Autumn Storm (The Witchling #2)(67)

Chapter Nineteen





The ground was crushing him. Decker registered the pain from the depths of his hibernation and fought for control of his mind and body once more. The harder he fought, the more he hurt. The earth magick was subtle but strong, wrapping around him to restrain him. His fire magick was snuffed underground; without air to breathe, the sparks weren’t able to form. Water magick didn’t flow through rock and solid earth. The only element he was able to gather was spirit.

Unable to breathe, his struggles grew weaker until he was almost unconscious. As soon as he stilled, the earth shifted, creating a pocket of air around his head. He gasped.

The Darkness surged into his mind.

It’s almost over! You must let go, Bartholomew bellowed into his head.

“I’m trying,” Decker said. He closed his eyes, unable to recall exactly how he ended up buried inside the earth in the first place. He thought the Darkness had taken him for good. It shared no memories with him this time. He waited for it to reclaim him.

Earth magick crept into his body. At first, he wasn’t sure he really felt something. The element’s touch was gentle yet persistent, a tickle compared to the tidal wave that came with his more temperamental magicks. It was moving up his body like the warmth of the sun gradually emerging from behind a cloud.

Darkness swallowed him as he dwelt on the sensations of earth magick. It was quiet in his mind. He didn’t have to feel pain in this new home of his. The Darkness was free, and he was at peace.

The earth magick recalled him from the safe place, refusing to leave him in the Darkness. Decker groaned, once again in his own body. The invading magick reached his head and filled it with a vision.

Summer falling from the cliff.

Fresh pain struck him, taking him further out of the Darkness. It was battling him for control, but the earth magick slipped between them, buffering him. Decker strained, wanting to surrender to the Darkness.

The earth began to show him fragments of what happened this evening: The fire Autumn tried to fight, the amusement of Darkness as it played with her, what she’d said to it.

I choose Decker.

He had choked her. He hurt her.

Decker went limp at the vision, horrified at what he’d done after she said those sweet words. Autumn, who believed someone as undeserving as him was worthy of someone like her. Hadn’t he told her there were no second chances? And yet, there she was, willing to risk her life for him while he waited for it to end. In the vision, she was bleeding with her eyes glazed.

He couldn’t yet see what happened before she confronted the Darkness. The idea someone hurt her, though, infuriated him. Was it the Darkness? Was it his Darkness that made her bleed? Why had she chosen to defy the Dark for him?

Decker struggled against the earth and the Darkness, rage filling him at the idea he’d let the Darkness hurt her.

You cannot be free, if they remain. Bartholomew’s wise words made him stop. If you wish the pain -

The earth shoved a new vision into his mind before Bartholomew was able to finish. An image of Summer filled his thoughts, robbing him of breath. She was so beautiful, smart, gentle and expressive.

Summer is gone. You are not. Grandpa Louis told him.

Sorrow filled Decker at the thought of what he’d lost. She was his other half. Though he hadn’t died with her, he felt like he did. She’d sated his body and stilled his mind in a way nothing else did.

Except Autumn, who was different. Sweet, tough and made wise by her own pain, she’d tried to help him deal with his from the start. He’d felt it from their first touch; she belonged to him as much as Summer had. Unlike the other nameless girls he slept with, Autumn’s kisses were as innocent and addictive as Summer’s. Autumn touched his soul, made him feel sunshine in a world that was otherwise dark. He’d wanted to lose himself in her soothing touch, consume her with his magick and claim her as his.

He betrayed Summer, if he took that step towards Autumn, didn’t he?

Confused, torn, Decker wasn’t able to let go of his guilt. They both believed him to be more than the Darkness within him. From everything his mother and the other Dark Masters revealed, there was only one mate intended to be with each Master of Dark. And yet, he had two.

You will never know peace if you do not go to the Dark, Bartholomew raved. You will hurt her the same way you did Summer. You will hurt everyone you love.

“If I don’t do something, the Darkness will hurt her!” he retorted.

If you choose between them, you betray Summer’s memory, Bartholomew said.

“I don’t honor Summer by letting someone else die.”

Struck by the truth of his words, Decker had a rare moment of mental silence. He heard his own thoughts and instincts again, stronger than ever. He began to see the path the Darkness laid out for him. The lies it fed him. He hadn’t been able to save Summer. He had a chance to save Autumn. At least, he did if he regained control of his mind and body. The Darkness was going to kill her – and Beck – otherwise.

Decker pulled at his spirit magick. The clamor in his mind started again and the Darkness battled him for control. He fought back.

Show me what happened tonight, he ordered the earth magick.

Fear trickled through him at the vision of Beck lying on the stone, unconscious. Decker counted on Beck being able to protect the world from the Darkness while blocking the knowledge that Beck didn’t know how. Tonight, Decker abandoned his twin to face the Darkness alone, and the result was that his brother was dying. Beck wasn’t going to survive, if Decker didn’t help him.