Page 66 of One Last Wish

Chapter Nineteen

This darkness feltfamiliar, almost comforting. I reached out, wanting to touch it, but a hand grabbed my wrist.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve beenglowing? How long has this been happening?” His voice was irate, but I smiled back at him. Darce’s eyes were dark and cold, as if he had the whole world on his shoulders.

“This is real, isn’t it?”

“Alora! Answer me!”

“A month or so.”

“Amonth!” Running his hands through his hair, he turned from me and rested his hands on his hips. “That little detail might have been usefulweeksago! You areinfuriating!”

“Is this you?” I asked, motioning to the mist of shadows around us. “Are you a freakingshadow daddy?” Perhaps I had finally snapped and this was all a fragment of my imagination. What were the chances of Darce welding shadows when I had an unhealthy obsession with that power in fantasy books? I must have snapped and gone crazy! That would explain why I’d let Theokissme, too!

Darce pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed. “Pleasedo notcompare me to your books, Alora! I’m theoriginalshadow daddy! And, please,neveruse that term again!”

“I’ve either gone crazy or you need to start explaining.” Dare I admit that all of this might actually be happening?

“Let me sort out Theo first.” Darce sighed, holding his hand out and sucking the darkness into his fingertips. It swirled around me, caressing the parts of my body that weren’t covered. My skin heated, and I had to hold in a whimper. This...! I’d feltthiscaress before.

The bridge!That night with Evelyn’s phone. It wasDarcewho had saved me!

Theo was motionless, still surrounded by a dark mist. I watched in awe as Darce plucked a string of shadow from Theo’s mind. Darce muttered a few things into his ear, and when he was done, Theo got into the carriage and left.

“You can bend people’s minds?” I questioned, alarmed. “Have you ever done that to me?”

“I wouldn’t dream of interfering withyourmind, Alora.” He smirked, raising an eyebrow at me. “I had no choice but to erase Theo’s memories of the last fifteen minutes.”

“What did you whisper in his ear?”

“That the date was a failure. When he tried to kiss you, you pulled away and stormed off. He’s going to stop chasing you now.”

“Finally!” I chuckled, looking down at my hands. “Can Iwieldlight? Is that why my hands glow?”

“Slow down. Everything will be revealed, in time. We can’t rush this.”

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