Bonded Worlds #1)

He was right. Ingrid’s eyes rolled, but only slightly. “Believe me,” she said, drawing a circle around her face with her index finger. “This. It’s all an act. Inside, I’m losing it. No matter how hard you try to help.”

Without any hint or warning, Dean stood up from the seat at the control panel and moved closer to Ingrid. His steps were cautious, considerate of the gun she still clung to for her own comfort, but his body was relaxed. Every inch of him trusted Ingrid. Trusted her to trust him.

“Hold out your hand,” he asked finally, staring intensely at her until she met his gaze.

She didn’t reach out to meet him, only stared back.

“Just trust me. It’s something my mom did for me when she first told me all this. It helped.”

“You were six.”

“So?” Dean shrugged and attempted to meet her halfway, holding his hand out, palm up.

Ingrid looked at it, then at Dean.

His expression was still so welcoming, easy and nonchalant. It was just a hand, after all. Just a silly little exchange.

“Are you afraid?” Dean asked. “Have you forgotten you have a gun pointed at me?”

“I haven’t forgotten.” She didn’t feel like she was in danger, and although it wasn’t a guarantee, she was usually a good judge of this kind of thing.

Taking a heavy breath, she thrust her palm into his and?—

Both light and sound faded from the room.

Fuzzy images and muddled scenes flooded her mind’s eye. She saw scenes that felt like memories, but couldn’t have been. Because they weren’t from her past… they were from Dean’s.

She saw a woman dressed in combat gear, her hazel hair piled on top of her head, sitting in the chair Dean had just been sitting in. Then she saw a tall man with long grey-blonde hair, scars on his hands, a long, pointed beard, and her eyes standing over the control panel.

And then she saw nothing.

Ingrid’s mind went blank.

The next thing she knew, she was falling backwards, slamming against the wall and sliding with a thud down to the floor.

The muscles in her legs had given out.

“Oh, fuck.” Dean rushed to her side. “I’ll get you some water.” He made for the door but Ingrid grabbed him by the ankle.

“No,” she rasped. “Please stay.” Her body may have been failing her, but her mind was clear. She wanted him nearby. She couldn’t be alone. Not now.

“I’m right here,” Dean said, kneeling down next to her on the cold concrete floor. He stretched a hand toward her for just a moment before stopping himself short. “Anything you need. Just try not to pass out on me, okay? Can you do that?”

“I’m okay,” she replied shakily. “I’m okay now. I just felt… I felt what you were feeling, all at once. And then… then I saw your mother. I saw Karis, too.” She pointed at the monitors, the ancient computers. “There. They were just there. I could see them. I could feel them. What did you do to me?”

Dean shook his head confidently. “Nothing. I didn’t do anything. The hand thing, it’s a stupid breathing exercise. I didn’t do anything. It was all you.”

Ingrid went still.

“It was you,” Dean repeated softly, the beginning of a bright smile pulling at his lips. “You did all that by yourself.”

“But why now?” Ingrid asked. “Why am I seeing all this— feeling all this now?” She sucked in a shaky breath. “The nightmares. The Shades, they were nothing like this. Not even close. What’s changed? Why am I?—"

“Remember what I said about the viseer stone?” Dean cut in. “How it needed to charge?”

Ingrid tilted her head down, listening.

“Everyone and everything sent by Makkar is full of power, straight from the source of Ealis. And they’re all around you now.

Their presence is charging you. Giving only a fraction of what you’d get in Ealis, but still, enough.

Enough to give you back what you never knew you lost in the first place.

Your power, Ingrid. The magic. The magic that’s inside you. It’s finally waking up.”

Equal parts excitement and sheer terror swirled in her head. She didn’t know where to start. How to start.

Her power.

Her magic .

She ran the word over and over in her mind, repeating it until the word sounded funny. Her magic, she thought again, losing herself to the fantasies of what it could mean. What possibilities, what benefits, and, as petty as she knew it was, what vengeance she could enact.

But she’d have to wait, Dean told her. The process of wielding this ability would be lengthy, fraught with mistakes and misdirection, even if she did have a good teacher. And as it stood, she didn’t have any teacher. Period.

Karis was the only one who could’ve fully mentored her, the only one who could’ve taught from experience. And since he had no reason to tell Dean all the particulars of his power, Ingrid couldn’t even get secondhand lessons from his son.

“So it’ll just… come to me?” She was hopeful for all of a few seconds before catching Dean’s wincing reaction.

