Page 10 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

I think I made it through the worst of it

Me

Good. You be careful too

Mom

Of course. Love you!

Me

Love you too

I ran a hand through my hair, tugging it out of my face and freeing my eyes.

Just getting inside the resort was a huge change for me. I had never lived anywhere other than the coven’s compound. It was basically a small town. We were self-sufficient in every way, and even made our own clothing and medicine.

In the days since I left, I’d had to learn a little about how to maneuver through the outside world, interact with humans and other supernaturals, and do all sorts of other things I’d only seen in TV shows and movies.

Now I was done traveling.

But there were still a bunch of crumbling wards I was going to have to somehow fix or remake. A phoenix determined tomate with me, too. A vampire receptionist who hated me and apparently had a lot of friends, on top of that.

And I couldn’t even lock my new room’s door so I could take a few minutes to cry in the shower about losing everything I’d ever known.

What a mess.

I dropped my phone on the bed. Squeezing my eyes shut, I lifted my palms to cover them as I fought back tears.

I could never go home again.

If I let those tears fall, I wasn’t sure I’d ever stop crying. So, I warred with them as I focused on my current situation and tried to come up with something I could do about it.

The door had no real lock since everyone knew the code. I knew a rune that could lock it, obviously. And a few charms. If I’d been any good with spells, I could technically build one to do it too.

Back with the coven, I couldn’t have used any of them. My magic had been absolute shit, so anyone could get past it.

But I didn’t have to hide anymore.

I was far from the weakest, now.

That was a perk. A big one, even if I didn’t quite feel like it yet.

Lowering my hands from my face, I wiped away the condensation that had gathered beneath my eyes.

I didn’t have to pretend to be weak anymore.

I didn’t need to hide what I was.

Biting my lip, I stood up and crossed the room. It only took a moment to pull one of my pins from my hair, cut the back of my hand, and use the blood to draw one of the simplest runes there was.

Stop.

The scent in the air wavered slightly as my magic set in. It would’ve been stronger if I had a plant to tie it to as well, but I didn’t need it for a rune as temporary as that one.

Only a witch stronger than me could’ve broken through without my permission—and as far as I knew, there wasn’t one.

Blood magic was the pinnacle. Rune, charm, spell, and even potion witches could do incredible things. But none of them could craft magic with nothing but their own bodies. I could.

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