'Wait' I say, after our eternal embrace came to an end. 'So, I remember everything, but even after this there's a couple things, I'm still gonna need to be explained.'

'Yeah?' she asks, intrigued.

'Who is Genevieve?' I ask. 'I heard her mentioned in the vision and I wanna know what she has to do with all of this.'

'There was a story not unlike ours' she begins. 'Involving a distant, distant relative of mine. She fell in love, just as strongly as we did, she went through her own journey, which would take way too long to recap. But in short, she was able to navigate her path, with some very sad consequences on the way, and with a little rewritten history, they were able to be together. They literally rewrote death itself to be together.'

'Wow' I say, my memory flickering back to something like this she had told me a couple months ago.

'They were Ethan and Lena, who is one of the most powerful casters alive right now' she continues. 'Genevieve was Lena's great-great-great-great grandmother. She was the reason their family was cursed, before Lena broke it. She lost her love in the Civil War just as my ancestor did, and she went overboard, using any means to bring him back from the dead. And unlike Ethan and Lena, she did it in a way that went against the Order of Things, which resulted in her, and her descendants, being cursed. This story was known by our family, and luckily for us, my ancestor Cassandra was able to accept that the death of her love was part of the Order of Things and shouldn't be changed, unlike Genevieve. It goes without saying that death is permanent, however in some extremely rare cases, death being reversed is also supposed to happen, as it was in Ethan and Lena's case. Genevieve was consumed with grief, and she tried to reverse everything to bring her love back. And that's the relevance. No matter how desperate people get, casters included, we cannot disrupt the natural order or the way the world works. If you do, there are dire consequences.'

'That's' I begin. 'That's insane. That's love beyond anything I've ever heard. Well, almost' I look at her as I say this. She smiles.

'Anything else?' she asks.

'Yeah' I say. 'If we've already been in love and shared all these experiences, why doesn't anyone else remember. We all acted as if you were a new student, with no knowledge of you. Did you wipe everyone else's memory or what?'

'Not exactly' she says sheepishly. 'See, what happened was, after we decided to… erase your memory, it became apparent that we would have to remove everyone else's as well. Which, as you can imagine, would have been a serious undertaking. But it was the only way to ensure no one got hurt. We even explored the idea of going back in time and resetting everything, but that would have gone against everything we stand for. So, when we accepted that this was the only way to do it, everyone with a memory of me, of us, of my family going back to the point of meeting me, ceased to remember that, and instead they were replaced with the most mundane memories, to seem like nothing happened. But, now that I've restored your memories, you won't have to worry about that, you can just enjoy all our memories together again.'

'That I can' I reply. 'But what about everyone else, I mean will you restore everyone else's memories or what?'

'Well, like I said, I'm going against my family's wishes by even restoring your memories' she tells me.

'What are we gonna do about everyone else then?' I ask.

'I had an idea for that' she begins. 'Make it like you're intrigued to hang out with me, and me, being the outcast, will be grateful of a 'friend' to talk to. And we slowly get close to the point of dating, I guess. To be honest they're not really my priority right now. I'm more worried about my family reacting to me having restored your memories.'

'Don't worry about that' I say. 'Whatever happens, they can't take me away from you again.'

'It worries me that they can' she replies. 'They could just wipe your memory away again and I don't want that. But to them, family comes before anything, and the honour and duty that comes with it is just as important. If they view your return as a potential, and I mean this in the best way, distraction to my duty then they won't hesitate to remove you from my life, again.'

'I won't let them' I say. 'I can promise you that'

I wish you knew the power they possess Josh.

I hear Cassie's voice say, but her mouth didn't move. I'm sure of it. I stare at Cassie, a confused look encompassing her face as I do this.

'You all good?' she asks.

'What was that?' I ask. 'I don't know what power?'

'What?' she asks, shocked. 'How did he hear that? It's not possible.'

'Hear what? What's going on?' I demand. 'How am I hearing your voice, but you're not talking?'

