44. FRACTURED FATE

44

FRACTURED FATE

D ays passed with no information on Charlotte's father, and the lack made her restless. She tried to distract herself with Aiden's collection of video games and even joined some random online groups to interact with people other than those around her. She needed some sense of normalcy. Something human.

It helped until it didn't.

With classes starting in a little over a week, she finally met with the student liaison and settled on Business Administration so she could delve into several facets of her mothers' businesses and potentially be able to create her own in the future. She didn't know why she never considered a broad degree like that before.

In need of a change of scenery, she entered the main building, heading up the stairs to the canteen to find herself a snack.

Aiden insisted on joining her.

He still didn't enjoy letting her roam the campus alone, concerned for her safety. She didn't blame him, considering rogues had infiltrated the academy grounds and nearly killed Seth. She would never have survived that. She didn't have the perks that came from being a Vasirian.

After they grabbed a few canned drinks, candy, chips, and a blood packet for Aiden, they made their way down the hall until a flash of burgundy and sparkling rubies on silver chains rounding the corner caught her eye.

She took off in a sprint down the hall.

"What the—Charlotte!" Aiden ran after her.

They skirted the corner in time to see the Oracle disappear up the stairs to the third floor. When she entered the library, they followed.

Charlotte's gaze moved around the room. A few students sat at the tables near the windows, preparing for their upcoming classes; but otherwise, the space seemed as abandoned as the day Noah arrived.

"There," Aiden said, pointing to a side hallway. "I know where she's going."

He led Charlotte through a pointed archway and down a narrow hallway lined with painted portraits until they reached a small room at the end. Stepping inside, they found the Oracle standing at the back of the room on the other side of a long table surrounded by several chairs like a boardroom, but fancier. Carts filled with spare books lined the walls.

"You have questions," the Oracle said with a soft smile, turning to look at Charlotte.

"What?" She blinked and looked up at Aiden. Was she talking to him?

"There's something you've considered recently but haven't shared with your friends," the Oracle said, moving to the side of the table. "Or with your Korrena pair." She paced back to her original position. " The Celestial Conclave spoke of your disturbed sense of mind surrounding your question. I'm here to ease the burden."

Aiden looked at Charlotte.

Charlotte worried her lip. The thing that stood out to her most was something she tried to avoid thinking about, but it kept coming to the forefront of her mind with recent events. The thought bothered her when she tried to sleep at night, when she considered the future with Aiden.

"That, child. Whatever you are dwelling on at this moment is why I am here to give you the answers you seek."

"How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"The Celestial Conclave speaks to me. With the magic suppressing my mind increasingly unlocked as Blaire's powers awaken, my connection to them grows. Now, tell me, child. What do you want to know?"

"I…" She looked up at Aiden.

The space between his eyebrows dipped with his pinched expression. If she didn't know better, she would think him mad, but his confusion often looked like anger.

"Go ahead. Ask her," he encouraged, a soft smile highlighting his full lips.

She turned back to the Oracle. "I've been wondering if it's possible for me to become a Vasirian."

Aiden made a choking noise, and she pivoted to look up at him. Was he angry she'd asked? His face went slack, and his eyes appeared shiny. "I need a minute," he mumbled, lowering himself into a chair, setting the bag of their goodies between his feet.

Charlotte twisted the toes of her sandals on the hardwood floor, clasping her hands tightly in front of her. Had asking been a mistake? She really wanted to know if it was possible. If Aiden wanted her to be with him for a long time, that seemed the logical next step.

Nothing about her life felt settled. Change sent her into depression and made her hate existing. The only change that hadn't done that to her was coming to Blackthorn Academy. It felt like she belonged—at least once she sorted out her issues and spoke with her friends about her insecurities.

Existing in the human world, doing the mundane day to day, felt more like a chore than anything with a purpose. The only thing that mattered to her outside Aiden's world was her mothers, but even then, they weren't like other people's parents. The things they enjoyed weren't typical. Things Charlotte grew to love. What the human world deemed normal never fit with her.

She wouldn't go so far as being cliché and say she wasn't like other girls, because she loved things other girls loved. Clothes, pretty accessories, getting her nails done… But she knew in her heart she needed more than what the world she grew up in could give her.

"You never belonged in the human world," the Oracle started, interrupting her thoughts. "Had we never experienced a fracture in the balance between our kind and yours, you would still have found stability in this world. Your fate was always to be a part of the Vasirian world."

"What do you mean?"

"While you are not a direct descendant like your friend, your blood still resonates with the power of a witch."

"So can I be like the rest of you?"

