Chapter 38: Black Stars and Endless Seas

Cosmos, t.A.T.u.

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“There’s some magic residue in there that I can’t figure out what is,” Drake said, shuffling around the other side and sitting down. “I didn’t mess with it too much, I’d rather not cause more damage on accident.”

Morgyn looked down at Ezio. He was still too quiet, and hadn’t moved the entire time he was there, either. It was unnerving, but then, things like this happened from time to time. Morgyn would say that one got used to it, but maybe it was something that no one ever really got used to.

They’d been trying to figure out what had happened and what to do about it for several days now. Ezio had been unconscious that entire time, and Morgyn was getting more and more concerned about it as time went on, but the blond supposed that much was to be expected. Someday, Ezio could fall asleep and never wake up, and Morgyn knew that, probably too well. It was always in the back of the blond’s mind.

Ezio liked to say that he wasn’t really at a higher risk of dying than anyone else was, but he was. It was just something he said to make Morgyn feel better, or maybe it was for himself or Drake’s benefit, but the fact of the matter was, he did have a higher chance of dying than the average person did, no matter what he said about it. Morgyn wished it was that simple, that easy, but it just wasn’t.

It was probably just how Ezio dealt with it. They all dealt with it in different ways. Ezio pretended that it didn’t give him a higher chance of dying at any given moment. Drake never left him alone for too long. And Morgyn, as always Morgyn did, half ran away from it, and half obsessed over it. It was the only reason the blond was in the biology degree programme in the first place, in a last-ditch effort to find something that would magically solve all their problems.

Things like this, though, they didn’t always magically go away, and Morgyn knew, even as the blond hadn’t accepted it, that magic just didn’t solve everything. It was easier, somehow, to keep what hope there was alive, easier to keep going, easier not to have a breakdown every few days.

“The migraine is gone,” Morgyn said. “The one I had before.”

Drake looked up at the blond, and frowned. “You think he did something?”

Morgyn shrugged. “It’s the only thing that really makes sense,” the blond answered. “I was sleeping so consistently before, it was almost like I was unconscious.” And it would be just like Ezio to intervene in something like that. As frustrating as it was, Morgyn also knew that if their roles were reversed, maybe the blond would be doing the exact same things. There was no way to really know.

“He could’ve done just about anything,” Drake said. “Maybe he just fixed it, and it wore him down.”

“Then why isn’t he awake yet?” Morgyn asked.

Drake didn’t seem to have an answer, because he went quiet, looking back down at Ezio, and then reached over and took one of his hands. Morgyn was being a little unfair in concern, of course, but the blond’s patience waned thin at the best of times.

Morgyn watched Ezio’s chest rise and fall. His cat still hadn’t been by. Morgyn was a little worried that he’d run away or something, but that was probably the least troublesome concern right now. Morgyn certainly didn’t want to be telling Ezio that Mayor still hadn’t come home when he woke up, but maybe it wouldn’t come up. Maybe Ezio would just know, without being told about it.

Everything felt wrong and off right now, and then this happened. Morgyn wasn’t sure how to take it, or what to do from here. At least Ezio was still breathing, and he didn’t seem to be in distress or anything.

Such strange occurrences they lived through, because magic caused unexpected and unnatural effects. If they were all normal humans, finding Morgyn’s twin brother passed out on the floor would’ve probably warranted a hospital visit. Morgyn had warmed up to hospitals, by now. Ezio was in and out of them more or less constantly since the eighties, but the blond had never quite come to like them. Rather, they tended to set the blond’s nerves on edge. Almost like the blond had latent necromancer abilities that hadn’t ever quite made it to full realisation, and the blond was sensing something.

There were plenty of dead things to sense in hospitals, the blond was sure.

“If he dies,” Morgyn started, but Drake raised his head.

“No,” he said. “He’s not going to die.”

Morgyn made a face. “If he does,” Morgyn went on, “and you have never told him how you feel, you’re going to regret that for the rest of your life.”

Apparently that had never crossed Drake’s mind, because the vampire blinked in surprise, and then looked back down at Ezio. And, as they’d been since they found him, the two went silent again. There were silences that weren’t so bad. This one was tense and terrible.

Morgyn wanted Ezio back, more than the blond had ever wanted anything.

