The Cost of Betrayal

Chapter Thirty

Birsha gripped the gold trinket in his fist tightly. He watched as Chastity and Micheal disappeared beneath the waves and smiled. "Now I can get something done," he muttered to himself. He lifted the delicate charm and examined it in the moonlight. "Hmm," he thought. His mind was filled with ideas, but none seemed suitable for what he wanted. He slipped the charm into his pocket and walked back to the hotel. Walking back into his room, he opened his bag and took his black book out. He made himself comfortable, a grin slowly spreading across his lips as the book opened to exactly what he needed. He was beginning to love this black book, it was as it knew him.

He lifted the charm in the air, staring at it intently, he whispered the words slowly. As the spell unfolded, the charm glowed warmly. Once he was finished, he tucked the necklace in a safe space and fell into a deep sleep, taking comfort in knowing that tomorrow his plan would finally be in place.

**********

Maura tossed and turned all night, her sleep disrupted by tormented dreams of her classmates changing. She woke with a start as her alarm beeped the next morning. She rubbed her eyes, and threw back the covers, sighing heavily as she climbed out of bed. "I guess I have to get this day going," she muttered as she walked to the shower. It was the last day in Avec and she wanted to make the best of it, even if she was tired.

She finished freshening up and then went down to the lobby to meet with the rest of the students and faculty to go to the cafe. Her mind went to the massive muffins that Miss Mary served every morning. Her mouth started to water at the thought of warm banana nut muffins and blueberry streusel. Maura looked around at the group, she felt as if there was someone missing. She turned to the teachers, but none of them seemed to be searching for anyone. She shook the thought from her head and listened carefully to the headmistress.

They left the hotel and walked the short distance to the cafe where Mary greeted the group warmly. "Hello everyone! As it's your last day with us, I wanted to give you something special." She took them to the backroom where she had set up a delicious buffet-style spread.

Maura walked to a table and sat down. She preferred to be away from the noise of the crowd. She would happily wait for the rest of the class to get their fill. She wasn't paying attention to the others, so she was taken by surprise when the seat next to her moved.

"Hello," a familiar deep voice greeted her.

Maura looked up to see Birsha, as she did, she got lost in his eyes. "Hello." Her mark was tingling as she took in Birsha's dangerous looks.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked, flashing her a smile. He wanted nothing more than to sit beside her and take in all of her beauty.

She shook her head, "No, please, have a seat."

He pulled the seat out further and sat down, his hand accidentally brushing hers, sending an electric shock up his arm, and hers.

She gasped at the contact and moved her hand away. "Sorry," she whispered.

He shrugged, "It's okay, I should be the one to say sorry."

She looked at him, "Why?"

"Because I've been avoiding you," the lie came out easily and surprised him.

She gave him a reassuring look, "We've all been busy," she replied. "But we can get to know each other better, if you want." She was surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. She never expected to want to get to know anyone better, let alone a boy.

Mary was watching from a distance. This was not good, not good at all.

************

The Fates were watching from the perches, each shaking their heads in dismay. Atropos snipped the air angrily. "Great, just great. What are we going to do now?"

Clotho picked up her needle, this was a turn they weren't expecting. "How am I supposed to know? Everytime I think we are going in the right direction, someone puts a new spin on this!" She turned to Lachesis.

Lachesis put her hands up, her face full of innocence and confusion, "Don't look at me! This was not in the plan." She picked up her wool to make more thread, "She wasn't supposed to lose her necklace!"

Atropos was still angry that they didn't let her snip his thread when he was born. "He could have been nothing more than a tragedy of Atlantis! But no, you all just had to give him a chance." She snipped the threads she held in her hand angrily, imagining them as Birsha's. "When are you going to admit that I was right?"

Clotho laughed at her sister's actions, "He still has things to do."

Lachesis scowled, "He's done enough. What, exactly, do you think he has to do yet?"

