Lux

They had reached a standstill. Lux resisted the urge to wipe at the blood streaming down her face and arms, terrified Daphne would see it as an opening. Her head buzzed from calling the lightning bolt, but that didn't bother her nearly as much as the stabbing pain in her chest. The familiar ache was ten times worse than it had ever been before, but it scared Lux to release her grasp on her magic. She didn't know if she could call it again, or if it would take over without constant control. Neither were acceptable options.

Declan roused the Circle, moving between each fallen girl with efficiency. When he'd first emerged from the cellar, her heart had soared. Only the raw bands around his wrists evidenced his exposure to the cold iron chains.

"You think you're battling some great force of evil, right now, but if you'd seen the future I'd seen, you would end your own life," Daphne said with venom. Flickers of fire and devastation rained through Lux's mind as the other witch recalled those visions. It couldn't be true.

"The future isn't set in stone," Lux replied, shifting her feet. "But the one thing I know for sure is that you're a murderer, a manipulator, and a thief. The end doesn't justify the means."

"That's child's talk. A few lives are nothing compared to the many I'll save by ending you."

"If you knew this all along, why did you have children? Why even chance it?"

Gray eyes grew large in Daphne's black lined face, but she didn't offer an explanation. Instead, the gems on her body glowed- a clear warning she was drawing on her magic. Lux tensed, fighting exhaustion to pull more power into her body.

"Do you think that's wise?" Daphne asked, pulling something out of her shirt. She unfurled her fingers, revealing a stone shaped like a key. Lux hissed. "Such a young, untrained witch shouldn't practice magic without her stone on her person. Someone with my knowledge can use nearly any stone."

Agony ripped through Lux's body at the same time the stone blazed in Daphne's hand. The black vines in Daphne's skin thickened, becoming ropes. Scratches that had closed, broke open again, the color turning from red to silver. It was as if Lux's very essence was being drawn from her body.

"Did you know that you have to capture a witch's soul in her stone while she's still living?" Daphne asked, tightening her grip on the stone as it pulsed brighter. She threw her head back, a moan escaping from her throat. "I usually perform Rites over the witch while I pull the soul. It lessons the pain they experience."

A memory of strange symbols carved into Corinne's skin rose. Lux wanted to speak, but she was afraid if she opened her mouth, she'd splinter into a million pieces. She didn't even dare scream.

"Lux!" Declan's voice washed over her, a soothing balm. But it wasn't enough. She reached for him, wondering if his touch would stop the pain. It had before. He saw her trying to get to him, but an invisible barrier held him back.

"But you're going to feel every single moment. I want to watch the light dim from your eyes until it is gone completely. I'll know I saved the world." Black boiled across her body until only the whites of her eyes and the piercing light of the channeling stones were visible in the night.

The ground rushed up to meet Lux, and she couldn't muster the strength to break her fall. Blades of grass and chunks of soil filled her mouth. The world blurred until the only thing she could bring into focus were the faces of her Circle as they pushed against Daphne's barrier. Tears ran down their faces, but they were not defeated. They shouted, demanding that she stand. That she fight.

"Why bother?" A hard foot pressed into the center of Lux's back, stopping her from surging to her feet. Her southern drawl was cold as she continued. The pressure lifted, sharp pain followed it in the ribs as Daphne kicked her. "You're making this harder than it has to be."

Lux. Listen to me. The voice speaking in her head belonged to the woman in the forest, but now instead of calming her, it made Lux flinch. It sounded too much like Daphne. Only the hint of warmth helped her understand it wasn't her tormentor.

What do you want? Lux thought, hoping this connection worked both ways and wasn't just because of her grandmother's stone.

Help is on the way, but you need to stall. Stop her from taking your soul.

I'm not exactly giving it up here.

A slight pause and the echo of a laugh. If you bind your soul to your stone, she cannot take it from you.

I don't have my stone, and what are the consequences of that?

You don't have to physically touch it. Your stone will hear the words.

But the consequences?

A fresh surge of pain made Lux cry out, her scream drowning out anything the voice might have said. She could feel herself breaking away from her body- the part that her made her Lux was ripping away. The world was gone. Just a golden void.

The consequences of not doing it is death! Speak these words- Constrinxerit Animam Meam! Lux... Lux?

"Lux!"

"Declan?" His warm hands lifted her from the ground.

"You're so cold," he said, dropping kisses along her cheeks.

She peeled her eyes open. They were sitting where she'd fallen, and Daphne was screaming at Hanish as he swooped around her head, blasting her with strong winds while the Circle resumed their binding chant. Another woman clothed in black, friend or foe Lux wasn't certain, crept behind Daphne, a blazing sword lifted above her head.