'Um, right okay' she begins. 'Just trust me on this.'

'On what?' I ask, desperately. 'Am I going crazy?'

'No, you're not' she says uneasily. 'Just… listen.'

'Okay' I say, less than convinced.

Josh, can you hear me my love? Can you hear my voice?

I hear her voice, more clearly now. It's in my head.

'I heard you' I say, my confusion turning to excitement. 'I heard what you said.'

'Oh my God' Cassie says. 'It shouldn't be able to work. How can you do that?'

'What do you mean?' I ask.

'Don't worry for now' she says, clearly worried. 'Try and say something back.'

'Okay I'll try' I say. I'm not really sure how to prepare myself or do it, so I just clearly visualise Cassie in my mind. And I say 'I love you so much Cassie.'

I love you so much too Josh.

'We can communicate telepathically?' I say loudly more excited than ever. 'That's so fucking cool.'

'Yes, it would appear so' she says, not reciprocating the excitement I'm displaying.

'Is something wrong?' I ask.

'Yes and no' she says. 'The ability for two people to communicate telepathically is called Kelting in the caster world. This enables two individuals to communicate beyond the verbal. They can talk to each other wherever and whenever they want. As far as I know, distance has never been a factor in whether or not it works, but then I've never had the chance to try until now. Kelting is a rare power that people whose destinies are tied to each other usually have. And I think we both agree that's an apt description of us. But there is a catch to this, this power is almost exclusively used by Casters. Mortals should not be able to do this. Aside from a very rare group called Waywards, they cannot use or perform Kelting. And yet here you are, using that very ability.'

'How do you know I'm not one of these Wayward things?' I ask.

'Because, when I heard of Ethan and Lena's impossible story traversing death just to be together, I researched the possibility of you being a Wayward due to the extraordinary similarities between ours and their circumstances. Ethan was definitely a Wayward, that is for certain. However, I couldn't find anything to suggest that you are one. I even asked my family, and they were convinced that you were a regular mortal. In short, you're not a Wayward.'

'What does that mean then?' I ask, unsure of what to think.

'It means that' she begins. 'Somehow, and I don't understand how it would be possible, you are a caster Josh.'

Out of all the revelations, the memories and events that have happened today, what I just heard was the most incomprehensible to me.

'I'm a…' I pause not knowing what to even do anymore. 'I'm a caster?'

'I don't know that for certain, but there is no other option' she says.

'Okay' I say, my mind feeling unusually logical as I try to remain calm. 'Are there any other signs of me being a Caster, any physical signs. Short of actually displaying power.'

'Well, no I don't…' she stops, and her face widens. 'Oh. My. God. How did I not notice it before? How could I be so stupid?'

'What? What is it?' I ask breathlessly.

'If I haven't made it clear yet mortals and casters don't tend to be together' she says. 'Me and you and Ethan and Lena are two very rare examples of this. There are even natural defence mechanisms set up to prevent mortals and casters from being together.'

'The burning' I say in realisation. 'I can't feel it anymore.'

'Exactly' she says. 'That burning that we felt before I returned your memories is no longer there. Ethan and Lena felt the burning almost constantly until he came back from the dead, no longer feeling it due to some technicality about him being a new person or something. The point is that, today I haven't felt it at all, from class in the morning all the way to now. It's a tell-tale sign that something about you has changed, and I'm not entirely sure what it is.'

'I'm excited to find out' I say. 'Can I shoot fire from my hands; can I control the sea like Percy Jackson.'

'Calm down' she says sternly. 'Although, you don't have to just limit yourself to elemental powers. It could be anything. All I know is that I have to take you to see my family.'

'What about their reaction to you giving back my memories?' I ask concerned.

She hesitates for a moment. 'Never mind that' she says eventually. 'I'll just tell them that the burning I could feel whenever we were together was gone and I was concerned enough to do this. Besides even if they don't believe me, we don't really have anyone else we can go to. They won't remove your memories after this discovery. Trust me. Now let's go, we need to sort this as soon as possible.'

