Page 28 of Light Magic

“About that,” she said sheepishly.

“What?” I almost barked.

“Remember when you fell into the circle during the ritual?” Lacey asked. If she could, she would hide under the table.

Of course, I remembered. “I asked you if that had messed up anything.”

“I thought it didn’t,” she said. Her gaze shifted to Levi, who was standing a couple of feet behind me. “But it did.”

I whirled to him. “You lied to me.”

He shrugged. “I thought it was what you wanted to hear.”

Once more, he had lied to me. Tricked me yet again. I shook my head, not knowing where to start. “So what now? Do you still feel pain when you are away from me? Do you feel my feelings?”

His brows slammed down. “I … it doesn’t hurt as much anymore, but I do feel a deep tug that can get quite painful when you’re away, and your feelings are muted. I have to pay attention to them to feel them.”

“What else?” I asked, sure there was more.

“Don’t you feel it too?” Abbie asked.

I glanced at her. “Feel what?”

“The bond,” she said. “I can see the thread. It’s both ways. Yours is a lot fainter, but it’s definitely there.”

Eyes round, I placed a hand on my chest and opened my mouth to deny it, but then closed it again. I had felt several tugs and pulls, sometimes even painful, when I thought about him or saw him.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered. “This can’t be happening.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t work,” Lacey said. “We can try again and?—”

“We should,” I snapped. “Or we can find a better ritual, one that we can’t mess up.” I looked up at the millions of books and countless pieces of knowledge this place held. “There has to be a spell that can do that.”

“Well, we can pause looking for a way to give you back your magic so we can break the bond between the two of you,” Abbie said, sounding a little annoyed. “What do you prefer?”

Ouch.

I felt like screaming, running, punching, crying. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go, damn it.

“I … I need a break,” I muttered, walking away from them.

“Don’t get lost,” Abbie called out. “It’ll be dark again and we still have two ghouls loose.”

“No, we don’t,” I said back, without turning.

I heard their voices as Levi told them what happened, and then I exited the library.

I kept walking, down the hallways and into places I had no idea were in here. A music room, a theater room, a small ballroom, a conference room, several small reading nooks, and dozens of galleries. I walked by another archway adorned by vines, and at first it looked like the other hundred I had seen, but the light coming from this one was brighter, yellower. I stopped before the archway and the vines moved, twisting until a white flower showed beside me.

With a small smile, I touched the flower and it fell in my hand. “Thank you.” I took the flower to my nose and inhaled deeply. The sweet, earthy scent brought me a sense of calm.

I walked past the archway and found myself in a large courtyard. Stone paths were flanked by low bushes and white and yellow flowers. I took one of the stone paths toward the center, where a circle and wooden chairs were. In the middle was a round pit in the ground and some firewood. A fire pit? Now I wanted a s’more.

Holding the flower, I sat on one of the chairs and leaned back. I glanced up, toward the beautiful blue sky and tried opening my mind, clearing my thoughts and just being.

Easier said than done.

I was a freaking fallen angel without her magic and her Celestial Sword, who was still bonded to an evil higher demon who kept tricking me.

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