Page 42 of Blood Witch

I took off at a brisk pace, darting between trees, jumping over rocks. The Winter Forest was oddly named since, depending on where you were, it could be any season at all. Where we were it was fall, with brightly colored leaves littering the floor and decorating the trees.

The tinny thumping grew louder, and I followed it, wondering at the way the runes on my skin glowed.

Shit.

They matched Fin’s now, and a part of me smiled as I realized I’d bound myself to him in more ways than one. I only hoped he didn’t mind.

The footfalls of my roommates, and my friends, of my lover who led them after me, were getting closer. My magic buzzed and my blood warmed at the thought of Fin.

Mate.

My fated one.

My cor lucis.

“Mabe? I can’t see what you see, but maybe if you take my hand,” Fin suggested, and I reached out and touched him.

“Us too!” Tana said, and next thing I knew, everyone was holding hands.

Our hearts beating as one, I pulled on my vampiric powers. I could see it plain as day now. My witch magic I’d gotten from my mother was there, but weakening. Like everyone else’s.

The earth’s magic is leaving.

Save it.

Save us.

My aunt’s plea echoed in my ears. I didn’t know how to save magic, but I’d just found a pretty big fucking clue.

Gusts of wind whipped wildly around us, creeping vines ripped up from the root spiraled into the ether, rain poured from the skies, slanting sideways and stinging my eyes, and lightning fire sparked, nearly hitting the place we all stood. I gasped as it became clearer through my red vision.

“I still can’t see,” growled Fin in frustration, and my heart squeezed.

I had to make him see. I had to make all of them see this. It was like a giant rip in the side of the world, and it opened into a great black void. From there, all the elements poured out, leaving this realm as if some great vacuum were sucking it up.

“Let me try something!” I shouted.

Using the inherent magic of my father’s people, I sought that blood connection I believed existed in all of us on the most basic cellular level. I welcomed the rush as my magic danced along theirs, and then I realized I was not sucking them dry, I was somehow using and recycling their powers back into them, granting them access to what I now saw.

“Holy fuck!” Tana shouted.

“Shit balls,” Maia screeched.

“What is that?” Jade asked, shock and awe in her voice.

“That’s a wormhole,” Enok muttered.

“And it’s sucking on the main vein of the world’s magic,” Fin growled.

“Oh fuck, this is bad.”

I struggled to hold the connection, but it was tiring, and I was new to this magic I’d only just discovered.

After a few minutes, I tapped out.

I woke to Fin carrying me back to the bedroom, and I inhaled the smoky spice, bright ginger scent of him.

“There she is, my fierce Mabel,” he murmured, kissing my temple before laying me down.

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