Spring Rain

Spring Rain

#4, Witchling Series

By Lizzy Ford

LizzyFord.com

Published by Evatopia Press

www.Evatopia.com

Cover design by Eden Crane, Eden Crane
Design

www.EdenCraneDesign.com

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Smashwords Edition

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Spring Rain
copyright ©2015 by Lizzy Ford

LizzyFord.com

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Cover design
copyright © 2015 by Eden Crane Design

www.EdenCraneDesign.com

All rights reserved.

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No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from
the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote
short excerpts in a review.

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This novel is a work of fiction. Any
references to historical events; to real people, living or dead; or
to real locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of
reality and authenticity. Names, characters, places and incidents
either are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously and their resemblance, if any, to real-life
counterparts is entirely coincidental.

Beck Turner, the Master and Protector of
Light, lifted his hands from the ground and leaned back. Earth
magick flowed through his body, its low hum and grumbling whisper
soothing the emotions he thought would never leave him in peace.
The early spring day was sunny and warm, around forty degrees,
practically a heat wave after the frigid winter. He wore a t-shirt
and snow pants to keep his legs warm and dry while kneeling in a
thin layer of snow. Tree branches dripped with melting ice to
create puddles around him. In the distance, the racing stream near
the home in the forest he’d adopted after the events of December
sounded close to overflowing.

This is how it’s supposed
to be.
He breathed in deeply and released
the air slowly. He was one with his element, his focus on the real
issue of importance in his life: saving the Light. Three solid
months of grueling work had seen the source of Light beneath the
boarding school in northern Idaho begin to heal itself – and
expand. The gains were tentative, about three feet total, and he
had no idea if they’d last if a Dark student or worse, his brother,
the Master of Dark, set foot on campus.

But for now, the weeks of sleepless nights,
days spent recruiting Light students from all over the globe, and
his self-imposed exile were working. His sole purpose in life was
to save the Light, and he was winning, however brittle his victory
might eventually turn out to be.

He remained despite his weariness, not
wanting to break the connection with his element. It was so much
easier to see beyond himself when he was synced with the earth.
None of the crippling emotions that plagued him during the rest of
his day and night were present.

His twin’s approach was like a sudden shadow
covering the sun. Beck shivered inadvertently as the temperature
around him dropped several degrees. He blinked out of his
stupor.

“I can wait,” Decker said softly from
several feet behind him.

Beck glanced over his shoulder before
returning his attention to the ground. His hands were imprinted in
the snow. He had the urge to replace them in their chilly molds, to
disappear once more into the warm magick of the earth.

He was getting stronger. He no longer needed
direct contact to see the images sent to him by the earth. The
visions used to be fragmented and confusing, but that had changed
gradually as he spent more time with the Light and his magick.

With Decker and his chilling Darkness so
close, the magick wore off faster, and a familiar ache filled
Beck’s chest, along with fatigue and the turmoil of his
thoughts.

“It’s okay,” he replied. “I’m done for now.”
Pushing himself to his feet, he faced Decker. His lean twin was
just over six feet with caramel skin and dark hair. He wore all
black, and his Darkness clung to him, a stark contrast against the
white snow. Decker stood a foot from the edge of the Light out of
respect for his brother’s fledgling domain.

Beck looked away without talking to his twin
and started back towards his refuge. While he was the Master of
Light and his duty saw him with the Light most days, he chose to
sleep away from the source of goodness in the world. He told
himself it was because of events like this, when his brother came
to find him.

But he knew better. He didn’t feel worthy
enough to stay with the Light. Light witchlings embodied goodness
and purity. Unlike them, he was … flawed. Tainted by mistakes, loss
and the knowledge that no amount of magick in the world could heal
the part of him that hurt.

“What’s up?” he asked. The earth cleared a
path for them through snow, puddles and trees towards the massive
tree trunk he had adopted as his. He ducked inside and glanced
around. On one side was a small bed loaded with blankets and on the
other side a trunk, cupboard, and stools were squeezed within.
Decker had brought him groceries, and a tote sat on a low table
along one side.

One of the many homes of Sam, the yeti who
lived in this part of the forest, Beck had only brought more
blankets and a firmer pillow with him when he moved in, with Sam’s
permission. He left the rest of his possessions at his parent’s
nearby cabin as part of his punishment for not being the man he
thought he should be.

The fire was warm against his cold cheeks,
and he sat.

“Brought you snacks,” Decker replied. “Dad
said you haven’t answered his texts in a few days.” The Master of
Dark’s gaze was concerned.

Beck leaned back against one wall. “I’m
fine,” he said, answering the unasked question. “Just … busy.”

“Doing good work.”

He nodded.

Decker’s dark gaze lingered on his features.
He sat. “The spring equinox is coming up. There’s talk about this
gathering being big. Word has leaked about our issue.” Every three
months, their parents hosted fetes or other types of gatherings
centered around the dates of solstices and equinoxes, brief periods
of power that beckoned to witchlings whose magick was tied to the
elements. For the last winter solstice, there had been a charity
ball. For the spring equinox, they usually hosted a renewal event
of some kind in honor of spring. Beck hadn’t bothered to ask what
was happening this year.

“Your issue,” he whispered. No part of him
wanted to think about what had happened several months ago. “My
only concern is the Light.”

“And your daughter.”