Aiden's head snapped up to look at the Oracle as if he wanted to know the answer too. Charlotte couldn't tell what he felt because her own intense emotions of hope and longing overpowered everything.

When the Oracle's eyes softened, and her mouth turned down, a look of pity crossing her face, Charlotte knew the answer before she said it.

"The magic that brought about your early awakening isn't strong enough to allow the transition. The magic that stirred within to awaken your bond held only the power to call to your fated one and vice versa. If you were to try now, you would most certainly meet your demise. Until Blaire transitions, you cannot cross from your world to ours. Your own magic is required to transcend the boundaries between species safely."

Aiden cursed.

"I know it is not the answer either of you wishes to hear, but soon it will be safe for Blaire to take the step she has expressed she is ready for. After that, you can do what is necessary to find your true place."

It bothered Charlotte that Blaire hadn't become a Vasirian yet.

At first, she felt anger toward Blaire for not going through with it if it would save an entire species. It seemed selfish. But then she learned everything Blaire had gone through, and that she wanted to be a Vasirian but couldn't for valid reasons. The knowledge changed her perception. There had been a lot more to the story than she realized. It made her feel guilty for harboring such negative feelings about her best friend. All she could do now was support Blaire until the time was right, and that's what she intended to do.

"Never forget, you belong in this world, child. The events unfolding are the way they should be. Your destiny has always been linked to his." The Oracle extended her hand toward Aiden. "Even the initial months of your existence set you on the path to lead you here."

"What does that mean?" Aiden asked, finding his voice. It wavered, but she didn't know what that meant.

"Her father's absence and her mother's death. Had those two events not occurred, Sara and Elizabeth Walsh would have never adopted a baby girl from Ireland. Charlotte would have grown up in Ireland and never found her way to this part of the country, never crossing paths with Blaire, nor you."

Aiden put his elbow on his thigh, rubbing at his forehead with his thumb and first two fingers.

"Sara Walsh knew to go to Ireland."

Charlotte's eyes turned into saucers. "What do you mean Mom knew to go there? I thought the adoption agency contacted them about me first."

"They did. They provided your adoptive mothers with a list of various countries." The Oracle smiled. "There is more to Sara Walsh than meets the eye, child."

"Okay, at the risk of sounding like a broken record…" Charlotte threw her hands out at her sides. "What does that mean ?"

The Oracle's laugh sounded melodic and sweet. Not something Charlotte would expect from such an old woman. "The voices."

"Voices?"

"Does she not speak of the voices?"

"Yeeeah," she said, hesitation heavy in her tone.

For as long as Charlotte could remember, her mom had shared things the "spirits" would tell her. Many years ago, she opened up to friends about it, but they thought she had schizophrenia—or some other mental health disorder. She lost people whom she thought cared about her. To shield herself and her family, she stopped speaking of it outside of their home. Charlotte's ma always said it was her mom's intuition talking to her, but she never outright said the voices weren't real or that her mom had mental illness.

"I am not the only one the Celestial Conclave whispers to."

Charlotte lowered herself slowly into the chair to her right as the weight of this new revelation settled over her.

"Like you, she is another human with dormant magic lingering in her blood. It has guided her in all facets of her life, even if she is unable to harness it to its full potential. Had our worlds never split apart, she would have the same capabilities as I have. A seer and prophetess for the Celestial Conclave, but as a human."

She leaned back, her hands lifting to cover her mouth.

Aiden interlaced his fingers, sitting forward in his chair, both elbows on his thighs. "Does that mean when Blaire becomes Vasirian, Sara will awaken, too?"

"That's correct, but not much will change for her. The Celestial Conclave has always reached her through the barriers put in place during the Blood War. The only difference will be awareness. She will learn of this world and the reasons behind why her mind leads her in the right direction. Why the voices guide her as they do."

"Will she find a Korrena if she's magical like me?"

That her mom might discover a mate in the Vasirian world when the balance righted itself turned Charlotte's stomach. What would her ma do? She didn't want to imagine the heartbreak.

"No, child. Not every human with magical affinities will be destined to pair-bond with one of our kind, but there will be many who will. Sara is not one of those humans."

She blew out a breath, the relief chasing away the acid churning in her stomach.

Aiden asked, "Do they know about our kind? Her mothers, I mean."

The Oracle tilted her head as she studied Aiden, a genial smile crossing her face. "They know what they need and share what they must."

He snorted, shaking his head.

It seemed as if her mothers knew a lot more than they ever let on, but this time Charlotte was thankful for the Oracle's cryptic words. If word spread that her mothers even suspected the existence of the Vasirian, they faced consequences Charlotte could never stand by and allow without a fight.