Dark Summoner (Relic Keeper Series Book 1) by D.D. Miers Page A

asked.
    “There is no other. Everything is in line. She is the Keeper,” Dorian answered sternly.
    “Perhaps it’s time to consider an alternative,” Sydelle said.
    “There is no alternative.” Isadora silenced the room. The fire crackled in the corner as she rose and gripped her cane. Like her, the aged wood was strong and resilient, strengthened by time. She took the last few steps and closed the distance between us. Gently, she ran a single finger down the side of my jaw. Her eyes lit up, the crystal blue glowing iridescent. “She bears the mark . . . and more.”
    “Child,” Isadora said. “I know there is much to be uncertain of, but you must trust in what your heart tells you. You are the Relic’s Keeper, but your self-doubt will only cloud your chances of defeating this rising dark.”
    I looked up into her kind face. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I don’t want any of this.” Tears formed in the corner of my eyes.
    She softened and a look of pity crossed her delicate features as she leaned forward and whispered, “I know child, but only you can do this.”

F ear crept through my mind like a slow poison, terrified that if I accepted this role, I wouldn’t live through it. In stories, the hero succeeds and lives happily ever after but in the real world, the hero is changed by the darkness they see—or they’re destroyed by it.
    “This isn’t just about the Black Walker trying to eliminate you, Abigail. If she has the chance, she will take the Relic from you,” Isadora said.
    Sydelle interrupted her. “The Relic chooses its Keeper, Isa. It cannot be taken by anyone.”
    “Not unless they possess the scroll.”
    A wave of panic tore through the room stifling the air. “That’s impossible. She can’t have found it. No one has ever found it.”
    “Not yet, but I sense her search. If she does succeed, we may be too late.”
    “What are you saying?” Daegus asked.
    “I’m saying that neither the Temple nor the Council can handle this alone any longer. It’s time.”
    “Time to what?” Dorian said.
    “Align with the Summoner.”
    Pius almost choked at Isadora’s words. “Align with him?”
    “This is insanity,” Dorian said. “You want to us to turn to the Dark Summoner? He’s unpredictable and ruthless. We can’t trust him, especially when we don’t know where his allegiances lie.”
    “He helped us stop the Black Walker the first time. You may all choose to forget, but I will not,” said Isadora.
    “And how do we know he won’t turn on us? Make an allegiance with her instead?” asked Dorian.
    “We don’t. But he is exactly what we need. She would never expect us to turn to him or the Triae . Which is exactly why we need his loyalty.”
    “He’s loyal to no one,” Dorian said, his voice bitter.
    “He will be to Abigail,” Isadora said.
    “Why?” he asked. “What could possibly make him loyal to anything?”
    She turned her head to me and smiled. “Because they are elhun .”
    Dorian’s words choked out. “You’re saying that he and Abby are elhun ? That’s not possible. I thought he and Yasinda were elhun .”
    “What’s elhun ?” I asked. I’d recognized the word. I’d heard it once before, I just couldn’t remember where.
    Dorian studied the fire. “It means fated, Abby. Destined for one another.”
    “Like as a couple?”
    “Yes.”
    Daegus and Sydelle exchanged a serious look.
    “Isa, when did you see this?” Daegus asked.
    “Only now, but it is truth. He will stand by her. He has no choice.”
    “Then it must be.” Daegus snapped his fingers once and the man who’d answered the door earlier appeared. “Bring him.”
    The butler nodded his head once and slipped from the room.
    Dorian slammed his fist down onto the table. “You realize that he sent the Triae Reagan after her years ago. Are we all going to forget that fact? He’s known something long before, and yet he’s never felt the need to mention it.”
    “He must have known. Must