The tone of her voice was enough to make Claire want to slap the smile from Nivera’s face. The mention of the Guardians, however, gave her pause. And the pause brought the reality of the situation crashing in on her.
Leo never wanted Claire to face Nivera. He warned her more than once not to do it. Seeing the shimmer of deep lines of power running through the witch’s blackened aura, she finally understood it wasn’t simply a desire on his part for revenge.
Nivera now knew that Leo was alive, after all the hard work she did to make sure the Wyvern Clan thought him dead.
Finally, she wasn’t so naive to think Nivera would keep the news of Claire’s unorthodox friendship to herself.
The moment of silence stretched between them until Claire’s shoulders slumped with a drawn out sigh and she let an expression of defeat cover her face. When she looked up at Nivera, her eyes shined with held-back tears.
“I—” She gulped. “Nivera, I must make a confession.” She took the witch’s hand in her own, even though the touch repulsed her. “You are right. Leo’s magic has harmed me. Ever since he… I’m afraid I misled you. The Wyvern Clan killed Leo not long ago. He came to me for help but I failed him. Ever since then, I’ve been possessed by these moments of irrationality. I came here today to tell you the news of Leo’s passing but the moment I saw you, I was overwhelmed. Forgive me. It is not my place to make threats and was unkind of me.”
Nivera squeezed the witch’s hand. She knew the dangers of warlock power, the tainting of magic worming the way into the mind–particularly a woman’s…
Her heart clenched at the news of Leo, but she kept her emotions well-hidden. Her aura would have shown some signs of grief. "Come here, Child. All is forgiven.” Her arm moved from Aaron to embrace Claire fully. “Why would you think to inform me? It’s kind of you, but what a thought to cross your mind.”