She grabs my arm, and we walk off in the direction of her family's house.


Boston, MA

'Ethan Lawson Wate' calls out a familiar voice.

'Yes?' I reply. 'Ah well, if it isn't the lovely Lena Duchannes. To what do I owe this pleasure?'

'I was just passing by' she says. 'I was in the neighbourhood and wanted to say hi.'

'Well,' I say, interrupting my sentence with a kiss. 'I'm glad that you did.'

'Thank you' she says gratuitously. 'How's your day been?'

'Busy, busier and the busiest' I say. 'What about you?'

'Oh, you know' she says. 'Same old.'

'At least we got tomorrow and Friday together' I say. 'College is a bitch though. I wish I had more time with you.'

'Yeah well, at least it's normal' she says.

'We could do with a bit of normal after all we've been through' I say.

'You said it' she replies.

Josh, can you hear me my love? Can you hear my voice?

I hear in my head, a girls voice, but not Lena's.

Lena looked at me, and I looked back, and I immediately knew we had both just heard that.

'What was that?' she asks me, concerned. 'That was Kelting, but it wasn't me or you, right?'

'Wasn't me' I say. 'Honest.'

I love you so much Cassie.

A different voice speaks.

'There it is again' I say. 'I heard it again, but it was a different voice'

'Cassie' she ponders. 'I know a Cassie, a distant relative of mine. That first voice did sound a little bit like her but I haven't seen her in ages so I can't be sure.'

I love you so much too Josh

I hear the first voice speak again.

'Okay yeah that's Cassie' she says, having corroborated her original suspicion. 'Although I have no idea who this Joshua is, although it sounds like they're in love.'

'How are we hearing her?' I ask. 'I thought Kelting was only between two people. It sounds like this is an accidental crossover. Like we weren't supposed to hear this.'

'Well, if you remember,' she begins. 'Sarafine was able to tap into our link for a while. It's not entirely unthinkable, but you're right this does seem accidental. It stands to reason that if we can hear them, then maybe they can hear us.'

'Good idea' I say. 'But what should we say?'

'Just kinda let them know we can hear them. Try not to freak them out perhaps' she suggests.

'Okay sure, I got nothing else.' I say.

Cassie? It's Lena. We heard you and Josh Kelting

I'm Ethan, I'm with Lena. We're not really sure how this is possible, but we can hear you

Silence ensues.

Cassie and Josh?

'I don't think they're there' I say aloud.

'Just wait' she says Maybe they didn't hear us' I say.

'Give it a minute' she says. 'I'm sure we'll hear something.'

We wait a little while longer but, for once, I'm actually proven right as we hear nothing back.

'Hmmm' Lena thinks aloud. 'What do we do about this? I mean I've never heard of Kelting being able to be interrupted like this, in the way it just was. It sounded completely accidental, but it's important to be vigilant. Just because it sounded innocent doesn't mean it was.'

'We need to remain cautious' I agree. 'But what do we do, who do we talk to?'

'I mean, there is one person that comes to mind' I say. 'Marian.'

'After everything we've ever asked her for?' Lena asks. 'I don't wanna just drop in on her or call her just to use her like this. I want it to be for a good reason.'

'This is a good reason' I try and convince her. 'We need answers on this, and quite frankly unless you wanna get in contact with some of your extended family, I suggest you take my advice on this and let's talk to Marian about it. She's the best source of information for all things Caster and, on top of that, it's been forever since we've even spoken. It wouldn't be using her because I've actually been meaning to call her, and on top of that, this has cropped up. It just makes sense'

'Okay Ethan, you win this time' she says.

'I'm gonna put that on a t-shirt' I say.

'I'll burn it if you do' she says through a fake smile.

'That's what I love about you' I say. 'You're never afraid to speak your mind even if it does sometimes petrify me.'

'Thank you?' she says confused.

'You're welcome' I say. 'You were joking right?'

'That's for you to find out' she replies, and we start to walk back home to call Marian.