Page 31 of Fallen Angel

“I was there, living through Raven. I felt everything she felt.”

“’Twas the worst day of my life. I relive it each and every day.” Hannah put her hand on Callan’s shoulder, and he shrugged it off. “Stop. I do not deserve your comfort.”

“She didn’t blame you,” Hannah said.

“What?” His voice cracked in desperation.

“Right before she died, she still loved you. She was fighting for you.”

Callan’s eyes welled with tears. “You are trying to appease my guilt.” he said. “No matter which way you paint the portrait, I was the reason she was killed.” Hannah couldn’t help but empathize with him. The hurt he carried for Raven’s death was the same she held deep within herself.

Dull light peered through the cracks of the boat’s curtains and shone on the leather book. The sun sat low on the horizon.

Hannah moved to the table and placed a hand on Mara’s grimoire. “The quicker I can remember, the faster we can get rid of this thing and stop Mara once and for all.”

“I failed to put an end to her a time already,” Callan said, his voice low. “To lock magic away was my only recourse.”

If she was going to convince Callan that he was not alone in this, to put his mind at ease, then she needed to portray resilience and strength. Despite knowing that she was no Raven, she had become quite good at pretending.

“And if that’s what we have to do again, then we will. But last time, you didn’t have me.” She fiddled with the pewter clasp. She had her magic, and that counted for something. Perhaps if Raven didn’t die in the past, she would have been able to help Callan destroy Mara without having to imprison magic.

“The sooner I have the whole picture, the closer we will get to figuring this out.” Hannah could feel the grimoire’s tug. She channeled Raven’s strength and pushed away the spell book’s temptation.

“Shall we begin?”

Chapter Ten

“Find the page that readsTo Remember a Past Life,” Callan said, keeping his distance from Mara’s grimoire. He paced as much as he could in the small living area of the boat, peering at the book over Hannah’s shoulder.

Hannah sat at the table and flipped through the crinkled pages until she found the spell.

“Why can’t you touch it?” she asked.

“I have fallen to dark magic before. I would rather keep my distance than take a chance.” Though she felt sympathy for Callan’s guilt and his strict resistance, it actually made her feel better about herself. She could sense the temptation of the grimoire pulsing beneath her fingertips, and it would be so easy to submit to its will. Hannah did well to withstand its invitation.

“Should I be the one to read the spell, then?” Hannah asked.

“If you had access to your magic, your spell would have worked against Nathaniel. It is clear that you have yet to connect with it,” Callan said.

Hannah couldn’t help but take offense. She crossed her arms and hunched over the table. “Well, I did onlyjustlearn about magic, so…”

“There is no need to fret, Hannah. Like I said, Raven was practiced in the ways of magic years before her Convergence. All witches were. It is not a fault of your own. Accessing your magic will come with time.”

“But all the other spells—”

“Were the grimoire’s doing. It was accessing your magic for its own bidding.”

“Oh…right.” She sighed through pouted lips, overwhelmed at how much had yet to grasp surrounding magic. “Well, if you read the spell, are you going to go all…evil again?”

Callan’s face twinged. Hannah didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she needed to know.

“The memory spell, though included in Mara’s grimoire, does not have a dark inclination. I should be fine.” He grabbed the pillow from the couch and tossed it onto the floor. “You should lie down. Your conscious mind will be elsewhere, so you should make yourself comfortable.”

Hannah laid on the floor, her head propped up by the pillow. She folded her hands over her chest and took a deep breath.

“You must focus on Raven,” Callan instructed. “You may have many past lives by now, therefore, the more you concentrate on Raven, the greater chance you shall have to observe her life.”

Hannah hadn’t even considered the fact that she had more than one past life. The emphasis had been on Raven this whole time. Who else could she have been?

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