* * *

Nothing had changed. Morgyn felt like the world was simultaneously too quiet, and too loud, and mostly spent time reading through course materials, reading science papers and articles (it turned out, science was fascinating, which boded well for the blond not being utterly miserable the entire way through biology), and listening to music. Drake spent most of his time writing, either in a notebook next to Ezio, or on his laptop, still next to Ezio.

Morgyn at least remembered to take breaks here and there, and those were spent on the other side of Ezio, trying not to be too nervous, not to think about it too hard, not to panic. It was easier said than done, of course, and the more time went on, the more it reminded Morgyn of the times Ezio spent a few days to a few weeks in the hospital. The more time went on, the more Morgyn wondered if this was another time Ezio needed to be in the hospital.

By now, the blond had accepted a little discomfort in exchange for Ezio recovering, from whatever it was this time. So even though the blond hated hospitals, Morgyn got over it when Ezio needed to be in one. That was what love was, right? Dealing with hospitals if it meant someone you loved was going to be okay.

Morgyn sat at the dining room table, idly flipping through a science book. Caleb shuffled around behind the blond in the kitchen, making something. Ezio’s leftovers had run out, and he still wasn’t awake, so the blond still wasn’t going back to the Casa anytime soon. Not until Ezio was awake. Drake didn’t do so well alone either (how like an Ember), and could use the company, anyway.

“Nothing’s changed?” Caleb asked.

“No,” Morgyn answered, leaning against one hand, propped up on the table. “There’s a weird magical residue, and something feels wrong, but I haven’t exactly pinpointed what, and Drake doesn’t seem to have any better ideas than I do.” It was a little bit unnerving, but Ezio wasn’t getting worse, at least.

“You think this is supernatural?” Caleb asked, glancing over his shoulder.

“I think so,” Morgyn replied. “It doesn’t seem to be related to his heart, or anything, so it would make more sense if it was magic-related.” The blond wouldn’t admit it, but more than once there had been the impression there was something looking for Morgyn. And truthfully, it wasn’t far-fetched to think that Ezio had sensed it, too, and reacted like he always did. He had always said whoever wanted to get to Morgyn had to go through him, first. Thus far, it hadn’t proven to be just talk, either.

Morgyn tried not to think about it.

Caleb reached over, setting something down in front of Morgyn. Looked like the blond’s lunch was almost done. Caleb did know he didn’t have to keep coming over here and feeding them, right? Looking at it, Morgyn realised he’d also instinctively cooked within the range of Ezio’s dietary restrictions.

He was ridiculous as fuck.

“Thanks,” Morgyn said.

Caleb shuffled around a little for a moment, and then sat down across from the blond with a plasma fruit smoothie. He and Drake seemed to love those. Maybe it was a marshmallow vampire thing. Lilith didn’t seem to dislike them, they just also didn’t seem to be her favourite.

“If he doesn’t get any better,” Caleb said, “maybe you should call Troi. She’d probably have a better idea of what to do about now.”

Morgyn glanced up at him, and then sighed. He was right, and Morgyn knew that. Troi was the medical professional, not Morgyn. Maybe by the end of this biology degree, the blond would understand this whole thing a little better (god Morgyn sure hoped so), but right now, Troi was better at it. Ezio trusted her with Morgyn’s life, Morgyn should probably trust her with his, because Ezio didn’t trust anyone with Morgyn. Well, save for Caleb. Morgyn would consider the implications of that some other time.

“You’re probably right,” Morgyn said. “I’m just afraid to, I think. I still want to pretend this isn’t happening, but it is.” Of course it was. Things really didn’t just go away because you’d decided to close your eyes to them. All that did was blind you.

“Yeah, I can see why,” Caleb said. “But think of it this way, the sooner you call Troi and ask for her advice, the sooner you can perhaps work towards fixing it.”

“If it’s magical like I think,” Morgyn pointed out, “Troi can’t necessarily help with that.”

“She knows about the occult stuff,” Caleb said.

“Yes,” Morgyn answered, nodding, “but that’s not the same thing as understanding how to fight it.” That, of course, was Morgyn’s job. Of course, Morgyn hadn’t been doing a very good job of fighting it, either. Drake had been trying, but hadn’t come up with anything. Maybe later, Morgyn would attempt to fix it for once. Morgyn was afraid of making it worse, somehow. Magic did strange things sometimes, but then, the blond was a sage, and one of the most powerful spellcasters alive. If anyone could fix it, it’d be an Ember, Morgyn imagined. Unfortunately, Ezio wasn’t doing anything himself right now.