Daphne shrieked and swung her gaze to Lux, hand holding the quartz channeling stone going into the air. "Venite ad me anima mea!"

Lux's back arched in Declan's arms. He shouted her name as she convulsed. "Please, hold on," he begged, his tears hot against her neck as he pulled her against him.

"I don't know if I can," she whispered. And if she was being honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to anymore. Long gone was the girl who'd dreamed of finishing school and going off to college. The girl who had strange feelings and foresight. The girl who wanted the lead in the school play. Everything was so hard, but when Declan turned her face to his, his lips brushing against hers- she knew there was so much left to discover.

"I love you Lux, and I will follow you wherever you go."

Lux.

"Constrinxerit Animam Meam." As soon as the words left her lips, the pulling stopped and her soul snapped back into place.

"You bitch," Daphne shouted, slinging the stone from her hand as the stench of burning flesh filled the air. She started to say something else, but twisted to the side just as the strange woman swung her sword at her. Power jolted from Daphne's fingertips and slammed into the woman's chest. Her feet lifted from the ground and the weapon fell from her hands. "This isn't your fight, Guardian."

"But it is mine," Brooke said, picking up the sword and driving it into Daphne's chest. With a sickening squelch, she tugged the metal free. Scarlet blood poured from the hole. "You lose."

Daphne clawed at her wound, sinking to her knees as the black in her veins faded until she was nothing more than a pale girl. Someone shouted and fell to her side, but Lux's vision was still so hazy she could barely make her out. She only knew she looked familiar.

"That's Leora," Declan explained, lifting her in his arms and walking her to where everyone stood. Ruby offered a grim smile at their approach, but it last for but a moment before she turned her focus back to Brooke. The young girl had dropped the sword and was staring at her blood-stained hands in horror.

"Leora," Daphne whispered, lifting a trembling hand to slide against her sister's face. Panic flashed in her eyes. "How? You- you didn't do what I did, did you?"

"No, baby sister. I didn't. I love you." Leora rushed her words. Daphne's life was seeping away too fast for more.

"Please stop her."

"Have faith," Leora replied, but her sister shook her head. "Lux will not lead us astray."

"You haven't seen..." But they lost her last words to death.

"Quick, Hanish." Lux looked to find the stranger had risen to her feet, a jeweled encrusted goblet in her hand. The Sylph stripped Daphne's body of the channeling stones and handed them to the woman.

"Stop," Lux demanded, knowing the souls of the lost witches were trapped in those stones.

"Alina, hurry. Lux, I promise, it's fine," Hanish said.

Alina nodded and dropped the stones into the cup.

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

Declan

Part of a sorcerer's training involved studying all supernatural groups: the fae, the angels, the witches, and perhaps the most interesting of all- the Guardians. So when Alina pulled out the ornate cup, Declan recognized it immediately. The Holy Grail.

Lux squirmed in his arms to be put down, but he kept his arms around her once her feet hit the ground. She never took her eyes off the Grail, and when the first spirit emerged, she gasped. But it was nothing compared to the shrill exclamation that poured from Brooke's lips.

"Corinne!" Brooke lunged toward her sister, stumbling as she passed through the specter. "Corinne?"

Corrine smiled but didn't speak until the ghostly forms of three more girls appeared beside her. "Hello Brooke," she murmured, a serene smile on her youthful face. "I'm so happy you found these women."

Brooke sobbed. "I'm sorry I didn't go with you. That I was a brat-"

"Stop, what's done is done."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Thank you, Alina," Leora said. She'd not moved from her spot next to her sister's body. Her hands were wrapped in Daphne's.

Alina nodded. "No one should be bound against their will, but I didn't do it entirely out of the goodness of my heart. I need something from you. From your Circle."

"It's not mine," Leora said, jerking her chin in Lux's direction. "It's hers."

The girls in the Circle moved closer to Lux, their hands seeking one another until they formed a web around their leader. The protective gesture seemed to please Alina.

"I need a safe place to hide the Grail. Morgan Le Fay grows more powerful. Eventually all will have to come together to fight her, but for now, it's important that she doesn't get her hands on it. And what better group to protect this than the First Circle. If you can guard the entrance to the underworld, a cup should be easy, right?"

Declan smothered a laugh as the Circle shared a look. Audra opened and snapped her mouth shut after he glared at her. Sara Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but he didn't miss the twitch at the corner of her lips.

