Her feet moved forwards of their own volition. Her palms were warm. Energy flickered over her skin like lightning as she reached out and took Jonan’s hand. She jolted as a current shot through her. The scent of lavender flared and a rightness settled deep in her chest. She reached out, finding Miranda’s hand easily without looking.
At the moment she closed the circle, she felt herself swept up into a whirlpool of light. It carried her upwards, higher and higher. Part of her awareness remained in her body, where she held hands with Jonan and Miranda, but the greater part of her being flew free. She could feel the others beside her. Her energy swirled in the upwards spiral, reaching further and further outwards.
Then the spiral stopped.
She was in a throne room.
Huge white pillars loomed above her. The crystal throne sat empty on the dais. A woman stood in front of her, long, glossy ringlets falling over her shoulders and the draped white fabric of her robes.
‘My daughter,’ she whispered, taking Beth’s hands. ‘You have the strength for this. Do not doubt yourself. Do not hesitate. You know what to do.’
Beth felt Jonan’s familiar energy next to her, and the still, calm pool that was Miranda. She shuddered as a flare of something else consumed her. It swept into the room, wrapping around her, opening her heart, and breaking all her defences into pieces. In a moment she felt raw and exposed, but more powerful than she had ever known.
‘Brother.’ She felt the word vibrate through her being.
‘Sister,’ have you felt me with you?’
‘I don’t know. I was alone for so long.’
The energy materialised next to her as a dazzling light being. He had blond hair that reached his waist, his eyes were a clear violet, and his ears rose into delicate points. ‘You are never alone, sister, and never will be.’ The scent of lavender filled Beth’s senses. ‘Jonan has done well to bring you to this point. Do you know who he is, dear one?’
‘He is my soul mate.’
Her brother nodded. ‘You have work to do together. Are you ready to do this now? The choice will always be yours, but your world needs you.’
Beth inclined her head. ‘What do I need to do?’
‘Embrace who you really are. Hold on to your connection here. You will be able to hear us if you try. Listen to Jonan. He has spent an Earth lifetime preparing for this moment, but he is wavering right now. He fears for Doriel and he is weary. He wants you more than he wants to complete his destiny.’
‘Can’t he have both?’
‘He can, of course, if you are willing to travel the road alongside him.’
‘I am willing. I choose it. I choose my destiny, my awakening. I choose Jonan.’
The light flared. The world turned white. Beth felt a touch on her shoulder that sent energy fizzing through her body.
Then she was back in the ballroom.
Jonan met her gaze.
She nodded.
There was knowing in his eyes. ‘I am ready now,’ she said, taking a deep breath and feeling her chest expand, allowing the light into her body.
Amelia laughed, and then broke into a fit of coughing. ‘You think you’re some kind of superhero, don’t you? But you’re just one girl, a girl who has some talent with event organising and an ability to see ghosts. That doesn’t make you anything special. If you stand against me, I will annihilate you with public derision. And you.’ She looked Miranda up and down, a sneer on her face. ‘You I will paint as the enemy, a Soul Snatcher of the most dangerous kind. You’d be amazed what these people will believe if you tell them in the right way. I will turn you into a target your precious seclusion has left you ill-prepared for.’
Miranda didn’t flinch. ‘Do what you must. I am willing. I choose it.’
Beth took her hand and turned to look Amelia in the eye. ‘Do what you must. I am willing. I choose it.’ She opened her heart to the energy. It flared up around them, filling the room with light.
‘Do what you must.’ Jonan’s voice was resonant, filling the room with a vibration that sent the monks reeling. ‘I am willing. I choose it.’
‘No!’ Amelia shouted.
One by one, the monks that surrounded Amelia faded into nothing. As the energy rose even higher, Beth felt the presence of those other beings, her mother and brother from that other place, and wondered how they had crossed. The energy in the room fizzed.
Amelia stood alone now, the space around her muddy in spite of the light that surrounded her. She walked backwards, slowly, towards the door.
Roland still leaned against the door post. His lips parted as she approached, but he shook his head and stepped backwards.
‘Come on, Rolo.’ Amelia’s voice was low. ‘Don’t let them manipulate you. They can’t destroy us. They’re not that strong.’
‘We do not seek to destroy you,’ Miranda said. She released Beth’s hand and then Jonan’s, breaking the circle, but the light that surrounded them remained. Miranda blazed, her own brightness filling the space now the draining pull of the monks was gone. She walked towards the door, but her eyes were on the man in the white suit.
‘Roland, I love you. You are my son, and no matter what Amelia may have told you, I will always be yours. I hope that one day you might see that.’
He took a deep breath, his chest expanding as though he was breathing clean air for the first time.
‘Rolo,’ Amelia snapped.
He blinked. His eyes dulled. Stepping over to her, he laced his arm around Amelia’s waist. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
‘You know that once I’m out of this room, there’s nothing you can do to stop me?’
‘You’re right, of course,’ Miranda said with a smile. ‘But we will do this again and again. We will find Doriel, we will keep foiling you, and we will tell the truth until enough people listen.’
Amelia swayed.
The energy in the room was so strong now that Beth had no sense of where her body ended and the light began.
Pulling Roland with her, Amelia reached the door. She fumbled at the handle, threw it open and dashed through, slamming it behind her.
There was silence.
The energy fizzed and settled.
Beth slumped onto one of the chairs in the audience. She leaned back, her eyes wide and unseeing. That other place was still there at the edges of her consciousness, and part of her longed to go back.
‘You’ll never lose it, not now you’ve been there consciously. Once you’ve woken up to it, it’s always there for you.’ Miranda smiled at Beth. ‘As am I. You are part of our family, Beth.’
Beth swallowed. ‘Thank you. I don’t know what to say.’
‘No need.’ She smiled again, and then turned and walked out the door.
‘Does she know where she’s going?’ Beth frowned.
Jonan rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, she’ll figure it out. Mother has been in seclusion so long she has got out of the habit of social niceties.’ He sat down next to her and took her hand in both of his.
Reality flooded over Beth in a wave of grief. ‘Oh, Jonan, how are we going to find Doriel?’
Jonan’s face shifted, the faint lines in his forehead deepening. His skin paled and the shift in his energy made her head pound. ‘Doriel, where are you?’ he whispered. His eyes were unfocused and Beth knew he was looking for his aunt.