“Sort of.”

“Awesome.” Ingrid’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t have the slightest clue, do you?”

“I wouldn’t say that. If we go to Ealis, your power will grow exponentially. As for honing that power, though, we’ll have to find someone.”

“Just find someone? Any old someone?” He made it sound so mundane. Like a doctor’s office. Or a little trade shop somewhere. “Really?”

“No, not just anyone.” A buried thought seemed to be unearthed in him. “Actually, there is a faction of magic wielders in Ealis. The Libeeri. But they’re very private. Hard to find, let alone meet with, due to how sought after those with power are.”

It sounded less and less possible as he went on. To travel to another world, find some secret faction of experienced wielders, and only then could she start what sounded like a long, tedious process.

“What if I’m too late?” Ingrid asked. “What if I can’t learn?”

Dean gave her a stern look. “Then you’re fucked. Shit out of luck. Sorry.” His cheeks inflated slightly, holding in a laugh.

“Alright then, I see how it is.” Ingrid planted her hands on the ground, readying to stand.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To start learning, I guess. Seeing as you won’t help me.”

Dean’s smile faded into a deathly stillness as he peered up at Ingrid, who was now standing, albeit shakily. “I am helping you. You’ll need to know all this if you’re going to?—”

“Going to what?”

“Going to fight with us.”

“And why the hell would I do that?”

Dean shifted his weight backward until he was flat on the ground with his arms flailing up over his ears. “Oh, I don’t know Ingrid. Maybe because people are dying?”

“That’s not my problem,” Ingrid grunted. She didn’t know them. Didn’t owe them anything. If she were being completely honest, she often thought about how much easier her life would be if there were fewer people around. Less crowds. Less of everything.

“We have a serious population issue anyway,” Ingrid argued half-heartedly. “Earth is dying, you know.”

“In more ways than one.” Dean was still flat on the ground, hands clasped over his head.

“After Makkar has gained control in Ealis, he’ll look to absorb all of Earth’s power too.

” He lurched forward, then pushed himself to his feet with ease.

“Do you get where I’m going with this? What that would look like?

He’d destroy or enslave everyone you’ve ever met. ”

“Why?” Ingrid asked. “What do Immortals want with us?” she stopped herself. “Or, them ? You know what I mean. What can humans possibly give him?”

“Maybe nothing,” Dean scoffed. “But that doesn’t matter to him.

Makkar is a religious fanatic who thinks our worlds are linked strictly for the benefit of Ealis.

It’s old teachings. Old rites.” Vexation, anger and disgust painted his face all at once.

“He sees Earth as the lesser of the two. Thinks humanity’s only purpose is to feed Ealis.

Feed his world and the Viator, keep them powerful, keep them immortal.

Like the snake endlessly eating itself, only, in this metaphor, Ealis would be the head, the world of soul, of spirit.

And Earth would be the tail, the world of flesh and… sacrifice.”

Ingrid steadied herself against the wall again. “But wouldn’t that hurt Ealis too? By that logic, he’d be decimating his life source? His… food.” Ingrid’s stomach turned at the word.

“Exactly. You understand.” Dean was suddenly, oddly elated.

The subject was ghastly, but he seemed happy to be finally getting through to Ingrid.

“If Earth is the fuel, then why waste it all by sacrificing us? It’s a lie.

A cover story to hide his intentions. He wants all of Ealis worshipping him as some God-King that brought their world unthinkable power. ”

“Would they? Would Ealis become more powerful?”

“Maybe. I mean, technically.” Dean said it with a frustrating shrug.

“The one truth we know for sure is that there’s a limited amount of energy, power and magic surging through our worlds.

Surging through all living things. If there is less energy needed in Earth, then in theory, more would be available to Ealis. ”

Ingrid’s face flushed. “Do you have proof of this?” she asked. “Couldn’t this be more of his lies?”

“No, no proof,” Dean said, seeming not at all attached to it.

“Anything is possible but, again, Makkar’s religion is an old one, full of very faithful followers.

They don’t look at facts. It goes beyond the ouroboros theory.

They believe gifted Viator can enhance their power by absorbing the lifeforce of others of their race, too. Like some twisted competition.”

“And by absorbing, you mean…”

“Murder, yes.”

“Seems convenient.” A violent man adopting violent principles. It was all too familiar. Every history book she’d ever read was full of examples. “Do their teachings actually say that plainly?” Ingrid asked with a snort.