Page 147 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

I blinked. Whoa, I think I just got the magus version of a dick pic.

What’s a dick pic?

Nothing good, usually, but this is an exception. I sprawled flat on the bed and closed my eyes. What comes next?

Wild was running the faucet into the mostly intact bath. How about I wash off that dust you mentioned in slow motion?

That could work for me. I could stand that.

Or maybe not.

Dungeon life really wasn’t half bad.

38

At some point during the morning, I’d summoned Ryzika’s relics to stop from going insane. The coven was in a gathering, and Wild was there. I’d been attempting to interpret his emotions for the last hour.

I had to just leave the coven to it, come what may.

This really was some solid get-to-know-yourself time, though.

For instance, how many times had I the opportunity to explore these relics? About zero.

“You were part of her,” I murmured. The last twenty minutes had convinced me of that. Upon her death or prior to it, Ryzika had poured her affinities into the four items. I could feel her presence in the robe, dagger, pendant, and gem. How had she rooted her affinities to remain in the items and outside of her body?

No clue.

But Ryzika had sounded like one badass bitch, so I was just fine with my clueless status. Especially because I’d gleaned that the function of each relic wasn’t important. There wasn’t something to unlock within them so they’d work for me. The relics would operate fully for me because I wore them. They’d operate in a unique way in response to my magic. If another person wore them in two hundred years, then the items would work differently for them again.

“That’s why I’ve never felt much inkling to explore you guys,” I said. Like with my grimoire magic, I’d sensed the magic was healthy and willing, and that time and natural exploration would nurture them. Unlike my divination magic prior to recently. But that affinity was more difficult to access from the get-go, being the hiding place for a slice of my demon—and being embroiled in my bloody past.

Now, my divination channel felt raw, like freshly healed skin. My gut said that I had to treat it kindly, but that my affinity was on the way to becoming a real part of me. “Good ol’ Ogham Staves.”

Really, they weren’t to thank. The drive to open myself to the staves had proved more important. Then the mating ritual, too, in that joining with Wild had stabilized my magic further. Most of all, my demon’s return had pushed out the block in the channel. She’d no longer had to lock herself away in a tiny part of me and had instead fully occupied my being again.

I’d felt half crazy for so fucking long. What I’d been through was another reminder that I should always trust in my path. Worrying often didn’t change a thing.

Fuck, the other supernaturals are here, Wild interrupted my thoughts.

I lifted my head. Shit. How did they find out?

They didn’t. We just forgot they were coming to train today.

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

This could mean the end of the alliance. This was part of what I truly feared—the consequences of what I was. King Julius had made his sentiments on demons plain. Kyros and Basilia weren’t in charge of the Vissimo clan.

If I were them, my first thought would be whether I was a two-timing traitor that set all this shit up and if all the information I’d fed them was a lie to strengthen the demon king. Can you speak to them alone?

Unlikely alone. I’m on thin ice with the coven too. I’ll do my best to smooth things over, but everyone here is heightened from the heated discussion prior to them arriving. If I can get the supernaturals to listen, then I’ll do my best to bring them to you to answer any questions. I’m just not sure the coven will agree to that in this state.

I glared at the stone walls around me. Yes, I could leave them. No, that wasn’t without its own consequence. My continued presence here was symbolic of me giving the coven freedom to choose. I couldn’t leave, even when all seemed at risk of falling apart. They had to place me on the authority.

Good luck, I sent to Wild.

He didn’t answer, already focusing hard on the anarchy in the caves.

I paced the holding cell for a time, then sighed at the three relics laid out on the bed. The robe was on my back already.

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