Page 16 of Fading Sun

“We?” I glance at the guy with her, curious what he has to do with all of this.

“This is Blaze,” she introduces him, her voice wavering when she says his name. “He’s also a witch. He’s been helping me track down some answers about figuring out how to get that potion out of you.”

Blaze nods, a guarded look in his eyes. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he says with an accent—barely there—that I can’t quite place.

“All good things, I hope,” I reply, trying to muster a smile despite the hollow feeling in my chest where my magic should be.

Damien makes no effort to join the conversation. He just stands there like a statue, his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the city skyline.

“So, what did you find?” I ask, forcing myself to focus on Morgan instead of on Damien. This is important, and I can’t risk being distracted by His Royal Broodiness.

Morgan glances at Blaze, who pulls a blood-red quill out of his bag.

“We think I can use this to transfer that potion out of you and into the compass,” he says.

I eye the quill cautiously. There’s something powerfully dangerous about it. Something that urges me to be careful.

“Use it how?” I ask.

“I’m a blood witch.” He swallows, as if what’s coming next is hard to say. “Like Morgan.”

“Wow.” I look at her, but she refuses to meet my eyes, so I turn to Blaze again. “You can also see the future?”

He flinches, as if I said something wrong.

“My magic is different than Morgan’s,” he explains, snapping back into focus. “I can use my blood like ink to do spells.”

Apparently not wanting to explain it further, he removes a coin from his pocket, pricks his finger with the tip of the quill, and uses his blood to write a word on the coin’s surface.

Levitas.

The coin glows slightly. Then it comes to life, floating, Blaze’s eyes locked on it as he guides it in an intricate dance in the space between us.

It’s a cool trick. Mesmerizing.

But it’s not anywhere close to as impressive as when vampires use air magic.

“He can do loads of different spells,” Morgan jumps in, as if she knows exactly what I’m thinking. “He can unlock things, and light them up… and he can heal.”

There it is.

“Is that what you want to do to me?” I ask Blaze. “Use your magic on me to heal me?”

“Not exactly.” He lets the coin fall back into his hand and puts it back in his pocket. “We learned another spell. One I can use to transfer the magic out of you and into the compass. But first, you need to know—my magic can be dangerous. I’ve only used it on people twice. And the first time, she wasn’t…” Pain flashes across his eyes, like a storm about to break. “Her mind wasn’t strong enough to handle it.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, not liking the sound of that.

“She was human,” he says quickly, as if coming to her defense by pointing humanity out as a weakness. “But the second person I used it on was supernatural. And it worked.”

I glance at Morgan, counting on her to back him up.

“Blaze didn’t have the Crimson Quill when he did the spell on the human,” she says, rushing to his defense. “The quill was what we were searching for. Well, I suppose Blaze was also what I was searching for, but then we had to search for the quill together. Anyway, that’s a story for another time. Because the important thing is that we have the quill now. And with it, Blaze’s magic is stronger. He can control it way better than he could before. This spell’s going to work.”

“Are you sure?” I want to believe her, but it’s a lot to process at once.

Especially because she seems so nervous. Jittery, even.

I’ve never seen this side of her before.

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