“So,” Caleb started, clearing his throat. “I know now’s not a good time, but, I was hoping you’d be up for another date with me?”

Morgyn’s head tilted slightly to one side. “You know, you can just, take me places, right?” the blond asked.

“Oh.” Caleb blinked.

Clearly, that idea hadn’t crossed his mind. Morgyn looked a bit confused.

“I mean I didn’t want to just assume,” Caleb said.

“I’ve never said no, right?” Morgyn said. “Besides, we do appear to be dating. That’s what you do when you’re dating someone, isn’t it? Go out on dates?” Unless, of course, the blond had it all wrong, but Morgyn didn’t think so.

“I suppose you’re right,” Caleb said. “It just seemed a little rude to me to assume you’d want to come.”

Morgyn laughed. “Caleb, we’ve known each other for years,” the blond said. “I trust you. Just wander in and drag me off, I won’t set you on fire or anything.”

Caleb looked like he wanted to say something, but then smiled slightly and nodded. “Okay then.”

* * *

Unfortunately, Morgyn couldn’t miss any more class, or it was going to start impacting the blond’s grade. Despite not really wanting to leave Ezio’s side, thus, Morgyn was here, on campus, trying to find the blond’s way around. The science courses were all in one specific building, but there was a slight bit of trouble getting around. The blond could figure it out, Morgyn was sure, so the blond kept trying.

However, something else caught Morgyn’s attention. The blond had come here very early, there were still a few hours left before the start of the first class. If Morgyn was careful not to spend too long chasing that sensation, perhaps Morgyn could figure out where it was coming from and still not be late getting in. Morgyn’s head tilted to the side, as the blond debated it internally for a few moments. Then, Morgyn’s hands tossed up into the air and the blond scurried off after the feeling of dormant magic.

Once a sage, always a sage.

It led across the Britechester grounds, and then across the river and into Gibbs Hill. Morgyn was a little nervous about following it this far, because being late wouldn’t look terribly good, either. But, the blond kept moving. The sense of dormant magic grew stronger, and then Morgyn found it. A dark brown-haired young woman, with pale skin and almond-shaped eyes. Morgyn couldn’t really tell from where the blond was, but she looked to have different coloured eyes. One looked dark, and the other looked lighter.

As Morgyn thought that, she kicked the concrete wrongly, and fell forward. With a great squeal, she hit the walkway, and Morgyn loosed a startled noise, rushing over. “Are you okay?” Morgyn asked, reaching down and gathering the books she’d dropped up.

“Yeah,” she answered, sounding a hair exasperated. “I just tripped on air like I always do, nothing seriously-” She trailed off, as she looked up at the blond.

Morgyn was right; one eye was green, and the other was a dark brown. The combination was as beautiful as it was startling. She was rather pretty, too. Morgyn smiled slightly, handing her the stack of books. “Tripping on air sounds annoying,” Morgyn said.

The woman’s breath seemed to get caught in her throat.

It was a good thing Morgyn was used to that reaction. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah!” she said. “Sorry, that was rude, gosh, I just, how did you get your eyeliner so perfect, look at it! How did you do that?”

That was unexpected. Morgyn blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I keep trying to get a good cat eyeliner worked out but it never wants to do it for me, but yours is gorgeous! I mean, you are too, it’s just-you know what I think I’d better shut up,” she said, laughing slightly, and standing.

Morgyn reached over instinctively, helping her up. She did, in fact, have that jolt of magic under her skin, but she didn’t seem aware it was there. Not that Morgyn had asked. “Usually when people stare at me like that… well. But I think your eyes are beautiful enough on their own.”

The woman blinked. “Polite, beautiful, eyeliner game on point, not shy about compliments, common sense is telling me I should get your number.”

Morgyn snorted. “If you actually want it-“

“No!” the woman interrupted. “No it’s-I mean I was joking it’s not… I mean people like you don’t-“

“People like me…?” Morgyn prompted.

“Really pretty people, I mean,” the woman said. “Sorry, I’m really off right now. Okay. Let’s try this again, I’m Liberty, and thanks for the help getting my pride off the sidewalk.”

“Really pretty people are still people,” Morgyn said, smiling. “But I’m Morgyn. Morgyn Ember.”

“Ah? Liberty Lee,” Liberty said.

