Page 66 of Bombshell

“And I helped,” the familiar voice of Sourcie said, this time out loud for everyone to hear rather than in my head.

I searched for her and found her perched on Dallan’s shoulders, hiding behind one of his tentacles.

“Sourcie, you’re… smaller than I thought you would be.” She looked to be about the size of a pixie, maybe a little bit bigger and her colors had changed. Before she was pale, almost clear and now she looked a little bit like me with green hair and green eyes.

“Just because someone is people-sized in your head does not mean they are people-sized in real life,” she sniffed, turning away from me with aharrumph. “And we also need to have a serious conversation about your naming abilities before you pop out any children and call them ‘Childie’ or something…”

The little woman continued her tirade, but I was too busy looking at Dallan. At first, when I awoke, nothing felt different even though, rationally, I knew that he’d sealed the bond to set me free. But now as our eyes met, I felt his heartbeat as if it were my own.

I hope you’ll forgive me for sealing the bond without your consent,Dallan’s voice slipped easily into my head.I wanted to give you a full ceremony and everything, but it was the only thing I could think of.

What would you have done if the mate bond hadn’t been enough to break my connection with the Source?I askedwith a frown.

Dallan chuckled.Then I suppose we would have all lived happily in your head for an eternity, Lass. I can think of worse fates.

I shuddered at the thought.

“What do we do now?” I asked out loud as my gaze drifted over to the Wharf which looked to be relatively intact. Almost as if a giant wave hadn’t been getting ready to wash it away completely only a few hours ago.

“Well,” Sourcie said, finally floating from Dallan’s shoulder to mine. I could feel her power, and while it wasn’t as vast or immense as it had been when she lived inside of that brooch, it still was more than a typical familiar had. “It’s up to you whether or not you want to put the barrier back up, but I’m afraid it won’t be as strong as it was before. The Source as I was known no longer exists now that I’ve been remade.”

“I’m sure Arsenio will be so pleased to hear about that,” Dallan muttered under his breath with a shake of his head.

I ignored him. “I want to put the barrier back up as quickly as possible.”

The people of Port Haven deserved to continue living as safely as possible and if I could give them that then I would.

Sourcie pointed at the sky. “Well, you know how to do it… you just need to do it on a much bigger scale now.”

I thought about the barrier around Daphne’s baby, the threads cocooning around him or her to protect Daphne’s insides.

A dry chuckle rippled out of me.

“Lass?” Dallan asked, frowning as he looked at my face.

“Sorry,” I told him with a grin. “All my life everyone always told me my vines made me look like a spider, I’m realizing just how right they were.”

It was obvious Dallan still didn’t understand what the hell I was talking about, but that didn’t matter.

Glancing up at the sky, I began to imagine the same threads that covered Daphne’s baby—just on a much, much bigger scale.

“You’re going to want them a little bit bigger than that,” Sourcie chimed in unhelpfully, pressing a cool hand to my cheek. “And higher up in the sky, like a big dome.”

Dallan’s hands tightened on my waist. “Is something supposed to be happening?”

“Not if you’re looking with only your eyes, squid-brain,” Sourcie told him waspishly.

“Watch it,” Dallan warned, “Before I squish you and pop you like a pimple.”

I didn’t have to look at the two to know they were currently in a stand-off as I continued to weave the web of my magic across the town.

Sourcie let out an exasperated sigh. “Stop looking with your eyes and feel it with that kernel of magic your witch mother gave you.”

I was just putting the finishing touches on my barrier when I heard Dallan gasp.

“Are you the one doing that, Effie?”

I nodded, a small, sly smile on my face. “Yep, and it’s just about done too.”

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