Page 85 of Wicching Hour

I’m going to teach you how to project an image of yourself. When you go to confront that sorcerer and her demon, I want you in the ocean where I can see to your protection.

But I’ll need to use my magic to overpower her.

Whereas I need you not to die.He put his hands on either side of my head. There was a flash of white in my head and then he was pulling his hands away.I would have rather you built up the ability to do that on your own, but time is an issue. I won’t lose my daughter and granddaughter tonight. The queen will need to understand.

The strange, scattered feeling I’d been struggling with was gone. My thoughts felt laser focused.

Form a picture of yourself in your head. Down to the smallest detail, it is a mirror image of you.

I did.

Now, picture yourself standing on your deck. You know it like the back of your hand. Picture yourself there. Do you see it?

Closing my eyes, I pictured myself in these clothes, standing on my deck. I nodded.

What do you see?

The tentacles and railing, the beautiful weathered gray wood.

No,he said, his hand covering my closed eyes.Don’t imagine what you might see.Open your eyes up on the deck and tell me what you see.

What do you mean? I can’t. I’m down here. An image of myself can’t see.

Magic, daughter. You are made of magic. Do you think I’m sitting here with you right now? No. My physical form is in the ocean north of Ireland, but you can feel my hand over your eyes. You can hear my words in your mind. You felt my magic clear your thoughts, pushing out those demonic voices. Remember, we impose our will over the natural world and our will is magical. Now, on the deck, open your eyes and tell me what you see.

I saw the people I expected standing around, but I knew I wasn’t really seeing them. I was imagining what I’d see if I could. I reached up and pulled down his hand to look at him.I don’t know how.

Of course you do. I just explained it. Project part of yourself above the water onto your deck.

As that instruction felt lacking, I thought about it. Now that my head was clear, it didn’t seem so impossible. I’d done something similar before. I’d connected with Declan so I could watch the Alpha challenge and help him not die when Logan cheated.

I felt a twinge of guilt, as I still hadn’t told Declan I’d helped after promising I wouldn’t.Shit.I had to tell him now, didn’t I? Never mind. Not thinking about that. Just thinking about projecting part of my consciousness forty feet away.

Hands clasped together, I pushed my magic up and out of the water. I felt myself bobbing on the surface and heard a voice saying, “How is this not freaking you out? She could be drowning.”

“Arwyn’s fine,” I heard Declan say. “She doesn’t drown.”

Wilbur swan up beside me and tried to nudge my shoulder, but his snout went through me. Right. Okay. I’m here, treading water in the ocean. I can see and hear. My body is real and solid. Seals shouldn’t be able to pass through it.

When Wilbur tried again, his snout booped me instead. Okay, magic. Could I cast a spell in this state? Holding my hand under water, I directed a funnel of seawater to shoot straight up. It did. I’d thought if it worked at all, it might go a few inches. Instead, it shot ten feet in the air.

Declan, no doubt noticing the jet of water, leaned over the rail. He saw me and grinned. “Look who’s back. We were getting nervous.”

“You weren’t,” I said.

His head tilted to the side. “What did you say?”

It was like those horrible nightmares where you can’t scream. I cleared my throat, thought about vocal cords and breath and then said again, “You weren’t worried about me.”

“I’m always worried,” he said, “but I’ve seen you do this trick before.”

I laughed. “You haven’t seenthistrick before.”

His brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

I considered the latest revelations and the fact that he knew before I did. Is that why he invited me to live with him? My heart sank.

He turned around said something to someone and then next thing I knew, he was diving off the deck. When he surfaced and tried to pull me into his arms, I panicked, lost concentration, and was back in my body on the ocean floor.

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