Page 75 of Fallen Angel

Callan placed one of Hannah’s out-of-place curls behind her ear.

“So, will Mara be reborn and cursed to die at her current age? Or is the Devil gone for good?” Callan asked.

Hannah shrugged, not really knowing the answer. “All that matters is that she’s gone now and you’re free.”

“And you are alive,” Callan said. “How did you know it would work?”

“I didn’t. But someone very wise once told me that magic is mysterious. We can’t possibly understand every aspect of it. We must accept that it is an unknown force. Otherwise, we’ll drive ourselves crazy.” Hannah smirked, taking great joy in getting to throw his words back at him.

“I love you,” he said.

She remembered a time when she doubted how he truly felt, because of his old feelings for Raven Harlowe. But through this experience, Hannah had come to realize that they were one and the same. She had Raven’s strength, passion, bravery, magic, and love for the young man kneeling in front of her. Though it took her a while to realize it, she now felt empowered and comforted knowing that Raven’s soul lived within her.

“I love you too.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Six Days Later

After Bryce’s funeral, Callan and Hannah returned to her dorm room. Amelia was so overcome by grief that she decided to go home for a couple days. Though he managed to keep it together during the service, Hannah could tell that Callan blamed himself for all the heartache and tears that poured over Bryce’s coffin. He was, after all, the one who compelled him never to feed on another living being.

“He was a Vampire,” Hannah said as she closed her bedroom door. “If you didn’t do what you did, so many others could have died.”

“I know,” he said. “But it does not ease the guilt I possess.”

They sat on the bed, and Hannah rubbed her hand up and down his back. She looked at her clock, and it read 6:00 p.m.

“A few hours more until you are officially eighteen years of age,” Callan said.

Hannah scoffed. “Or a couple more hours until I officially die…again.”

“Mara broke that curse. That is why she perished, and you are still here.” Callan squeezed her hand.

“That was the intention, but we can’t know for sure. We don’t even know how I’m still alive.”

“I have a theory,” Callan said. He shifted on the bed. “Mara’s new spell made it so you could never be reincarnated, correct?”

Hannah nodded.

“Well, that might mean that your magic could not leave your body after you died. It is connected to your soul. Therefore, if your soul never left your body, then your magic remained attached to it. And like I said before, your magic shall always protect you.”

“So, you think my body died, but my magic didn’t. And because of that, it brought me back to life?”

He nodded. “’Tis my hunch, at least.”

Hannah smiled. “What you’re saying is that I will never die? My magic won’t let me?”

“I guess we must simply wait and see.”

The clock on her bedside table glowed 6:02 p.m.

“What if you’re wrong? What if the clock strikes twelve and I drop dead of a heart attack or brain aneurysm? What if I die without ever…” Her cheeks warmed.

“Without ever…” Callan repeated.

Hannah kissed Callan, parting his lips. She pressed her body against his until she forced him to lie back onto her bed. She straddled her legs on top of his waist and kissed him even more urgently than before. She slid her hand down his shirt and finessed his belt buckle with her fingers.

Callan moved her hand away from his pants and sat up, her legs still wrapped around him. “I desire this as well, believe me.” He laughed. “But I desire to be with you out of love. Not out of fear.”

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