Page 35 of Shattered Illusion

“Indeed, you do still have a lot to learn. And that’s okay. Now, before we start, tell me what happened with this whole lighting yourself on fire, mumbo jumbo.”

And she does. From Thaddeus getting pissed at her for touching his flames—which spikes jealousy in me like no other—to her magic pissing her off and forcing it to work. Then she explains how the flames danced around her, not hurting her one bit. But even with Thaddeus’ ice magic, he was still burned by her power. Then they moved on from there, trying her speed rune. Which, well. It’s hard to hold back my own snicker at that.

It’s a testament to just how powerful she is. I’m not sure how much backstory Thaddeus has supplied her with, but as the eighth in line for the winter fae throne, his power isn’t to be trifled with. Or maybe he’s been shoved down the line of succession with his older siblings having kids. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken about his home life. But as it is, they do things ass-backward there. It’s the fae, so what do I expect? If they were going by who was more powerful, Thaddeus would win hands down. Every single time.

“Magic is a fickle, fickle thing, my dear. You need to build a relationship with it in order to use it correctly. As it is, your magic has laid dormant under your skin for twenty-one years. That can cause a huge disconnect between the both of you.” Bailey listens on with rapt attention, an excited gleam in her pink eyes. “What I want you to do is coax your magic. Sweet talk it. Promise that you’ll use it more.”

“I’ll try,” Bailey murmurs, immediately closing her eyes and getting to work.

“When you feel your magic will do as you wish, then ask it to follow you to your healing rune.” Olga taps Bailey’s chest again, right over the First-Aid cross.

We wait with bated breath to see what will happen. Over the course of the next few minutes, many emotions flash over Bailey’s face: her brows furrowing in concentration, biting her lip, cringing, and then, finally, a slow smile tilting her lips up.

A pinkish glow emanates from the center of her chest, the light from her magic exposing the full symbol from behind the cloth of her top. Right before our eyes, a few of the bruises startto lighten, one disappearing altogether, and the gashes slowly closing. All too soon, the magic stops, and Bailey slumps back against the couch.

Her heavy breaths and unmoving nature start to worry me the longer she remains in such a still state. The moment I start to move forward, Olga holds up her hand, giving me a rare, gentle smile and shakes her head to stop me.

Not a mere second later, Bailey’s eyes flutter before opening completely, pinning me to spot with the intensity of her emotions. Happy. She’s happy. Excited even. A squeal of elation slips from her pouty lips before she launches off the couch, directly into my arms.

The feel of her pressed against me is something I never want to live without. It’s like the sun is constantly shining, keeping the darkness at bay. Now that I’ve experienced even just a shred of her affection, I know I don’t want to live without it.

“I did it, Axel! Did you see that?! Ididit!” she exclaims, pulling back slightly but not slipping from between my arms.

“I did,cor meum. I am so proud of you,” I murmur, staring down at what will now become my whole world. She just doesn’t know it yet.

She spins in my arms, the smile never faltering. “Thank you, Olga! Oh wow. It feels amazing to know I can actually do something with my magic.” It’s amazing to see just how this one act has changed her whole outlook on the shitty day she’s had this far.

Only better and brighter things from now on forcor meum.

“You’re very welcome, child. I’m glad I could be of help in my old age.” She snorts at her own comment, making Bailey giggle. “Now, let me finish healing you. You used a lot of magic, and I’m not sure it’ll accomplish finishing the job right now.”

“Okay. I do feel more drained now than I did with the fire. But I did portal here, too, so that may be why.” She says the last part mostly to herself, but we all heard it.

I reluctantly release her so she can finish getting healed while I plan my next actions. There’s no doubt she needs to get back to the academy. I’m sure Thaddeus has been made aware of what happened by now and will be looking for her, along with Jasper. The fuck. He should have protected her. But no. He had her lay her nature bare before the person that hurt her.

And it did fuck all except now Bailey has a lycan trying to claim her. Even after injuring her.

No one at that academy can protectcor meumthe way she needs to be.

“Alright, child. All done,” Olga murmurs, getting her feet. She pulls Bailey into a hug, rubbing her back like a loving grandparent. “How about I take you back to the academy so you can rest? The best way to replenish your magic is to sleep.”

“I can take—” I try to interrupt to keep Bailey here longer with me, but Olga isn’t having any of it.

“I can get her back in a blink, Mr. Pennington. Plus, you have an office to clean up.”

Fucking crone. Of course, she’s right. But I don’t say that.

“Fine,” I grumble, shoving my hands in my pockets. My knuckles bump my cell phone, reminding me it's there.

Bailey closes the distance between us and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her height. “Thank you, Axel,” she murmurs sweetly, brushing her soft lips against mine.

I suck in a breath, ready to deepen the kiss, but she backs away with a smirk, knowing what she just did to me.

Fucking tease.

I’ll getcor meumback for that later.

That’s a promise.

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