Winter Fire (The Witchling #3)(70)

Decker laughed. “Welcome to my world, Beck. What you felt was the Darkness trying to claim you.”

Beck frowned.

“Do you remember what happened?” his mother asked.

“What happened …” he repeated, not expecting the question. “I take it I didn’t just fall asleep and wake up with you all staring at me?”

“No,” she replied. “I’ll call Amber and let her know you’re okay. She’s been texting me every five minutes.”

Puzzled, Beck watched her leave. His mother was the queen of secrets and riddles. Fortunately, Decker was blunt to a fault.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked his twin.

“What’s the last thing you remember today?” Decker asked.

Beck thought hard. Morgan.

“Waking up with Morgan,” he replied. “We went to Linda’s ceremony last night.” He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.

The air around Decker was sizzling. Beck stared at him.

“Your sweet little Morgan is number one on my list now,” Decker growled. “She almost killed you, Beck.”

“What?”

“Amber found you knocked out in Morgan’s room this morning, Morgan standing over you. Whatever she did … whatever she is, she somehow summoned the Darkness to take you.”

Beck’s blood ran cold. “I don’t remember that.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what happened. She must’ve chickened out at the last minute and tried to save you,” Decker continued. “If she hadn’t pumped you full of fire magick, the Darkness would’ve stopped your heart. Mom and I used fire magick to reverse the rest of the damage.”

Speechless, Beck could only gaze at his brother, stricken by the idea of his Morgan doing anything of the sort. She was strong and sweet, tough on the outside, but genuinely good on the inside. He considered what Sam had told him about how only fire could counter Darkness. It made sense that she tried to help him. It didn’t make sense that she meant to hurt him.

“No, Decker,” he managed at last. “That can’t be what happened. I know her.”

“Like you knew Dawn?”

“I’m not the idiot you think I am!” Beck snapped and rose. “Tell me you didn’t hurt her!”

“Only because no one can find her. They’re gone.”

Beck paced. He felt worn out, but his mind was clear. Nothing Decker said made sense.

“Who’s gone?” he asked, Decker’s words registering.

The air around Decker stilled dangerously, the way it did when the Darkness was starting to take hold of him.

“Summer.” The word was barely human. “Morgan. Dawn. Biji. Alexa.”

“Disappeared?”

“Completely.” Decker shook off the Darkness and paced. “Morgan can’t be tracked because she’s in-between. I can’t track Summer and Biji, and Dawn and Alexa – along with a group of others – are off my radar.”

“That means they figured out how we hid Summer from you,” Beck said pensively. “I’ll sense Summer and Biji, if they’re in danger from magick.”

“Unless they learned something to block you, too.”

Beck wiped his face. “Swear to me, Decker, you will not touch Morgan. Whatever happened, I can’t believe she’d hurt me.”

Decker grimaced.

“Swear it!”

“Amber saw her over your body, Beck,” Decker replied. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“Omigod. This sounds like the reverse of a conversation we had a couple of months ago,” Beck replied with a tight smile. “When I was standing between you and the Darkness. Remember?”

Decker rolled his eyes.

“Swear it, Decker,” Beck said firmly. “If she hurt me on purpose, she’ll be Dark when we find her. I need to know what happened, before you go do your thing.”

“Fine.”

Relieved, Beck didn’t voice his own hurt or worry at the thought that Morgan might’ve hurt him, accidentally or not. He thought hard but couldn’t remember anything other than how incredible it was to wake up with her in his arms.

“We need to find them,” he said, forcing himself to focus on their task, not his emotions. “Dawn will kill Morgan, Decker.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.” Darkness flashed through Decker’s gaze.

“I can see we need some rules before we start looking,” Beck said. “One, you don’t kill anyone, until I have a chance to talk to them.”

“I can – “

“No one.”

Decker hesitated then nodded.

“Two, if you feel your friend Mr. Darkness starting to claim you again, you tell me then get the hell away. Got it?”

Another stiff nod.

“Alright. What do we know?”

“Nothing.”

Beck looked twice at his brother, his panic stirring. If Morgan and Summer were at the mercy of Dawn … If Morgan hadn’t knocked him under, what happened?

Since the mess with Dawn, he hadn’t fully trusted his judgment with girls. Or much of anything else. But every part of his being told him Morgan wouldn’t hurt him.