Beck rubbed his face. He was too tired to
argue with his brother and instead, dug around for a candy bar in
the bag Decker had brought. The earth’s soothing magick was fading.
The ache in his chest began to turn into outright pain. Even the
earth couldn’t heal this kind of suffering the way it could
physical ailments.

“You need to rest, Beck.” Decker’s tone was
gentler.

“Has Summer taught you some compassion?”
Beck grumbled. “Because the twin I know isn’t a nice guy.”

“He still cares about you enough to beat you
into unconsciousness if you need sleep!” Decker retorted.

That’s my brother.
Beck snorted. He didn’t like his visitors
treating him like there was something wrong with him or walking on
eggshells. He wanted to be alone with his misery, to watch the rest
of the world go on and be happy without him, to be forgotten and
left alone.

“Beck, I know what you’re going through. You
know that,” Decker added, his familiar agitation causing his
shadows to churn around him. “I lost someone I cared about, too. My
counterbalance.”

“But yours wasn’t dead,” Beck snapped.

“I thought she was.”

He looked up at the hushed note in Decker’s
voice. The haunted look on his twin’s face reminded him of
everything they’d both been through when Decker’s girlfriend,
Summer, had turned Dark and dove off a cliff. Beck had to keep the
secret of her survival to himself for many months while Decker
pursued a course of self-destruction.

“I know, Decker,” Beck said. It was no real
solace to recall his brother’s agony. If anything, it made Beck
hurt more, this time for his twin. “But this is different. It’s not
just Morgan. There’s the baby, too.”

He couldn’t act against the Dark witchling
who had invited the Darkest of all Dark souls into her body in
order to exact revenge on him, not without hurting his own child.
The situation with no solution left him helpless and
overwhelmed.

Decker said nothing, his shadows calming
until they were still once more. They usually made Beck edgy,
especially in close quarters. He was too exhausted to care
today.

The silence stretched on. Usually the first
to mend fences and keep the peace, Beck sighed. “So … no Dawn
sightings?”

“None.” Decker’s features grew thoughtful,
and Beck sensed he was communicating with his Darkness. “It makes
no sense.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Beck tried hard to
suppress the feeling of urgency whenever he considered what had
happened to Dawn. The woman was still alive; this much was assumed.
The mother of his daughter would come to term in about a month. It
was nearly impossible to think that she was managing her pregnancy
with no medical support from the doctors in Northern Idaho and
without contacting any of her family and friends. Yet no amount of
his father’s money or Decker tapping into his Dark domain had found
her.

That Decker couldn’t track her, and he was
supposed to be able to track all Dark witchlings …

“It’s Bartholomew,” Decker’s voice was
hushed. “He’s taught her something or hidden her somehow.”

Beck glanced warily at his twin. Decker not
only was charged to prevent the Dark from spreading, but was …
well, possessed by the souls of the Masters and Mistresses of Dark
that came before him. They lived in his head and were constantly
talking to him, usually educating him, except for Bartholomew, who
had tried to lure Decker into releasing the Dark completely.

The Master of Light had no such army of dead
souls in his head. If anything, Beck desperately needed guidance,
and there was no one to provide it, since his predecessor was
killed twenty years before. He pitied his brother once again. His
heart was too good to be as hard as he wanted it to. Even his
brother had a flicker of pure Light. Beck was flawed but
compassionate, able to look past the mistakes of others and see the
good within them.

Except with myself.

There was no excuse for the Master of Light
who failed in his duty to protect those who deserved it, innocents
like his daughter and Morgan, the girl he loved.

“The lake thawed enough this week for dad to
call in someone to dredge it,” Decker said.

Beck’s breath caught and he stared at the
fire at the center of the tree trunk. He thought of Morgan every
time his gaze drifted to the flames and how she’d once taken him
into the center of a bonfire and showed him how alive the flames
really were.

“Did they …” He stopped, his voice breaking.
Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Did they find her?”

“No,” Decker replied. “They found the SUV
and … Alexa’s body.” Decker shifted. “That’s my bad.” Alexa had
been Dawn’s henchwoman and had tormented both Summer and Morgan and
probably a great many more innocent witchlings.

It was as far as Beck could get on the
subject. His throat was almost too tight to speak, the muscles of
his body aching with sudden tension. He hadn’t been able to bear
watching Morgan’s brother, Connor, go through the pain he did. It
was another reason for his exile in the forest. More suffering of
the innocent that he should have somehow been able to prevent.

“They didn’t find the soul stone either,”
Decker added, referring to the rock in Morgan’s possession that had
held a piece of pure Dark.

“Maybe Dawn got to it and it’s hiding her.”
Beck managed. He forced himself to sip water from a bottle and
silently called for the earth to help his tense frame uncoil. Every
time he thought of the Fire witchling meant to be his counter
balance, he felt even farther from the Light.

“Maybe.” Decker was pensive once more. “I’ve
given it some thought. If we could find the soul stone, do you
think we could trap Bartholomew again, the way his sons did a
thousand years ago?”

“I imagine it’d be much harder since he has
no human form this time around. How do you lure a soul out of the
body it’s possessing without destroying the vessel?” Beck replied.
He, too, had given this and every other scenario he could come up
with some thought and returned to the conclusion that nothing was
going to work that wouldn’t involve putting his daughter in
danger.