charm, and I felt a grief in her, a sorrow for a life I couldn’t remember.
“I cannot undo what was once said,” she said in low tone, looking from the charm to my eyes.
“What did you say?” I asked in a voice that reflected the terror I was feeling.
Perodine looked around the room to Landen, then to me. “I did not understand what was happening to Donalt. Without his knowledge, I witnessed rituals, the priest with candles, snakes, speaking in tongues – I saw the pentagons drawn in chalk as he stood in the center. I assumed he was calling on dark magic to grow his power, that he wanted to rule beyond our world, to bring a devastation that would blind us all. I had no choice but to counteract their words. I studied rituals from ancient times and spoke the words that limited his power; I wanted your innocent heart to restore our world. To anyone else, that is a simple charm, a sun, moon, and star - but to us, because Donalt and I believe it has power, because you believe it has power – it does.”
“Are you saying that it’s what I want it to be? I don’t understand,” I said, staring back at her.
“That would have been true in your first life. Now, after so many, you have given it a power that is more that all of us could imagine,” Perodine said.
“How?”
“When you lost your friend,” she looked at Marc, “when you lost your father,” she looked back to me, “you grieved, you felt emptiness. What you do not realize is that you were grieving the absence of their energy. When you love someone, have them in your life, their energy becomes a part of you; it builds you. When they leave you, they take their energy with them. We feel a void, a loss. You believed that charm had a power in your first life. When you were taken into the string and found your world, your belief grew stronger, and you left that life believing that it held an unimaginable power. In each life, you found it again, and as you studied its history, heard the stories of what it could do, your belief grew stronger. All of the thoughts you had of love and redemption grew more intense with each life. Your signature, your energy, the love you and Landen have for each other and the universe around you was left in that charm. You have protected yourself from what lies ahead; you just have to trust the decisions you made then and now.”
“This charm’s power is me? My energy from before?” I asked.
She nodded. “Every woman you were is there,” she said, looking to my charm. “It is a part of this because you wanted it to be; it has always made you feel safe. If you ever surrender, you will not do it alone; every woman that you have been will surrender as well,” Perodine said.
“An army of Scorpios,” Marc said under his breath.
“So there’s no connection between the star behind that charm and the pattern you’re drawing?” Landen asked
Perodine shook her head no and looked at August for help. He cleared his throat. “When Venus lies between the Earth and the sun, it is called an inferior conjunction. When an inferior conjunction is about to begin, Venus moves into what appears to be retrograde; a new pentagonal cycle will begin soon. Willow’s first birth happened at a moment like this; it symbolized that she would be a power. If Donalt wanted to take her power, he could do so at this juncture,” August said.
“So, you have a new time – what happened to the nineteenth?” I ask, flustered.
“Not a new time - a deeper connection, a clearer insight to the way this trail is orchestrated,” Perodine said, looking down at August’s sketch. “Many people throughout history have gained power at the synodic point; it was at that point that Jayda overtook the Darkness,” Perodine said confidently.
“You’re confident because I’m a descendant of Jayda,” Landen said.
“Not as confident as I would like to be,” Perodine said, pulling the
“I cannot undo what was once said,” she said in low tone, looking from the charm to my eyes.
“What did you say?” I asked in a voice that reflected the terror I was feeling.
Perodine looked around the room to Landen, then to me. “I did not understand what was happening to Donalt. Without his knowledge, I witnessed rituals, the priest with candles, snakes, speaking in tongues – I saw the pentagons drawn in chalk as he stood in the center. I assumed he was calling on dark magic to grow his power, that he wanted to rule beyond our world, to bring a devastation that would blind us all. I had no choice but to counteract their words. I studied rituals from ancient times and spoke the words that limited his power; I wanted your innocent heart to restore our world. To anyone else, that is a simple charm, a sun, moon, and star - but to us, because Donalt and I believe it has power, because you believe it has power – it does.”
“Are you saying that it’s what I want it to be? I don’t understand,” I said, staring back at her.
“That would have been true in your first life. Now, after so many, you have given it a power that is more that all of us could imagine,” Perodine said.
“How?”
“When you lost your friend,” she looked at Marc, “when you lost your father,” she looked back to me, “you grieved, you felt emptiness. What you do not realize is that you were grieving the absence of their energy. When you love someone, have them in your life, their energy becomes a part of you; it builds you. When they leave you, they take their energy with them. We feel a void, a loss. You believed that charm had a power in your first life. When you were taken into the string and found your world, your belief grew stronger, and you left that life believing that it held an unimaginable power. In each life, you found it again, and as you studied its history, heard the stories of what it could do, your belief grew stronger. All of the thoughts you had of love and redemption grew more intense with each life. Your signature, your energy, the love you and Landen have for each other and the universe around you was left in that charm. You have protected yourself from what lies ahead; you just have to trust the decisions you made then and now.”
“This charm’s power is me? My energy from before?” I asked.
She nodded. “Every woman you were is there,” she said, looking to my charm. “It is a part of this because you wanted it to be; it has always made you feel safe. If you ever surrender, you will not do it alone; every woman that you have been will surrender as well,” Perodine said.
“An army of Scorpios,” Marc said under his breath.
“So there’s no connection between the star behind that charm and the pattern you’re drawing?” Landen asked
Perodine shook her head no and looked at August for help. He cleared his throat. “When Venus lies between the Earth and the sun, it is called an inferior conjunction. When an inferior conjunction is about to begin, Venus moves into what appears to be retrograde; a new pentagonal cycle will begin soon. Willow’s first birth happened at a moment like this; it symbolized that she would be a power. If Donalt wanted to take her power, he could do so at this juncture,” August said.
“So, you have a new time – what happened to the nineteenth?” I ask, flustered.
“Not a new time - a deeper connection, a clearer insight to the way this trail is orchestrated,” Perodine said, looking down at August’s sketch. “Many people throughout history have gained power at the synodic point; it was at that point that Jayda overtook the Darkness,” Perodine said confidently.
“You’re confident because I’m a descendant of Jayda,” Landen said.
“Not as confident as I would like to be,” Perodine said, pulling the
Similar Books
