Page 17 of Sigils & Spells

CHAPTER11

EVIE

I wrapmy arms around Angel’s neck and gently press my lips against his.

He winces in pain, and the motion jostles me, setting my injuries afire, as well.

Angel shakes his head ruefully. “We’re quite a pair, huh?”

I give a little laugh, then draw him over to the silver bars where there is more light coming in from the window, and I examine his injuries.

“I can do something about those,” I say.

“Shouldn’t you take care of yourself first?”

“No,” I say. “It’ll be better if I heal your injuries first. Witches really shouldn’t draw on their own energy to heal themselves.”

Angel looks thoughtful, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Just give me a minute to get myself centered and gather my power,” I add.

I make my way to a corner, as far away from the lab doors as I can get. I wonder briefly where Dr. Fitton is. When I think about it, though, I decide he must have been sent home until Ivan can exert enough pressure on me to force me to continue working on the serum.

I close my eyes, inhale deeply, and try to find that spark of magic deep within me.

My head throbs, and inside my mouth aches where my teeth sliced the skin open when I hit the floor. A jagged flash of lightning splits the darkness behind my eyelids, and I know a migraine is coming.

Dammit. I don’t have any medication, and my battered body is resisting my attempts to render my magic into anything usable.

Angel moves across the concrete floor and then settles down across from me.

I open my eyelids just a crack, the light from the windows no longer seeming dim—instead, it stabs into my vision like a well-aimed spear. I keep my eyes open only long enough to ascertain that Angel has settled down across from me, his legs crossed and his hands resting lightly in his lap.

“My grandfather told me about a witch he once knew,” he says conversationally.

I rub my temples with my fingers, trying to relieve the pain. “Yeah?”

Angel’s large hands gently move my smaller ones out of the way, and he takes over massaging my temples.

I lean toward him with a light moan of pleasure.

“Yes. And he told me that this witch, thisbruja, did not have complete control of her magic.”

I huff out another small laugh. “Kind of like me right now?”

Angel ignores my interjection and continues speaking. “All her life, she could feel the magic inside her, but she could not use it. Until, when she was an adult, she learned to draw on the energy of others.”

“Others?” I repeat.

My eyes are closed again, but I feel him nod. “Sí. Es verdad. She could gather her magic only when she was in contact with another person.”

The cadence of his voice and the movements of his fingertips against my temples are both soothing. Part of me wants to crawl into his lap, curl up, and have him hold me forever.

But that is not going to happen.

Not yet, anyway. We need to get out of here first.

“I think you should try that with me,” Angel finally says.

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