Page 25 of These Unhallowed Halls (Equinox Seasons Duet #2)

Sixteen- Threads Through Holes, Reeds Woven In Time, Creating Duality From What Was Mine

Lizzie

C aleb stifled a grin as he shook his head, looking between Temps and me as the joined words hung in the air.

He sucked in a deep breath, meeting us at the couch again with another photocopy in his hands.

He laid it on the small coffee table, pointing to a line near the bottom of the left-hand page.

“Soul weaving. This is from one of the books at the library that I couldn’t take out.

Hell, I shouldn’t have been copying it either, but desperate times.

Anyway, it’s an ancient practice that I know a little about.

I’ve been curious about the mechanics for a while now, even doing some research when I was abroad. ”

“Ancient is good, or does that mean this could go tits up real easy?” I asked, cocking my head as I scanned over the words on the photocopy.

“Potentially both.” Caleb sighed, pulling off his glasses and polishing the glass on the fabric of his tweed jacket.

“It’s rarely done. Always has been. But from what I understand, it was more common in the past when witches and practitioners weren’t as concerned about what spirits they might be letting in.

Thankfully, we’ve gotten more cautious over the years. ”

“It lets in spirits? Isn’t that a big no-no?” Temperance’s brow was furrowed way down over her eyes as she fiddled nervously with the hem of her skirt.

“Usually, yes.” Caleb slid his glasses back in place, pointing down at the passage again.

“You’ll see that it warns that you may not always have control over the spirit you soul weave to.

But it does increase power, and depending on the potency of the spirit or being, the power achieved could be drastically changed.

Many in the past, more reckless witches who were greedy and too intoxicated by the promise of more, didn’t view the incoming spirit as a person or entity but as a thing to be used.

The results of the course could often be a toss-up as a result.

You either got your powers and stayed who you were, or the incoming spirit took over. ”

My pulse skittered under my skin as I realized what that could mean. “Wait, so the soul weaving could leave the person as…someone else?”

“Potentially. There are a handful of reports that detail someone using a typical spirit, but it could be done with a willing elder being or deity as well. That was much more uncommon, but in either case, it would be possible for the spirit invoked in the soul weaving to take over the host body, to change what the person was altogether.”

“And you think that’s a good idea?” Temps shook her head, her brows up to her hairline as she visibly protested against the notion. “And here I thought Lizzie was the unhinged one.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, reaching over and stroking Temps’ arm. “Aww, thanks, babe.”

“I’m being serious. All this sounds wildly unpredictable and dangerous. How could you guarantee that we wouldn’t just be left with a situation ten times worse than the one we have now?”

“I couldn’t, Temperance. That’s usually the case with higher magics.

But if a deity, one of the elder gods of the World of Below or hell, even a forest protector, agreed to be part of the soul weaving by answering the call, they could give us the power necessary to fight off the thing using the carnival for its own purposes. I think it’s worth that risk.”

Shoving up from the couch, Temps stepped past the coffee table and paced around Caleb’s office.

I could tell how on edge she was, the raw ringing of her aura a tone of apprehension and fear.

She genuinely worried about losing me or Caleb to the soul weaving, and I could even pick up on her torn desire to be the one to do it if it came down to that, and knowing that she shouldn’t because she wouldn’t be strong enough to take it with her history of heart problems.

I stood up, following her to the area in front of the window. The gloomy sky was even darker now, almost as if it had picked up on the tension in the room. A low, gentle rumble of thunder echoed, and in just a few seconds, little raindrops began to patter against the windowpane.

“Temps, this is a conversation right now. Try to center yourself.” I ran my hands up and down her arms, trying to send out as much soothing energy as I could.

“None of this was going to be easy. There were always going to be hard choices that required sacrifice. But those students…what we saw…We can’t let this continue. You know that.”

Bobbing her head, Temps leaned forward, resting her head on my shoulder as she came in for a hug.

I wrapped my arms around her, breathing in that scent of old paper and vanilla.

She slipped her arms under mine, her thumb smoothing over the spot between my shoulder blades. After a moment, she looked up at me.

“I hate this. And I know you’re right. Ugh,” she turned toward Caleb, “what else? Something tells me that wasn’t the only bomb drop.”

Caleb stood up from his seat on the coffee table, walking over to us. As he stood there, right next to our shoulders where they touched, I glided one hand around his side to his back. Temps was quick to do the same, joining him in our little huddle even as he rolled his eyes.

There was a moment of silence, one where I was sure Caleb would get spooked and pull away, but then he lifted his hand to Temps’ shoulder, holding it there as he locked eyes with her.

“It’s permanent.” His stare swiveled to mine, his free hand finding the small of my back. “Whatever version of me you ended up with, that’s how it would stay.”

“ You ? And who says it has to be you?” I cocked my head, reeling back with an air of indignation.

“You honestly think I would let one of you two do it? You’re both young; there’s so much of your story ahead of you. I’m the grizzled old professor. If anyone is going to have their book cut short, it should be me.”