Morgyn’s eyes narrowed slightly. Lee…

“And I know, it’s just, you’re not the first really pretty person I’ve run into here, and I’m just thinking, wow, I’m really out of my league here. Why did I come to university again? A pay raise and a promotion is why, if you were wondering. Not that you were.”

Morgyn smiled. “I was kind of wondering. What are you in?”

“Physics,” Liberty said.

“Biology,” Morgyn mentioned.

“Ooh, you going to be a doctor or a marine biologist?” Liberty asked.

Uh. Witch doctor? Did that count? “Neither, actually,” Morgyn answered. “It’s sort of a curiosity thing. My twin brother’s got a disability, so I want to know a little more about how health works and whatnot. On the off-chance I can help, somehow.”

“Oh.” Liberty sounded a bit sad. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Morgyn shrugged. “It’s life anymore, I’ve gotten used to it.” Standing this close to her, Morgyn could tell she had a very strong bloodline. And her last name… if she was from the Lee lineage that Morgyn thought she was, she was one of the five families, one of the last of the five families. To make matters worse, if Morgyn was understanding Aine’s ambitions back then correctly, she was in a lot of danger.

The binding on her magic was coming undone, whether she was ready or not.

Come to think of it, Morgyn had to wonder if Aine had anything to do with what was going on now. Between that freak cold Morgyn got and Ezio’s condition now, it screamed of magic tampering, and Morgyn wasn’t sure why the thought hadn’t crossed the blond’s mind before. Likely, because Morgyn didn’t like to think about Aine anymore. There were a lot of unresolved issues with her that Morgyn had simply cast aside and ignored for thirty years. But it was better that way.

“Anyway, I’ve gotta run,” Morgyn said. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Liberty said. “Thanks for the help, again.”

“And, if you were serious…” Morgyn paused long enough to write down the blond’s number, tear the paper off, and hand it to her. “That’s my number.”

Liberty looked surprised, but she took the paper.

“Maybe sometime I’ll show you how I do my eyeliner,” Morgyn said, smiling and scurrying off towards Britechester.

Liberty watched the blond go, and then cursed under her breath. “Should’ve enrolled in Britechester, if they all look like that.”

* * *

The room was silent, save for the sound of Morgyn’s pen scritching against the paper, and Ezio’s rhythmic breaths. Strangely, though, while Morgyn was working on homework, the blond couldn’t help thinking about Liberty. She needed to be taught magic, and soon, because if Morgyn was right about her bloodlines, she had the potential to be one of the most powerful spellcasters alive, maybe stronger than Morgyn and Ezio were, given long enough. In such case, if Aine was after what Morgyn thought she was after, then catching one of the five families would definitely be a boon to her.

As Morgyn worked, the other hand was idly running through Ezio’s hair, weaving spells into the raven strands. The way Morgyn figured, eventually, maybe one of them would start working. It was the best idea that Morgyn had. Magical problems usually needed to be solved with magical solutions, and short of getting Lilith to go poking around in his head to figure out what was going on, Morgyn had few other ideas.

In the meantime, there was still the issue of Aine. Morgyn hadn’t seen or heard from or about her since she’d left. All the untamed sages disappeared eventually, so when she was just gone, it wasn’t surprising to Morgyn, though it did beg the question of what had happened to all the untamed sages before. Aine was gone because Morgyn had run her out of magic realm.

And then for some damn fool reason, the All had still chosen Morgyn to replace her, like that wasn’t a bad idea, but what did Morgyn know of the All’s thought process? Nothing. Then again, Aine had been abusing her necromancy. Maybe the All agreed with Morgyn on that being a terrible idea.

Morgyn wasn’t a full-blown necromancer, not like Aine and Ezio were, but from time to time, the blond was affected by the presence of spirits. Sometimes, Morgyn could almost see them, except not quite. They were blurry shadows the blond mostly only caught from the corner of the eye, but Morgyn had come to understand they were spirits. Ezio saw them as clearly as anyone else still breathing and used to have trouble telling when he was looking at a dead person versus a living one.

Through him, Morgyn had learnt enough about necromancy to know that it inherently disrupted the natural flow of life and death, and mishandling it could cause damage to the dimensional fabric, to reality itself, even. There were many inherent dangers of it, starting with the innate disruption and ending somewhere over there at how all-consuming dealing with spirits could sometimes be. There were times when Ezio became someone that wasn’t him because a spirit’s presence was so strong it changed him.