"Alina, I... well, I don't even know who you are, but I know that we are ill-equipped to add something else to our list of things to take care of. We're barely going to keep the Gateway closed," Lux responded. Declan noticed she didn't say they weren't going to be able to keep it closed. His girl was no quitter.

"We can do it."

Everyone looked at the spirits. A plump woman in her mid-forties stepped forward. Her strawberry blonde hair framed her face in a soft, curled bob, and a string of pearls sat around her neck. She never took her eyes off Ruby.

"Aunt Lorna?"

The woman grinned. "I thought you looked like a Nox. All the women have the same legs."

"But-but you went missing."

"Seems you found me," Lorna chuckled. Her pleasant demeanor was quite at odds with her great-niece's personality. "Daphne Godelieve never cared for me much. None of the Godelieves liked the Nox's after the silly stunt my aunt pulled, and I tried and bury the hatchet. Only thing that ended up buried was me."

"Oh Daphne," Leora cried.

"Oh, hush, darling. That was fifty years ago. I want to offer my services to guard the Grail. I'm betting these ladies won't mind at all." A chorus of agreements sounded behind her. "I don't think we're quite ready to head to the great beyond, and well, we don't really have much else we can do here."

"How would that work?" Alina asked. "No offense, but you're a ghost."

Lorna snorted. "I'm still a witch. Our souls are magic. That's why we're still here. Bury the Grail in the center of these trees, build a star ward, and at each point, bury one of our stones. Only those blessed by the Circle will be able to pass through the spell."

Declan considered her plan for a moment before coming to the obvious flaw. "You'll need a fifth stone. There are only four of you."

"Five."

"Honey, you're not dead yet," Lorna told Leora. "Though you're an Opal Witch, so what do I know."

"Leora, don't do something foolish," Declan insisted, reading the thoughts on her face as easily as he had a hundred years before.

"My time here is done. If I leave the property, I'll die anyway. I bound myself to this place long ago. Let me do this. If not for Alina, then for you."

Lux shifted beside him. "What do you mean for him?"

"The only reason he's still standing there is because of the quartz stone I gave him. I can sense it, Declan. Your life force is so weak, you'll die the moment you stop carrying it."

"No," Lux said, looking up at him. All trace of exhaustion had fled from her gray eyes, replaced by an intense determination. "Why would you do something like that?"

"He loves you, and I love him. Let me do this for you both."

"How does this save Declan?" Sara Elizabeth asked.

"I tied my soul to my stone many years ago." Lux froze. "I had my reasons then, but after I discovered what Daphne was doing, I had a vision. I didn't have them often, not like Daphne. I knew I needed to be here to help the next generation, but to survive, I would have to tie my life force to the land of my ancestors. The price was never being able to leave this estate. If I give my life force to Declan, he can survive once he releases the stone. At least long enough to recover his own strength."

"I can't let you do that," he said, his voice thick.

"But you will let me do that." She brushed her hand down Lux's cheek. "For her."

Leora stepped back, closed her eyes, and chanted, "Reditus." Around her ankles, golden tethers unraveled, fluttering in the wind before disconnecting and settling against his body.

"Drop the stone. Declan, let it go."

He did as Leora asked. It struck the ground with a thud, and Lux buried her face into his chest as he cried. Already, Leora's body was failing, the light sheen around her skin the first mark of her soul separating, but where Lux's experience had been excruciating, this one was calm. Natural. Peaceful. And then she was ashes on the wind.

Lorna and the other girls waved farewell. "She will return to us in the morning. When her soul settles. We can perform the spell then."

"Corinne, can we talk?" Brooke asked.

"Yes, let's walk," her sister replied, and the two girls stepped into the darkness, their heads close together as they worked toward healing.

"Declan, Memaw?"

"Right here," Phoebe said, pulling herself out of the cellar. She was a shell of her former self, but Declan hoped that with time, she would return to normal. That they would all find themselves again.

Granddaughter and grandmother hugged tightly. When Lux pulled away, Phoebe pushed her hair back and kissed her cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

"Lux!" Bella barreled into the hug, flinging her arms around both women. Laughter flowed as they nearly stumbled to the ground, but they continued to hold one another long after it ceased.

Declan looked for Gideon, finding him next to Travis. The redhead had his arms around Kitty, looking more like he was holding her up than she was standing. Kitty had much to answer for, but for tonight, he would be thankful she was alive.

Tomorrow would be a different day. The damage would be more evident after the euphoria of victory wore off. He spotted the white flakes of ash riding the breeze. He would have his own grieving to deal with, but for the first time he could cry without guilt.

"Hey you. You okay?"

Declan laced his fingers through hers. "No, but this is a start."