Lux

Lux's stomach grumbled in protest when the smell of ribs reached her in her hiding place. After her dramatic outburst with Declan, she fled in shame and hid herself amongst the natural trails surrounding the park. Her phone buzzed incessantly in her pocket, but she wasn't ready to face her friends or him. Not when she knew she'd overreacted.

"Good lord girl, what are you doing?" she asked herself, drawing a hand across her brow to wipe away the sweat. The sun had almost dropped below the horizon. A golden glow clung to a few places, but the park was more shadows than light She was happy to stay hidden in them.

She had herself under control when she saw him standing at the bottom of her stairs, watching her with worshipful eyes. Empowered. That's how it made her feel. And in the car, his stolen glances thawed the icy armor she'd wrapped herself in. To where she thought this day might be, if not pleasant, at least endurable.

All of that went to hell as soon as his hand wrapped around her arm, and she felt complete for the first time since he'd walked away from her on the porch. The pain that gripped her at every moment disappeared, and her magic swelled and swirled within her without trying to take over. She wondered if that was how it was supposed to feel-if a channeling stone would give her the same control.

Lux didn't know why she'd told him she wanted out. The truth was, she wanted to be involved more. Declan couldn't understand what it felt like to be an outsider in your own Circle, but without her channeling stone, that's exactly what she was to the other girls. Worse, to some of them, she was a weak link. Audra had hinted on over one occasion that it might be time to search for a spirit witch. Then, she'd happily volunteered to be Head Priestess until Lux could assume the role.

There were pros to giving up her heritage. For starters, she wouldn't go crazy and die a horrible death. She rubbed her breastbone and took a deep breath. And if she wasn't a witch, she could be with Declan. The thought only angered her further. Why should she be making such big decisions because of a boy? But then her hand left her chest and rose to her lips. The feel of his mouth haunted her dreams, causing her to wake in a tangle of sheets, her breathing uneven and sweat chilling on her skin beneath the ceiling fan. There was so much more to them than that.

It was no wonder she wasn't getting any rest. When she wasn't worrying over stopping hell on earth or trying to rid her thoughts of a particular sorcerer, she'd start fretting over the long overdue college applications. She'd talk to her mother about it, but their relationship had been tense since the argument. If Memaw would ever come back into town, Lux would at least have someone to talk to, but every phone conversation with her grandmother had been short and rushed.

"I just wish I could run away from it all."

"Want someone to go with you?"

Lux gasped, trying to make out the girl who'd slipped up on her, but she saw no one at first. Then, the girl shifted, stepping out of the darkness and into a pool of light cast by a streetlamp. Trying to slow her breathing, she studied the girl. Her features were familiar, and her skin shimmered like black diamonds beneath the artificial lighting.

"You scared the crap out of me," Lux finally said, scooting down the bench to make room for the girl.

The girl accepted the seat, but she sat as far away as possible. "Sorry. Didn't mean to frighten you, but this is the best spot in the park to get away from everyone. At least without going into the woods."

"No, it's fine. I'm good with sharing. I'm Lux Godelieve."

The girl nodded. "I know who you are. You're in the same grade my sister Corinne was in."

"You're Brooke Bailey?" In all the chaos of discovering she was a witch, Lux had forgotten about her murdered schoolmate. It suddenly made her problems seem very small.

"Yep. The only Bailey girl left in town. Except my mama, of course."

Lux shifted on the bench, clenching her hands in her lap. Her southern upbringing urged her to offer consolation, but condolences never went very far as far as actual consolation was concerned. Words were an ineffective tool against sorrow, even more so when the loss was so fresh and unexpected. Brooke wore her pain about her like armor, her pointed chin thrust out as if to prepare to receive Lux's disappointing apology.

"I knew Corinne from school. She was always real quiet, but I never saw her say a mean thing to anyone," Lux said instead of saying I'm sorry.

Brooke lowered her jaw. Calculating eyes latched onto Lux as she replied, "Corinne was always the good girl. Mama never had to get on to her. Not like she does me. See, we were only nine months apart. Irish twins mama called us, but besides sharing a last name, we're about as different as can be."

"You seem nice enough to me." She said it jokingly, but Brooke shook her head emphatically.

"I'm not nice. Or at least I'm not gonna be when I find out who killed my sister. She didn't wrong anyone, and I'm going to make them pay."

The temperature dropped, Brooke's truth giving the summer breeze an icy bite. Lux shivered. "Brooke... be careful. Even if Corinne was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, that person won't hesitate to kill again if they feel threatened. That kind of thing is best left up to the police."

"You think they care about some girl who lives in a trailer park? The police think she was running away, and a vagrant targeted her. They said the murderer is likely gone, but Corinne wasn't running away. Mama sent her to get rid of the demons in her. The ones we all get on our seventeenth birthday."