Really, Morgyn wasn’t upset about not being a proper necromancer. Between Ezio and watching Aine be driven mad by it, the blond didn’t envy either of them.

As Morgyn idly petted Ezio’s hair, his breathing changed. And then, one of his hands raised, and unburied Morgyn’s from his hair.

“Oh thank god,” Morgyn breathed. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Ezio rolled his eyes. “I’m fine,” he said. “I just did something that was draining.”

“You’ve been unconscious for four days, Ezio,” Morgyn said.

“And now I’m not.” Ezio’s tone implied he wasn’t going to explain anything further. He rolled over a little, raising a hand to his head.

“Headache?” Morgyn asked.

“Yeah,” Ezio answered. “It’s fine, I’ll-“

“No,” Morgyn said, standing up and holding both hands out over his hair. Sparkles of blue and purple fell from Morgyn’s fingers. A soothing spell, to ease the headache some.

“Thanks,” Ezio said. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Morgyn said. “No headache anymore. Haven’t passed out or anything, either.”

“Good,” Ezio said. “Wasn’t sure if what I did was going to work. Did I miss anything?”

“Just a lot of Drake moping,” Morgyn said. “And something’s wrong with Lilith, but I didn’t really ask Caleb. I figured you could probably ask after her yourself. I ran into someone on the way to class this morning, too, she’s-“

“I asked if I missed anything, not for your life story, Morgyn,” Ezio interrupted, sitting up and looking annoyed.

Morgyn blinked. That was a bit abrupt, but Morgyn brushed it off. “Sorry,” the blond said. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I was going to call Troi soon if you didn’t wake up.”

“That’d be a dumb idea,” Ezio answered. “She doesn’t know how to fix magical problems.”

“I figured as much,” Morgyn said. “But it was worth a try. I didn’t have many other options, besides.”

“You could’ve waited and trusted I knew what I was doing,” Ezio said.

Morgyn frowned. “Maybe, but I didn’t know what you did. Ezio I was worried, I-“

“You had no reason to be,” Ezio said.

“You’re not exactly known for making choices that aren’t somehow dangerous to you-“

“And you’re any fucking better?” Ezio interrupted, his voice raising. “Why do you always have to be on my case about shit like that as if you don’t do the same damned thing?”

Morgyn physically recoiled slightly, and fell silent.

Ezio closed his eyes, took a breath, and then released it. “I’m sorry,” he said. “The headache’s just still here.”

“Do you want some painkillers?” Morgyn asked, voice soft.

“Please,” Ezio answered. “And some water.”

“Okay.” Morgyn marked the textbook with a bookmark, closing it and setting it aside, before standing up and wandering out into the kitchen. The painkillers were in the bathroom. As the blond went, Drake poked out of the office.

“He’s awake?” he asked.

“Yes,” Morgyn answered, nodding. “Could you get the painkillers from the bathroom? He has a headache.” The blond pulled a glass out of the dish strainer, filling it with water.

“Sure,” Drake replied, and then headed over to do that.

“Thanks,” Morgyn said, shutting the tap off, and shuffling back around the counters and in Ezio’s room. He’d laid back down, but as Morgyn came in, sat up again.

The blond handed him the glass, just as Drake came in and handed him the bottle of painkillers.

“Thank you,” Ezio murmured, taking a drink of water before setting it on the side table and opening the bottle.

Morgyn sat back down in the blond’s usual place, watching him. And the more Morgyn watched him, the stronger it became. The feeling that something was wrong.

* * *

“He feels different,” Morgyn said, arms crossing. Morgyn and Caleb stood in the apartment hallway, outside the door to Ezio and Drake’s apartment.

Caleb frowned. “How so?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Morgyn answered, head turning to the side. “He just feels off. Like there’s something wrong about him suddenly.”

“Did he feel like that before he woke up?” Caleb asked.

Morgyn frowned. Actually, the blond hadn’t been paying too much attention to it. He could’ve felt wrong somehow before, and the blond not have noticed it at all. It was hard to tell, but then, if it was that strong, Morgyn imagined the blond would’ve noticed it a day or two ago. No, that feeling was new.

“I don’t think he did,” Morgyn said.

“Well, there’s no sense worrying about it too much,” Caleb said. “Just keep an eye on him, if anything changes, go from there. Drake spends a lot of time with him, so tell him what’s going on.”

“Drake is the one that noticed it first,” Morgyn said.

