Page 96 of Live Like Legends

She clawed at my hand, letting out little grunts of frustration. I held on tighter pushing the others back with the shadows I conjured.

“Let me go!” She shouted, her words coming out a little strangled.

“Ah and why is that? Why shouldn’t I just snap your little neck? It would release you from these delusions that you andNick are meant to be. It’s sad really, when you just can’t get the hint that you aren’t wanted.”

Her eyes burned into mine and then I saw sparks come from my palm and light flash within my shadows. I felt her swallow under my palm. “You should have stayed down there, exactly where you belong. He would have gottenoveryou.”

I narrowed my eyes leaning towards her and my shadows followed. I held my light back, not wanting to burn her skin, mark her body…yet. I let out a dark laugh that caused goosebumps to rise along her skin. “There is no gettingoverme. He went to Purgatory forme. He went to Hell formeand somehow you think you have afuckingchance of being better thanme.” I put my lips at her ear, feeling her try to kick at me but my shadows locked her in place. My whispered words caressed her ear. “You kept him from me by helping put him in the Ethereal Bastille and don’t try to deny it because it’s what pathetic little bitches like you do. I will tell you this once and only once, you keep your worthless little claws out of my relationship and what’smine.”

I pulled back, bringing her face close to mine. “If you don’t, well… I’ll slice your pretty skin off and then if you survive that, I’ll burn you alive. I’ll let my shadows drag you to Hell and see how much youfuckinglike it.” I pressed my fingers into her neck, smelling her flesh starting to burn slightly from my light, as I whirled around and threw her against the opposite wall. My shadows dispersed, bringing everything I’d blocked out back into my view.

Other angels gave me a wide berth but they looked on with shocked expressions, but no one made a move to help her or run away. I smelled sweat and fear among her friends, but all I felt when I looked at the guardian angel hunched over, cowering in much needed submission was success.

I saw Reese from beyond Morgan’s group of friends, his hazel eyes perplexed at the scene I’d just displayed. It only took me one step before the angels that were in my way dispersed, giving me a path to walk through.

Reese whipped his head back and forth, from me to the now, very chatty angelic individuals. “Dani, as Nick’s best and loyal friend, what the fuck? He wanted you to keep a low profile, not scare the everliving fuck out of his ex-girlfriend.” I stopped walking when we got to Nick’s door, facing him. His expression melted into a less frantic Reese and mischief played at the corners of his eyes. “But,asyourfriend, that was the best fucking thing I have ever seen in all of my existence.”

I chuckled, rolling my eyes.

When it came to my dignity, my power and Nick, anything or anyone that tried to undermine those things didn’t make me a little unhappy.

No. It made me lethal.

Istepped through Natalia’s front door, instantly greeted by the High Priestess. Her hair flowed down her shoulders in a multitude of twists, thin strands of glitter string woven throughout. She gave me a smile that had me releasing some of the tension I’d been harboring from my shoulders.

I reached behind me, digging into my back pocket for the notebook. She tilted her head to the side as she looked down at it. Her smile began to disappear and her face started to carry a more apologetic expression.

“Nicholas, I already thought I told you…”

I stopped her. “I know what you said, but could you at least try?”

She pressed her lips together. “I understand you trusting me with this and I do believe this holds Jonah’s magic, but even as powerful as I am, I cannot and will not intrude on this matter.”

I let out a heavy sigh, realizing this conversation was never going to end in my favor. I held onto the notebook a littletighter, wishing that something in these blank pages would tell me anything at all.

Natalia placed her hand on my shoulder, not paying any mind to the busy Enchanters around her. “I know you want to stop Ariel by figuring this out, but you can’t let this fill up your entire mind.”

I nodded. “I know, I know. Believe me, I have other things to focus my energy on. It’s just…this holds Jonah’s power. This flimsy, slightly worn notebook, holds all the power that Ariel is trying to just claim without any right to it. It’s just not fair to be so close, but feel like you have nothing to show for it.”

Natalia took my arm and pulled me towards the left, out near the balcony. “If you want to consider the bright side, we both know that whenever that power would like to reveal itself from its place in the book it will never go to Ariel. All my years of knowing Jonah and I can confidently say that as regal as he was, he was also clever and smart. He would never let magic of that caliber land in the hands of someone like that.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, wrapping one of my hands around the railing as I looked out at the front yard. “What he wanted, his power and everything else doesn’t really matter if it’s locked away and we have no idea how to coax it to come out.”

“I am a strong believer in things revealing themselves when the time is right.” She nudged my shoulder. “It makes the moments when you had any doubt laughable.”

I tapped the notebook against the railing, flipping it open and fumbling through the empty pages. “Why would he do it like this though?”

Natalia raised her delicate eyebrows at me.

“Why would he entrap his powers in this notebook? Why not just have it go straight into the person he entrusted?” I furrowed my brows, my head hurting from all the times I’d gone over this.

The High Priestess turned, leaning her back against the railing. “Things are so much easier when you have an heir to bequeath something like extraordinary powers to. Jonah didn’t have that so his decision was much more personal, less about magical nepotism. Perhaps…” She rubbed her lips together as if she was considering what she wanted to say, “perhaps his successor isn’t an executive at all.”

I pressed my tongue into my cheek, mulling this over. Natalia pushed away from the railing and moved to stand in front of me. “Even if Ariel gets through with this awful ceremony, he can always be removed by the real successor. Timing is everything to things such as this.”

A throat cleared near the door. We both looked over at Zane who stood with his hands clasped in front of him. “Xander has been looking for you.”

Natalia gave him a small nod before turning back to me. “If it helps, I’m still trying to figure out how to retrieve your memories. I know you didn’t ask me to and maybe, you don’t even want that, but I’ve felt awful about it. If there is something Iwillmeddle in, it’s my mother’s magic.”

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