Lux's stomach clenched. A Knowing overcame her, but she asked anyway, "Brooke, why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because the last place we knew Corinne was supposed to be going to was the store I saw you walk in a few weeks ago. Amulets. You're mixed up in all of this. I've been trying to talk to you for weeks, but this is the first time you've been alone."

Lux shot to her feet. "I don't even know what you're talking about. I've gotta get back to my friends. They'll be worried."

It looks like a place to be murdered... Did Corinne Bailey die at Amulets?

"I feel the panic coming off of you. I know you know the truth. Mama said those feelings are from the devil, but if they help me get answers, I'll send my soul to hell."

Feelings. Demons inside of her. Corrinne and Bailey were witches.

"Why me?" Lux asked instead of continuing to deny the girl. "Kitty was with me too. My mother and grandmother. You could have talked to any of us."

Brooke hit her thigh with a clenched fist. "Cause I Know you're the one to help. My gut told me not to trust Kitty, and most adults treat me like I'm still a kid. I Know you will help me."

Refusal was on her lips, but it faded away as the teenager before her shook with tears. She wasn't capable of helping her Circle, but just maybe she could help this girl. A girl who was likely supposed to be a member of the First Circle one day. But like her and the other girls, no one had taught her.

"Tell me what you want from me."

******************************************

Lux waited until everyone left the house the next morning before she left her room. Training started in ten minutes, but she wouldn't be late. She wouldn't show up at all. She thought about texting Kitty or Travis to explain her absence, but Brooke was adamant about keeping their plans secret. It wasn't a terrible idea, especially if Lux's suspicions became truths.

Climbing into her car, she drew in a deep breath, glancing toward the path to their training field. She expected to feel guilty, but the emotion didn't rear its ugly head; instead, she felt relief. She had nothing to offer the Circle, not right now. Maybe never.

The trip to the Nature Center was uneventful. No one messaged her or called, meaning her absence surprised no one in the Circle. Declan very well could have told them of her desire to get out. Her outburst wasn't completely pointless after all.

Ms. Beauchamp waved at Lux when she entered the gift shop, but the smile pasted on her lips faltered when she saw who Lux was meeting. A know it all like her would recognize Brooke Bailey, and news of this encounter would spread across town before morning.

"I was worried you wouldn't come," Brooke whispered. She was dressed for the heat, wearing cloth shorts and a tank top, but she had a leather messenger back strapped across her shoulder and sturdy boots on her feet.

In the light of day, Lux could see the differences between the Bailey girls. Corinne had been lighter with tawny skin and freckles, but Brooke's skin looked like polished onyx- smooth and so dark it almost absorbed the surrounding light. But the girls shared similar facial shapes and eye colors, enough so that no one would question they were siblings when standing next to each other. The thought gave Lux pause, knowing the girls would never share the same space again.

"I told you I would," Lux replied, growing winded as they marched up the hill toward the crime scene. Despite the cooler temperature in the shade, sweat covered the girls when they reached the crest, and though she remembered the climb hadn't been easy before, Lux knew she shouldn't be as winded as she was.

"You look like you're in better shape than that." Brooke's words echoed her own thoughts.

"You're definitely blunt."

The girl shrugged, reaching behind her to tie her long, straight hair back with a hairband. "Enough lies exist in the world without me adding to it."

"So why here? It's been over a month since they found her. We didn't even see anything the day we came up here."

Brooke reached into the messenger bag and pulled out a book. The strange language she'd spied in Amulets and Charmed was scrawled across the cover, though she now knew what it was: the language of the angels.The edges were well worn and yellowed with age, and energy radiated from the pages when the book opened. It was enough to make the ache in Lux's chest pulse, begging her to reach for her power.

"When you told me about witches last night, I remembered this. Guess you were right about my family. My mother gave it to me. Said it belonged to my great grandmother. And the symbols on it remind me of the symbols from the police report."

"No." Lux took the book. "These symbols can't be used for dark magic. But maybe we can find something in here that works." Conveniently, she left out the part about not being able to do magic alone, and Brooke hadn't reached her seventeenth birthday.

They walked toward the drop off where Corinne's body had been hidden. Brooke swallowed hard, but with fists clenched and her jaw tight, she pushed past it. They looked over the edge. It looked like a normal ravine cloaked in summer foliage and dappled sunlight.

"I saw something in there about a summoning. Said you could go to where a person died and call forth their spirit. We could just ask Corinne who murdered her."

"I don't think it's that simple. Look," Lux pointed at the page with the spell, "It requires a full Circle. We could ask the other girls to help, but we barely know more than you do."

"No. I don't want anyone else involved. There can't be too many w-witches around here. Whoever did this is in the magical community. What if it's one of them? That goth girl Ruby even works at the place."

"There's no way," Lux insisted, though her words felt flat. She waited for one of her premonitions to come over her. To tell her she was right. But her power didn't stir.

