"So no one talks about it, and you aren't the least bit curious?"
He chuckled, and the vibrations seemed to travel under my skin, distracting me to the point I forgot what we were talking about.
"I didn't say I wasn't curious. I just said I trusted them to inform me of anything I needed to know. It's not like them to keep something from me, so I have to trust they are omitting it for good reasons."
This time I did roll my eyes. "You are a better son than I am a daughter."
He laughed under his breath. "I'm just older and wiser, I suppose."
I shook my head. "Older maybe, but I think that someone wiser would have been questioning that sort of information being omitted."
He snickered again, amused by me. I could see Ayla focusing her eyes around the room. I felt the rush of calm spread again. People began sitting back down and getting quiet once more. Jaslene hesitated to speak. Her reluctance was almost tangible.
"I've been searching my visions for Lokan ever since he left his scent in Arisianna's room. I was finally able to force it. I've followed him closely in my visions. I've only gotten bits and pieces into the future, nothing coherent enough to really know what he's up to. I decided to look into his past.
"It has taken sometime to look into his past. He's been around for some time now, and he's been heavily guarded for centuries. He's even more guarded now. I finally found a time when he was not guarded, though.
"He's older than Allaysia or Iris. His magic is far stronger than it should be for a true mortal soul. Merlin was the only mortal to maintain power and immortality in the light circle. We know what happened to the rest of them. However, one apparently found a way to stay in the immortal world without the side effects that the others suffered."
Everyone gasped again. Side effects? Others? How could I not question such a thing?
There was a changer across the room that spoke in disbelief. "If that is true, then why haven't we crossed him before now? And how could he have avoided the side effects? None of the others were able to do so."
Jaslene sighed out deeply. I had no clue what they were talking about. It was as though everyone was too scared to go into too much detail. So they kept it vague and non descriptive, the way someone does a dark chapter of their life. They were being forced to speak of it now, but no one wanted to, and it was obvious.
Jaslene started speaking over the crowd's whispering this time. "Merlin had a brother—Malachi. Malachi was deeply in love with Isis, but she loved Merlin. Jealousy is a strong emotion, second only to love.
"Magic had granted Isis a soul mate—Merlin. Isis had already loved him before magic granted her that gift. That was the first soul mate connection. The evolution of magic has made soul mates more important than anyone could have ever known.
"Malachi grew to loathe his brother with an intensity that fueled his quest to destroy the soul mate bond. He didn't want to kill his brother, but in a mad rage, he tried to. He was convinced that Isis was meant for him, and Merlin was the only thing he saw blocking his path to her. He wasn't evil in the beginning, only deeply in love. The rejection that he felt from Isis made him burn with resentment that festered into hatred, and it was directed toward Merlin and magic.
"Malachi only had a slight window of opportunity before Merlin received his immortality—as seen in Isis's vision. Merlin couldn't kill his own brother, so he allowed Malachi attack him without defending himself. Merlin could have easily killed Malachi. Malachi had almost finished the job, but then he saw Isis.
"She threw a gust of wind at him, slamming him into the wall far away from Merlin. She ran to her love's side and began soothing him, kissing him, and healing him. She looked at Malachi and told him that even if Merlin was dead, she would never love him. She would never love anyone the way she did Merlin.
"Malachi ran away, sick with fury, and shattered by her rejection of his love. He killed himself that night in front of his eighteen-year-old son… Isolis."
Everyone suddenly started talking over each other, and the room became a jumbled up mess of ramblings. Everyone in the room was shocked, including Tallis. He looked at me even more concerned than he had been before.
I smiled, though it was brittle.
"I guess you're not the only one with family drama now," I said, finding my terrible luck these days humorous.
He didn't smile or even acknowledge my apparently not-so-funny joke. Horror was etched on his face.
"That's how he got in. He never had to even try," he almost whispered, talking more to himself than to me.
I looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"He's your blood. Your crest isn't designed like ours. We had to take precautions to keep some of our blood out. Many covens have to do the same thing. The Coldwell family has never had a single bad witch, so it was never necessary. Your crest accepted him as blood because he's family. He could have killed you anytime he wanted to."
His hand now traveled down my waist, pulling me almost into his lap. If he was trying to distract me from my latest concern, it was working. Very well.
"I should have never left your side. I don't know what I was thinking," he muttered, staring at nothing in particular.
There he went blaming himself again. Now he was even blaming himself for my screwed up family.
Ignoring his hand on me and the surreal sensations it caused, I said, "It's not like you knew the other crazy man trying to kill me was from my family." I paused as so many questions came to mind. "Why didn't he just kill me then?"