"LIFE WAS SO MUCH EASIER WHEN I ONLY CARED ABOUT MYSELF"
Hope had remembered the creepy connection her best friend had showed about the sandclock, realizing that she had used it once.
Quickly, she had drove all the way to the motel room Kayla and her dad were staying at to check on the girl. Only to find a frowning Kai watching Kayla sleep, hand touching her forehead.
"You better not" Hope warned, crossing her arms, looking a bit nervous.
"She's not supposed to have magic" Kai said in the form of greeting, pulling his hand back.
After her little freak out at the mall, Kai had to use a bit of his magic to render Kayla asleep so she wouldn't burn the whole thing down, surprising himself that his first instinct was to make sure the girl was safe instead of finding where she anchored his linking spell to keep him from going out and causing havoc.
Indeed that had been a little odd for him.
"What do you mean?" Hope asked, despite of already dreading the answer.
It was also weird for her to be talking to the man who only a few days ago was trying to kill her boyfriend and those she cared about. But she was trying. For Kay. For her sister.
"She's a siphoner" Kai stated, the duh already implied there. Hope rolled her eyes, "She hasn't siphoned from me enough to have all this magic inside her. Neither did I know black eyes were a new feature of what I used to be. I have to admit. Black eyes are cool"
"Wait, hold up" Hope said alarmed, "Black eyes. Please don't tell me there were dark veins crawling all over her face too"
Kai frowned. "Are you a seer now, Hopey?"
"Don't call me that" Hope snapped. "So, the dark magic she got rid of, returned back to her, instead of staying with Josie" she gave him a look into which he responded with an innocent quirk of lips, "Thanks for that, by the way"
"Hey, I did help her get everyone out, didn't I?" Kai questioned, "I deserve a brief thanks"
"Am I supposed to say 'thank you' after your help just condemned your own daughter to dark magic?" Hope asked incredulously.
"When you put it like that..." Kai trailed off, looking nothing but unfazed.
"It doesn't feel that bad" Hope and Kai snapped their heads to Kayla who had her eyes open, staring calmly at the ceiling. "I've used dark magic before, unlike Josie. I know how to deal with it" she paused, noticing Kai opening his mouth to retort, quickly adding, "Most of the time"
Hope walked further to Kayla's side, kneeling next to her, quietly. "I don't want you to go dark on me, Kay. Please"
"It's only moments" Kayla said with pursed lips, using her elbows to push herself up. "I can feel the darkness whispering at me, to come closer. Can't you hear it?"
Hope briefly shook her head. "No, I don't feel it at all in our link"
"If I may-" Kai spoke, grabbing Kayla's hand and Hope's without warning them, eyes closing.
"What are you-?" Hope began, pulling her hand away from him.
Kai opened his eyes, nodding to himself as if confirming something. "The dark magic is strong enough to keep your link at bay" he eyed Kayla curiously. "She's keeping you out of it. I can feel it"
Kayla gave a confused frown. "What do you mean?"
"I always heard of the Rivers and their ability to create spells out of thin air" Kai began, giving his daughter an impressed look. "Despite of dark magic being well, dark, duh, you have been using it for the contrary, hence why you seem like yourself. You are used to it for reasons I don't want to know" he didn't miss the meaningful look exchange between the girls, "And so, you can control a little bit of it. But not all the time, unlike little Jo-Jo"
Hope bit her lip worriedly, turning to her friend, "Josie. That's what I'm here too. I'm sorry but I need you back"
"Hope, if I go back there's no way I'll be able to control the dark magic I have within me" Kayla pointed out.
"She's planning the Merge for hers and
Lizzie's birthday" Hope revealed.
Kai sucked in a deep breath, "Yeah, that's a bit too uh, evil" he laughed, getting two unamused stares. "I'm impressed, truly"
"They're seventeen" Kayla pointed out, "The merge is until their birthday 22, isn't it?"