Brooke walked down the hill at an angle, her gaze locked on something at the bottom of the hill. She shouted at Lux, "Come on, ya scaredy cat."

"No sane person goes marching off down a hill covered in kudzu, snakes, bugs, and lord knows what else," she muttered following behind the other girl, trying to keep to the path she'd made through the brush.

"What was that?"

"Coming."

"That's what I thought." The teenager was bouncing with glee when Lux reached the bottom, having only slid a few times in the moist dirt. A silver chain with a pendant dangled in her hand. "This was Corinne's. She had a ring that matched. Both were missing when they found her."

"How did you see this from way up there?" Lux asked, studying the gemstone dangling from the necklace, pushing back the bile rising in her throat. "And how did the police miss that?"

"I got one of those feelings, and about halfway down I could see the metal catching the sunlight."

"What stone is that?" She already knew the answer.

Brooke hung the necklace around her neck and stroked the dark blue stone with tears in her eyes. "This belonged to our great-grandmother, too. The only thing of value we ever owned. Always went to the firstborn girl. I think Mama said it was a sapphire-a star sapphire. I wonder where the ring went."

The world tilted sideways. A star sapphire necklace with a matching ring. A sour taste filled Lux's mouth, but she wiped at her lips. There was more than one witch whose channeling stone was a star sapphire, and rings were a common choice among witches.

Oh god. Oh god.

In a quivering voice, she said, "It could be anywhere. You feel anything else?"

Brooke shrugged and looked around. "No, nothing. But maybe we should keep on heading this way. The cops might not have gone much further than this."

"Sure, but I don't know where the public property line ends. We could trespass if we go too far."

"We'll be fine. I think the property that backs up to the Nature Center belongs to the Hardy's. Isn't one of them in your Circle? The bitchy one? Sara Elizabeth."

"I didn't know that." Another lie. This one tasting metallic in her mouth before she realized it wasn't the lie; she'd bit into her cheek and drew blood. "Let's get on with it."

The girls moved further into the woods. Vibrations of insects and chirps of birds filled the air, and the breeze weaving between the trees clicked the branches together. Brooke hummed as they walked, her fingers constantly seeking the gem lying against her chest. She didn't notice the panic choking her companion. From time to time, she paused before shifting their direction slightly. Lux recognized those moments for what they were: a Knowing.

"You said your mother sent Corinne to Amulets to rid her of the demons? What did you mean?" Lux asked, her voice loud and offending in the quiet buzz of nature, but she had to get her mind on something else.

"Mama said that all the girls in our family were afflicted with unholy magic, and that her mother had bound the power so she wouldn't have to be tempted by it. Grandmama died before Corinne was born so she never taught Mama how to bind the magic, so she Corinne her to Amulets. Figured a place like that would have someone who could do it. But she never came home. They found her car abandoned about twenty miles away from there so they never gave it any real consideration."

"Hey," she put her hand on Brooke's arm to stop her. "Those feelings you get sometimes. I get them too. Have since I was a little kid. You're right. Amulets is an awful place, and we are going to find out what happened to your sister." The girl nodded and swiped at her eyes before she resumed walking. With a weary sigh, Lux followed. "I think you should know something else, though. Our powers aren't from demons. You will not condemn your soul to hell for embracing them."

Brooke tossed her a skeptical glance. "Witchcraft is devil worship."

"I'm not very knowledgeable yet, but I've not worshipped the devil once." Lux tapped the book's cover. "Did you see anything related to devil worship in here? Do you know what this is?"

"No, I didn't even know it existed until after Corinne died."

"This is your family Grimoire. It's where your great-grandmother recorded her own spells and potions. It's a long story, but I can explain why your family stopped practicing magic. It didn't have anything to do with hell."

"I think I'd like that," Brooke said before freezing.

Lux didn't have to ask why because she felt it this time. The same darkness that coated Amulets hung heavy here, choking the air with vile fumes and making it difficult to breathe. They dropped to their knees, both reflexively seeking strength in the earth as their fingers dug into the soil, but whatever evil stained this place was too great and Lux could find no relief. The ache in her chest intensified, and she doubled over. Brooke was panting heavily beside her, but she reached over and grabbed Lux with her slender fingers.

"How do we make this stop?" The young girl wailed, hazel eyes wide with panic.

"Shh." The male voice penetrated the fuzziness, and Lux turned her head. Hanish crouched behind her, whipping the surrounding wind until it cocooned them within a whirlwind. He reached beneath their arms and dragged them to their feet. The shield moved with them and each step they took eased the pain.

She didn't know how long they ran, but eventually the Sylph stopped and allowed his power to dwindle. His handsome features scrunched in disgust as his eyes searched the woods.

"What the hell was that?" Brooke screeched, and Lux wondered if she'd lost any hope of convincing the girl that magic wasn't evil.

"That," Hanish snapped, "was the lair of a Bloodborn."