Page 51 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

They used to pull. I didn’t feel that anymore, and I got the sinking feeling that my demon’s absence was to thank for that, more so than gaining grimoire. “Our magic does pull at us. A magus must center regularly—what you may see as meditation. This aligns our magic with our mind, body, and spirit.”

Andie spoke from the other end, “A Luther must find and maintain the same kind of unity between their forms, and the spirits of both forms.”

“Your wolf form has a spirit of its own?” Wild asked, his grimoire curiosity overriding his mating weirdness.

That was news to me too.

“Yes, and like any relationship, things can work out or not.” She frowned, and Sascha grabbed her hand.

He said to me after, “How did your meetings with Rhona go?”

Ah, Andie wasn’t solely speaking of her relationship with her wolf. Maybe Rhona’s eagerness to regain trust with Andie and recent success with our coven had caused the leader more confusion than anything else.

“She’s a fierce spirit who is desperate to regain what she’s lost,” I stated. “She has done the hardest part of admitting that she was wrong. I have a feeling her determination could work in her favor, though it has clearly worked against her in the past.”

Andie blinked a few times. “She told you everything?”

“No. Not in such terms. Just that she had a mistake to make up for, and that she hadn’t seen you were the one to deserve her faith, not another.”

The Luther’s throat worked, and she locked gazes with Sascha again. A hum filled the air, and I tilted my head.

“Yeah, they’re talking to each other in their minds. So rude, right?” Basilia said. She glanced at Kyros, who cocked a brow, then passed over his cup. She’d already finished hers.

The Luthers weren’t the only ones in possession of mind speak.

“A mate is a great gift,” I answered, then said to Andie, “As is having a sister. I lost my twin sister five years ago. If there’s something to salvage with Rhona, then salvage it. If there’s not, then I’m certain the situation she put you through was enormous. I hope it works out for you either way.”

Andie was horrified. “You lost your twin?”

I couldn’t immediately answer.

Wild did for me. “Yes, she lost Syera. And her grandmother and mother in the same day.”

They’d cropped up so much lately. I was tired and strung out—that was part of the problem with the strength of my reaction to her words. But my family’s passing hit me at the most unexpected times too.

“Your grandmother,” Basilia echoed, and there was real sorrow in her voice. “I lost my grandmother. She was killed.”

I looked at her. “I’m sorry.”

“So was I for a while. But Grandmother always said that the best time to get a good deal is when people felt sorry for themselves.”

My lips curved. “My grandmother would have tried to bottle the emotion, so she could relax in the midst of other’s misery at her leisure.”

Basilia laughed, and the sound was like chimes. Beautiful. “She sounds delightful.”

That the princess thought so was very telling.

Was it possible that Princess Basilia was as twisted as me?

“I think we’ll do well together,” she announced. “And we have Andie to keep us level. Can you manage both of us, my friend?”

Andie winced. “There’s only room for one princess in this team.”

“Obviously. I’m the judge. You’re the jury.” The Vissimo’s topaz gaze landed on me. “I have a feeling we’ve met our executioner.”

Wild hummed, sipping at his water. “An apt description for my queen.”

I froze, and he froze a second later, realizing his blunder.

---