Clotho shrugged, "I don't know, but he still has things to do. If you don't believe me, try to snip his thread, Atropos." Clotho knew that the threads of mortals with unfinished business could not be cut. It was a rule that Chronos had implemented eons ago.

Atropos grinned triumphantly, "Finally!" She lifted the thread that had been gradually changing colors from light blue to a dark blue, and attempted to snip the thread. The delicate fabric simply bent beneath her sharp-edged shears. She looked down incredulously, "What?! How!"

Chronos walked in, "Because your sister was right. His thread can not be cut until his time is up."

Atropos scowled, "Only because she insisted he stay alive!"

"Well, now we have to finish this. What exactly is your plan for him?" Lachesis asked.

Chronos sighed heavily, "He has to teach Maura, and she, him."

The Fates looked at each other, "Teach her what?! She's an innocent!" Lachesis cried out in frustration.

Chronos shrugged his shoulders and shook his head sadly. Even though he had an idea of what was to come, he had no control over this saga. Hecate gave her wards free will and that is how it must stay, even with these two destined to be together.

Atropos scowled, "This doesn't sound good at all."

Hecate appeared in the Fate's room, "As long as we can get the book away from Birsha before he can use it, we can fix this."

Clotho huffed, "Well it's too late for that. He's already used it more than once."

Hecate's eyes widened in dismay, "What do you mean?"

Lachesis stood, and walked to Hecate, "How has Mavaka been able to manipulate everyone and stir these pots? He's been dead for over two centuries! This is your fault."

Hecate's expression turned dark, "I know this is my fault! He was supposed to be locked up securely." She paced furiously across the floor.

"Enough!" Chronos thundered. "Things have happened, and mistakes were made. The important thing is to fix this."

Clotho interjected. "Maura has a lot to learn before she will be ready. But I can assure you that her changes will be for the better."

Hecate turned to Clotho, "When?"

"Years," Clotho whispered sadly. "Because we are too late." She pointed to the pool that the Fates depended on so dearly and they watched as the beginning of the end began.

******************

Maura waited by the pier for Birsha, she agreed to meet him. Something was stirring in her heart and she wanted to explore it more.

Birsha stared at Maura, her long black hair glistening off the sunlight. He put his hand in his pocket and gripped the charm tightly. "This had better work," he muttered under his breath.

Maura turned to see Birsha approaching her, she smiled widely at him. He was so handsome, even though she could feel something slightly dark beneath his aura. Maybe she could change him, she thought. The darkness didn't seem too bad.

"Hi," he greeted her.

She lowered her eyes to the sand before looking up at him. "Hi."

"Do you want to walk along the shore?" he asked.

Maura nodded, "That sounds nice."

They walked casually along the water's edge, making small talk about school and the trip. They made it to the next pier and paused underneath. Birsha decided now would be the perfect time to bring up the charm.

"Uh, I found something that I think belongs to you," he said, rubbing his neck feigning nervousness.

Maura looked confused, "I haven't lost anything," she said. "At least not here," she added sadly.

"I know," he tucked his hand in his pocket, "this was before we got here. And well, " he paused again, laying in on thick. "Well, we haven't really had time to talk privately." He lifted his hand from his pocket, watching her expression closely.

"Where did you find this?" she asked, reaching for the charm.

He pulled it up just out of her reach, "I have a small request," he said, teasingly.

"What?" She asked, willing to give him almost anything to get the charm back.

"One, may I put it on you?" he looked down into her eyes. "And two a kiss."

Maura blushed, his requests were more than reasonable. And, if she were, to be honest with herself, she wanted to kiss him anyway. She nodded and turned her back to him, lifting her hair and exposing her neck to him. He lifted the delicate chain and placed it around her neck, fastening the clasp. She turned around to him, her expression so thankful. He placed his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to his. He leaned in and kissed her gently, sealing the magic.

As their lips touched something inside him awakened. He swore to himself then and there, that he would never let her go. He needed her too much.