Kai shrugged, "Dark Josie seems to think they're ready, so..."
"You're part of their coven" Hope reminded Kayla. "I need your help to stop it from happening"
For once, Hope and Kai noticed the crack on Kayla's bored expression, seeing the anxiety crawling in her face.
It tugged something at Kai's heartstrings, surprised his heart seemed to be working.
"Ugh" Kai groaned, startling the girls. "I can't believe I'm going to do this" he spoke more to himself than the girls. He offered his hands to his daughter. "Repeat after me. In tenebris magicae praesidium"
Kayla furrowed her eyebrows, "A protection spell?"
"Against dark magic" Kai explained. "Stopping it from corrupting you" the girls stared at him weirdly. Kai blinked defensively, shrugging. "What? I wasn't an entire asshole when I was little. I did try to protect my sister once"
"You took out her spleen and killed her in her wedding day" Hope reminded.
"I never said I wouldn't be protecting her from myself" Kai replied. "From someone else? Yes. She hurt me first, so I was only entitled to return the favor"
"Whatever" Kayla interrupted loudly, knowing if she didn't, both of them would keep going back and forth, and despite feeling amused about that because somehow she couldn't feel that much hostility from Hope towards Kai, they couldn't keep wasting time here. "You said this spell is going to help me be in control of the dark magic"
"It'll help you not be controlled by it" Kai corrected. "It won't work if you start accidentally using it wrong. Won't stop the seductive whispering you mentioned. You can, after all, siphon it away accidentally if you're not careful"
Both girls nodded, listening intently.
"So, I'll have to make sure she doesn't think on dark stuff" Hope piped, sarcastically. "That'd be difficult. She's Miss pessimistic"
"Realistic" Kayla countered.
"The point is that you have to be aware of not being bad" Kai said, seriously. "Now. Hands"
This time, he offered a hand to Hope as well. Hope softened a little, getting somewhat of a deja vu as she looked between father and daughter.
Her own father had been a bad guy too, but the moment she entered his life, he changed.
Hope could see that happening too here and suddenly, she wasn't regretting anymore not killing him when she had the chance. Kayla deserved a father who was willing to share his magical knowledge to protect her.
The three joined hands. Kayla's hands began to glow as she siphoned from them, not trusting herself from using the dark magic in her.
"In tenebris magicae praesidium" they chanted, all of them focusing on Kayla. "In tenebris magicae praesidium" there was a soft blue glow starting to surround Kayla, chanting a few more times to settle the spell better around her, "In tenebris magicae praesidium"
Spell finished, Kayla stopped siphoning, the three of them opening their eyes, seeing something blue shimmer around the siphoner.
"That's the spell" Kai noted, nodding. "Let's hope it lasts"
Hope stood, looking down at Kayla expectantly. "Are you coming then?"
Kayla looked at Kai.
Kai gave her a slight smile, "I can't leave the room, can I?"
"If I want to, you can" Kayla told him, standing up. "I don't want you to feel like a prisoner. You're free to go anywhere. But... You have to return here at the end of the day"
Kai noticed the way Kayla fidgeted with her bracelet when she spoke and it was like finally realizing something.
Huh.
"I see" Kai teared his eyes away from her hands, seeing the little knowing look in her eyes as if she now knew he knew where she anchored his spell. Girls. "Okay then. Go, be the boring hero"
Kai threw himself to the bed, bending his arms and putting them behind his head, getting comfortable in the bed.
The girls rolled their eyes, walking away.
Only when they were outside the room did Hope turn to Kayla, "Do you trust him alone?"
"No" Kayla admitted, glancing to the room, knowing he'd be listening, "But I have to learn how to if I want him on my life"
Inside, Kai looked up thoughtfully, starting to bit his lip.
"If it's worth it, I think one day, things would be good for the two of you" Hope said reassuringly, squeezing her friend's shoulder.
Unknowingly to them, they both had that same hope.