Night Witch (Weatherstone College, #2)(71)

He shook his head, visibly blanching. “That second cut wasn’t me. The curse took its pound of flesh and magic from the one who dabbled in the darker arts.”

Rafael slumped forward over the cauldron, his blood seeping into the spell, until we were surrounded by a metallic-scented wind. There was an explosion, and Logan and I hit the floor hard, my mate covering my body with his own, before everything went dark.





Chapter 33




Rumbly voices roused me from the darkness, but when I tried to open my eyes, I couldn’t manage to pry my heavy lids up. I wasn’t ready to step back into full consciousness, where pain and fatigue awaited me.

I preferred this dark abyss, just out of reach.

“What the fuck happened?” Noah sounded far away.

Logan’s heat surrounded me, and as light filtered into my consciousness, I knew he was holding me close. Logan’s voice was rough: “The curse is broken . . . and with it, the drain on her power is gone.”

“Bloody Hel, mate.” Tobias sounded impressed. “And what happened to your cock tosser of a father?”

Logan’s chest rose sharply beneath me. “He signed his own death warrant when he messed with curses. Dark magic requires a price, and I was hoping he’d be the one who had to pay.”

“I’m sorry, brother,” Noah said as I once again attempted to force my eyes open. “Rafael needed to die, but I never wanted you to make that choice.”

“Me neither,” I rasped as I finally lifted eyelids that weighed a hundred pounds.

As Logan came into gritty focus, I found myself cradled on his lap on the floor, Noah and Tobias standing above us. We were still in Rafael’s secret, awesome spell room.

“Precious,” Logan groaned, his gaze frantic as he took me in. He dropped his head to my neck, running his nose along the skin as he breathed deeply. “You’re awake. You’re okay.”

My arms were weighed down too, but I managed to lift my right hand and cup the back of Logan’s neck, rubbing my fingers across his skin. “What happened?”

“The curse was embedded deep in your essence,” he said, his hands tracing up and down my spine, slipping under my shirt to graze bare skin, sending sparks of magic into me. “The counter-curse wouldn’t work without blood and magical sacrifice. Rafael didn’t expect me to make the choice between the three of us so easily, but it wouldn’t have mattered who else was in the room. He was always going to be the sacrifice.”

Logan lifted his head, and my heart clenched at the hurt dancing in the depths of his beautiful eyes. There was an innate pain in taking the life of a parent, even if that parent was an evil asshole. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I whispered.

His eyes closed briefly, thick dark lashes swiping against his cheeks. “I love you,” he breathed, leaning down to press his lips to mine. “I’ll always choose you.”

My magic swirled to connect with his in a way I’d never felt before. It was a clash of our power, the surge of energy between us strong enough to decimate the building. Thankfully, after years of being a badass spellcaster, Logan was better at controlling immense power, and he kept it contained in our bond.

“Uh, Logan . . .” Noah’s voice was both tentative and laced in humor. “Did you forget our extra little problem?”

“What extra problem?” I asked, pushing myself higher on his lap.

For the first time since opening my eyes, I wasn’t staring at Logan’s face or chest, and I finally noticed what was happening in the room.

Oh. OH.

I lurched to my feet, legs taking a beat before they supported me. “What the actual fuck?” I whipped my head around so fast that my neck ached. “Am . . . am I dreaming?”

The room was filled with monsters. They stood everywhere, except in a small circle around us.

“They’re not attacking,” I noted, confusion crashing into me.

“You called them when your magic was freed from the curse.” Logan was on his feet as well.

By instinct, I moved toward the first creature. It was the praying mantis, similar to the one from the hallway in Weatherstone, just a little smaller. As I approached it, my magic started to hum in my chest, and I expanded my sight to beyond what was before me until I felt the icy tether between the monster and me.

Logan pressed in close to my back. “Your magic isn’t locked down any longer. You tethered them all and there’s no strain on your energy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Tobias and Noah followed us, everyone staying close to the monster wrangler. Me.

“Can you control them?” Noah asked, looking about as nervous as I’d ever seen the big guy.

“More importantly, can you send them back?” Tobias added with a strained laugh.

“Yes.”

It was a truth I felt deep in my magic. The suppression potion and curse had impacted my control, but I was now free of both. I held the tethers to these monsters, and if I tugged on them, they would move.

Return home.

I used my energy to guide each monster through the planes, and I didn’t even have to close my eyes. Frost filled the air, my magic spinning on flakes and flurries as we watched the creatures fade away back to their realm. It was the same as the first time I’d—unknowingly—called the monsters. I’d sent the ones in the lake and graveyard away, having no idea that I’d returned them to their plane.