Destined (War of the Covens 2)

“Overwhelming?”

He threw her a self-deprecating smile. “Yes. Overwhelming. She has such a soothing presence for a piece of marble.”

Caia nodded. “I thought so at first.”

“Caia.” He suddenly leaned in close, his strong hand gripping her upper arm. “I think Gaia would tell you the one simple truth that we all like to pass off as cliché.”

Caia found herself leaning closer to him, desperate for any kind of guidance, no matter the source.

“She would tell you that in the end, we only have ourselves, no matter how many friends, allies, or loved ones are in our lives. You have to trust yourself before you can trust anyone else. Trust yourself, Caia. Do what you think is the right thing to do.”

“And the prophecy?”

“Why don’t you stop looking so far ahead? Stick with the now and see where that takes you.”

Vanne was right. Caia had already decided she needed to find the boy, Vilhelm, so she could determine how he felt about Laila; maybe find an ally in him and get him to help her free Laila. The last few days, that resolve had withered under paralyzing self-doubt, but surprisingly, and completely out of nowhere, Vanne had helped her.

Who saw that coming?

“Ooh, Caia!”

She turned and pasted on a bright smile as she entered the communication hall, only to be set upon by a couple of her groupies. Desdemona and Ophelia were nineteen-year-old twins who looked a little like her. They were both small in stature with long, blond hair and green eyes and had decided that this made them all like sisters.

Caia wanted to grimace at their puppy-dog enthusiasm but managed to control the urge. The girls were Caia’s complete opposite—bubbly, outgoing, perhaps a little annoying … but they were sweet. And they actually thought they had something to learn from Caia, which was just so—

“Ooh, Caia!” Desi repeated, rushing at and throwing her arms around her, causing all her classmates to stop and stare. Once Caia was free, Ophelia entrapped her in one of her own girlish hugs.

“I can’t believe you’ve come to one of our classes!”

It was true she’d spent all her time in the advanced classes, such as natural materialization and water element lectures, but after spending the last day and a half strolling through them all, trying not to make it obvious she was looking for someone, she still hadn’t found Vilhelm.

It occurred to her at lunch yesterday, when Ophelia had bemoaned her and her sister’s loser-like place in the Center’s posse system, Caia had only been in the beginners’ and intermediate classes for communication spells. Apparently at the Center, there was an advanced communication spell class and an advanced specialist communication spell class. Desi and Ophelia were advanced specialists, meaning that neither of them had shown much aptitude in natural materialization or glamour. They were extremely adept at using their element—air—and excellent at communication spells. They were what the Center called Travelers.

While most magiks used the communication spell to journey quickly between places they were familiar with to relay information, Travelers could journey anywhere for long periods, whether they’d been there before or not. Caia thought it was pretty damn neat, but other magiks were snobby. Because they couldn’t really do much of anything else, they were, well, outcasts.

Hence why they were so eager to please Caia.

“You know I’m in awe of you people.” Caia swept her arm around the room, trying not to be embarrassed that she was the center of attention. She really should be used to it by now. “I just wanted to stop by, thought you could introduce me to your class?”

In truth, I just wanted to stop by and see if there was a tall, cute Scandinavian kid hanging around.

Desi laughed excitedly. “Uh, ye-uh!”

With that Caia found herself doing the uncomfortable task of pretending to be sociable. But while investigating, it suddenly occurred to her that dropping by had its upside.

Allies.

The whispering that met her sensitive ears told her she had just become the coolest kid on the block for these students. No other VIP magik had ever taken an interest in them before. She had given them hope that maybe things could change around the Center. Maybe people would open their minds and stop clinging to traditional thought.

I couldn’t agree more.

Moving on to another group of magiks, Caia began to feel … good?

Yeah, good.

She almost laughed out loud at the thought. These were exactly the kind of people she needed on her side: nontraditionalists who were prepared to welcome a new outlook.

Okay, so maybe they were only referring to the inner workings of the Daylight Coven, but if they weren’t completely satisfied with how things were running at present, then maybe they would be the first to believe the war with the Midnights was based on misinformation and misunderstanding.

She smiled brightly, genuinely, as she talked with the Travelers, a small weight lifting from her shoulders.