“You make it sound like death is another option on this ‘choose your own adventure.’” Temps aura flickered, going dim when I brought that up, and I looked over quickly as I squeezed her with the hand on her hip.

“It is.” Caleb nodded, his expression dropping all the more. “The deity could replace me altogether, or I might not be a strong enough vessel to contain it, and it could destroy me.”

“That’s not worth the risk, Caleb.” Temps stamped her foot down, her expression desperate as she turned toward him and put both of her hands on his face, me at her back.

“We care about you. There’s something here, something between us all that none of us can deny, and I’m not throwing that away when I just got my hands on it. ”

Expression softening, Caleb took her hands and put them on his chest, holding them there.

“Temperance—”

“We need to try and deal with this on our own without the soul weaving. At least try. If we can’t, if it’s made abundantly clear that we’re outmatched, then…well, then we’ll have no choice, and I won’t be pissy about it.”

Sighing, Caleb dropped his head, bringing Temps’ knuckles to his lips before looking at her again. I ran my hand up and down her back, chewing on my lip as I shot a glance at the photocopy and then back at them.

“What do you suggest? How are we supposed to get into the carnival to confirm our suspicions and make it out alive? You are brand new to the craft, and I’m an alchemist, not a combat witch. I…I…care about what happens to you both. If something were to go wrong—”

“So we get items and potions we need to blend in, provide us with a quiet entry and exit. If we go during the day, we’ll have that on our side as well. The carnival runs nearly all night. They’ll be exhausted if we go first thing in the morning.”

Caleb shrugged, tilting his head down. “That’s not terrible. I might be able to come up with some things we could bring with us to keep them drowsy.”

“Alright,” I clapped Temps on the shoulder, squeezing tight as I came around her side and standing so that I could grip both of them, “we have a plan. Mostly. We need to get some supplies, those good old drowsy potions, and I’m going to show our girl here how to fight the old-fashioned way.

You grow up around a bunch of creeps and you get good at knowing which spots to jab. ”

Temps laughed, Caleb shaking his head as he eyed me with a smirk. “I’m not sure if I should be terrified or…extremely turned on.”

I gave a laugh back, throwing my head back. When I looked at them both again, I bobbed my head in a nod, turning down the corners of my mouth, feeling very satisfied with myself.

“Well, you know that saying that’s been making the rounds on social for a while. ‘Women? Women. But also, women…” I paused for effect, pumping my eyebrows. “...who can kill you.’”

“Where do you hear that stuff?” Temps giggled, this look of mild disgust hitting her as she shook her head.

“Eh, social media is a wild place, babe.”

“I think I’m glad to be too old for that shit.

” Caleb narrowed his eyes at me, smiling before he squeezed both Temps’ and my shoulders.

“But that sounds as good as anything else right now. Teach Temperance your stuff, and I’ll be sure to gather what we need to be as discreet as possible when we go to the carnival.

Meet back at the gate tomorrow morning, like five.

And if we don’t like what we see, the soul weaving. ”

He made sure to look Temps directly in the eye for that last part. I didn’t love the idea of losing Caleb for good either, whether it be through death or because some ancient fuck took his place, but I had to admit, even if only to myself, that we did need more power.

Caleb was right. We were new at this. Temps and I didn’t have the skills, and for all of his muscles, fighting something like an unnameable evil was going to take a lot more than punching. I just hoped that our little trip would convince Temps of that.

“Fuuuck, that’s so early,” I turned up the moan as I spoke, really laying it on thick.

‘You’ll be fine, Lizzie.” Temps smiled at me before looking down at the floor with a sigh. “But we should go. Hanging out in here for too long again might get noticed this time.”

“Indeed.” Caleb stepped back, walking casually to the door, which he opened for us with a grin. “I’ll see you both in the morning then.”

Temps was the first to get moving, and I was surprised when she stopped in front of Caleb and leaned up onto her toes to deliver a soft peck on his cheek.

It was so quick, and there was no one milling about in the halls, so we were fine, but to know that Temps was willing to risk a little spoke volumes.

“If anything changes, call one of us. Or text. Do you have our numbers on file?”

Caleb nodded with a sly grin. “I may have combed the records last night for them. Just in case.”

Blushing slightly, Temps nodded and slipped past, her footsteps echoing as they filled the quiet with a steady beat.

As I walked up to Caleb, I thought about the student we’d found.

Those charred sockets would haunt me for a long fucking time, and I knew that Caleb had seen his parents killed in front of him.

How he was walking around with all that was a testament, and I knew he didn’t see it that way.

As I reached him, I stopped, looking up into those expressive, deep blue eyes of his, reaching up for his cheek.

“The fact that you’re helping us with this, the school with this, says a lot about you. Even if some of the other stuff is twisting in your head, I hope you realize that you’re a good person. You could have turned tail and run when all this started, and you didn’t. Don’t forget that.”

His eyes widened, his lips parting slightly, and I pushed up onto my tiptoes to kiss him—too quick for my liking if I was honest.

“See ya in the morning, teach.”