Page 116 of Untraced Magic
It had always revolted me.
But now I knew its true nature and it was standing right in front of me in the form of my apparentmother.It clung to my every word, causing my voice to lower, my syllables slick with it as it wrenched at my heart.
“I’m glad my father sent me away. You could never raise a child. You’re nothing but sick and twisted. Tyler will kill you if anything happens to me.” I hissed.
She tutted, “Careful now, Morgan. Dare I remind you that snarky little mouth of yours can be easily sealed shut? It’s sad, really. This all could have worked out so muchdifferently.”
I stilled at her last comment even when every fiber of me wanted to scream at her, tear her eyes out with my nails until blood spilled down her death-like cheek bones and stained the floor.
I forced myself to look at Wesley in one last-ditch effort to stop whatever happened next. “You don’t have to do this. Whatever’s going on, we can fix it. She’s gone mad, and you know it.”
Wesley’s knuckles popped against the silence, ricocheting off the stone walls. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
He stared down at me, sinking any hope I had of changing his mind into a pit of hopelessness.
Helena’s footsteps faded into the distance as I pleaded with him. Every soul-drenching piece of me a silent plea as I stared up at him until he lowered in front of me, his gaze meeting mine momentarily.
The cracking of his knuckles again tore through the stifling silence between us, his breathing becoming heavier.
Was he stalling?
Through clenched teeth, I whispered, “Whatever you are about to do, please don’t,” I leveled with him. “You don’t have to do this.”
We were at the same height, the Wes I once knew now tainted with a darker version of him or was that… desperation?
Just as quietly, his voice hit my ears. “Don’t fight me. You need to let me in, or I could kill you.”
I shook my head. “You can stop this; you know you can.”
Wes grimaced. “I can’t. Now let me in.”
His eyes slid shut, head rolling from one side to the other as his hands sank into my scalp. I held my breath, knowing what wascoming next, a giant breath bobbing in my throat as I stared into the blackest form of the night sky embedded in his skull.
Oh, hell no, not this again.
“No!” I gasped.
I’d succumbed to Wesley’s power before, the last time willingly letting him in, and he had done so gently, but not this time.
The pads of his fingers gouged into my scalp, fighting for access, and I pushed back, mentally shielding him from entry. I willed my subconscious to stand firm, but he was too powerful, his essence first blotting as it seeped through my mental shields before spreading like spilled ink as it scrawled over my subconscious.
Intense pain fired through my limbs. White-hot, like shards of glass slicing through every vein.
“Stop!” I yelled, clawing my scalp in agony.
I would never let him in. Not this time. No one would take my magic from me.
I withdrew into a slice of myself he hadn’t found yet, hiding from him in the depths of my mind. I pictured my deepest love, the warmth Tyler brought to my soul, the desire that rocked me in his mere presence.
Something snapped inside me, and I let out a piercing cry, internally praying Tyler could hear me.
Help me!I screamed as a wave of sobs shuddered my chest, wracking my body.
I couldn’t hold on any longer, the fortress I’d wielded internally being torn down piece by piece, Wesley’s power unfathomably strong.
Hold on, princess.
My breath caught in my lungs, breaking my concentration at the sound of Tyler’s voice in my head. His voice flooded through me, and I wondered if I was imagining it.
