Page 38 of Magic Forsaken

But he was also right. I’d used my magic not because it gave me an advantage, but because someone had needed to standup to a bully. To confront someone who chose to pick on those weaker than themselves.

I’d always rejected this power because I felt somehow complicit in its possession. Because I refused to benefit from someone else’s pain and suffering.

But I couldn’t change the past. Couldn’t undo the events that led to this moment.

Wouldn’t it be a better memorial to those who’d suffered if I used this power to prevent anything like this from ever happening again? If I learned to wield it properly, not for my own gain, but to protect others like me, like Logan, and like Ari. Like everyone else we’d known who hadn’t been as lucky.

If Callum was telling the truth about the Symposium and its purpose, fate had handed me an opportunity to do just that. Was it possible that it might actually bemorewrong to reject this opportunity? To turn my back on it and walk away?

I would still be walking a deadly tightrope if I chose to do this. And once I made the choice, there would be no backing out. No backing down. I would be committed to a pretense that could eventually cost me everything.

I wasn’t really the type to quit, anyway.

“Okay, I get it.” I shut my eyes and hoped desperately I was doing the right thing. Prayed silently that Callum couldn’t see the evidence of my struggle or its outcome written all over my face. “Maybe you’re right. But can we talk about my magic later? You’re bleeding all over the floor. And…” I took a deep breath. “If I’m going to be your bodyguard, I believe it’s my job to tell you when you’re being stupid.”

It was almost worth it just to see the shock painted across his face. But the surprise vanished almost immediately, giving way to a brief flare of satisfaction, followed by a narrowing gaze that pinned me once again beneath that deadly, raptor focus.

“So you’re agreeing to take the job?”

I grimaced. “I… Yes. I guess I am. But how about we figure out who attacked us first and deal with the details later?”

One of his eyebrows shot up, and I was surprised to see the faintest glimmer of humor lurking in his expression. Perhaps Kira hadn’t beenentirelyright about him.

“If I have somehow given you the impression that accepting this position allows you to tell me what to do…”

One of the two large windows to the west shattered. Glass showered the floor as a dark shape loomed in the shadows outside, its face obscured despite the bright blue glow that sparked between its hands—a ball of pure, malevolent fae magic.

It happened so fast, I couldn’t recall making a conscious choice to act. I was already moving, shoving past Callum’s bulky form. Part of my mind reached for that blue glow out of habit, but another power leaped into my hands with such ease that I instantly took it up instead—as if giving myself permission to embrace my magic had drawn it out and allowed it to spread its wings.

The water from the sprinkler was flowing all around me, raining through the air and puddling on the ground, so I swept it all together in a single swift motion. It was so much easier this time, like breathing or laughing or simply opening my eyes to greet the sun.

The fae magic hurtled towards me. Towards Callum. It probably wouldn’t kill him, but in his human form, I knew it could hurt him, so I didn’t stop.

“Raine!” On Callum’s lips, my name was an urgent cry, almost a warning, but I felt no fear. I held water between my hands, and it was mine to do with as I pleased.

And what I pleased was to turn it into a shield of solid ice.

The crackling ball of magic impacted with a hiss and went out.

A wild grin tugged at my lips. I turned back towards Callum and suddenly realized why he’d called out. Not because he was worried about the fae…

It was a warning that we were surrounded.

Callum was pinned between a lion and a wolf, both stalking across the floor towards him from opposite sides. But where could they have been hiding? And why hadn’t Callum sensed them?

They were clearly shifters—half again the size of their mundane animal counterparts. The lion was probably five feet at the shoulder, and the wolf looked as if it might easily top two hundred pounds, all of it muscle, sheathed in dark, shaggy fur.

And Callum was trapped in a place where he couldn’t shift without bringing this building down on top of us. He was going to have to fight as he was, in his human form, without shoes, on a floor covered in water and broken glass.

Another flare of fae magic flew towards me. I blocked it again, but the ice was already melting beneath the pressure of all that crackling energy. My shield wouldn’t last forever, so I needed to act.

I looked back at Callum. He stood tall and poised as the two shapeshifters approached, crouched low, teeth bared, ears flat, threatening growls rumbling from their chests.

There was no way he could fight both of them. No way he could survive those teeth and claws. I was going to have to do something to help.

I whirled back towards the dark figure in the window, just as it tried to climb in over the tall wooden sill—seeing a weakness and hoping to take advantage.

Pure fury shot from my core to my fingertips, and almost without conscious thought, I flicked both wrists outward.

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