Chapter 51

I accepted Isamu's offer to be my personal guide for the remainder of the festival and allowed him to lead the way through the rambunctious crowd with a calm acquiescence my compos mentis would much rather question. I sensed higher energies at play I didn't dare provoke, not with my limited knowledge of Magic, but I still held a shield of defense around my aura. Evalena's most recent teachings put in practice already. Not even when Desmond shot us a puzzled look before resuming his frenzied photo snapping did I question my detached state of being. Halfway down the hill, as the crowd swayed in unison to accommodate the narrow path and the large mikoshi, my body pressed against his solid one and sparks dissipated darkness.

'Keep yourself open to love. Once in motion Magic moves faster than our grief.' Evalena's enigmatic sentence had meant to warn me about this?