“That’s good then,” Caleb answered. “Two of you paying attention to it at the same time, one of you should notice it when something goes awry.”

Yeah, Morgyn figured that was right. And it should make the blond feel better, but mostly, Morgyn was worried. Morgyn was always worried about Ezio, it felt like, but now it was worse than normal. This was all just a little too coincidental, that was all.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked.

Morgyn looked over at him, and then away again. “This is just too coincidental,” the blond said. “I feel better, and suddenly Ezio doesn’t, and now he’s acting and feels weird?” Morgyn’s head shook. “If someone was after me, Caleb, it would be all too easy to get Ezio as a side-effect, on accident, shit, on purpose because Ezio defends me from everything.”

Caleb was quiet for a moment, reaching over and taking one of Morgyn’s hands. “So you think he did something?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Morgyn said. “Maybe.”

Caleb tilted his head, thinking. “Well, he’d die for you, everyone knows that. Maybe he did do something. Even if he did, I don’t think he’d tell you, let alone what he did.”

“Thanks,” Morgyn said. “I needed the confirmation that my paranoia isn’t just paranoia.”

“I mean, this is maybe a good thing because it means he did it to himself?” Caleb suggested.

Morgyn loosed a frustrated noise, hands beating against the blond’s forehead for a moment.

Caleb sucked in a breath and then pulled Morgyn over to him, arms wrapping around the blond. “It’ll be okay.”

It sure didn’t feel like it would. It felt like this was a warning or a precursor to something bigger. And if Morgyn thought about it, it’d felt like their peace was on thin ice for a long time now. What exactly had changed to make the ice start to crack, that Morgyn didn’t know, but the blond thought it finally was.

Morgyn started to say something, amid leaning against Caleb and listening to him breathe, but then something shifted in the air. Morgyn immediately separated from Caleb, paying attention and sensing around.

Caleb must’ve noticed Morgyn’s alertness, because he looked perplexed, and then started sensing around, too. And then he frowned. Morgyn glanced at him, and he glanced back.

And then Ezio started screaming. Morgyn immediately bolted for the door, Caleb right behind, at the same time Drake shot out of the office. Ezio was a bit of a blur, out there in the living room fighting with a blanket, and then suddenly he was up and slamming something against the floor.

It took Morgyn a moment, over there by the door, to realise that was the coffee table, and by the time that’d registered, it was in pieces, scattered across the floor. Ezio was breathing heavily, panting almost, the tears falling freely, and then he unleashed a strangled, heartbroken scream. He fell to the floor, curled up, and cried. Drake crossed over to him, kneeling down beside him and gathering him up into his arms. Ezio didn’t fight him, falling into his arms with a slight hiccup.

Morgyn frowned, and then shuffled around the couch. He’d utterly destroyed the coffee table. Of course, any of them could fix it with a wave and a mumble, but that wasn’t really the point. Morgyn wanted to ask. Maybe talking about it would make them stop, or ease up a little, at least. Clearly there was some unresolved…

But then, that slight shift in the air, just before Ezio had started screaming. No.

“Did you sense that?” Morgyn asked quietly, turning to Caleb.

Caleb nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Something changed, the air got thicker somehow, and then Ezio started screaming.”

Morgyn frowned again. Once again, confirmation that the blond’s paranoia wasn’t just paranoia. The question was, what all could cause that? Certainly a vampire, but there shouldn’t be a vampire that wanted to cause that kind of trouble for Ezio of all people. Most of the vampires he’d met liked him, and none of them really hated him. Barring Miss Hell, but she hated everyone and wasn’t capable of that kind of control over long distances, if it was her they’d know by now.

No, someone else. Maybe someone working under Aine, if Morgyn had to guess, because Aine always did hate Ezio. Morgyn never figured out why that was, but the reasons why didn’t really matter, either.

No. No. There was a better explanation for that, maybe it was just a powerful vampire Morgyn didn’t know that wanted something. Fuck. Aine wasn’t everything wrong with their lives, and Morgyn didn’t want to fall into the rut of thinking otherwise. There was a perfectly good explanation for this and it wasn’t Aine. Morgyn just wanted something easy to blame, anyone, if it meant in doing so Ezio would stop screaming and crying like that, that was all.

Morgyn released a sigh, arms crossing again. “I think those nightmares aren’t just nightmares,” Morgyn said.

Caleb looked over at the blond, and released a breath. “I think I’d have to agree.”

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