Page 188 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
Alastor rested a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
“I never meant to hurt him.” Finley’s voice came out small.
“Well, you did,” I said. My words hung tightly in the air. “You took advantage of how he feels about you.” I was so angry with Finley, and I hadn’t realized until that moment just how much her actions enraged me. “Were you really going to let him stay here so that he can sense an oncoming seizure?”
“He said he wanted to.” She cast her eyes down. “He insisted?—”
“If you cared for him at all, you would never have even entertained the idea,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
“Are you okay with us using mage magic on you?” Alastor asked Etienne.
“I’m pretty sure the queen is angrier with Finley than with me, so I don’t believe she intends to kill me?” With a wry grin, he raised his brows at me.
I snickered. “At least, not tonight.”
“I am sorry for what we’ve put Brenton through,” he said.
“I know.” I crossed my arms. “I heard you yelling that through the door.”
“That’s embarrassing.” He scratched the back of his head. “If you heard us without fae hearing, can you imagine who else heard us? I fear we may have to move, Finny.”
Hesitantly, one side of her mouth tipped up in a half grin.
And dammit, I couldn’t help but like him. He was just as caring and protective as every other male fae I’d met to those he loved.
“Shall we begin?” Alastor asked.
When Etienne nodded and took a seat, Alastor pulled out his white bowl and punctured the tip of my finger. Once we both dripped three drops of blood, we chanted the words from the book.
A warm and comforting buzz built inside me, and I reveled in the way it made me feel whole. There was this rightness to the magic, like I was doing exactly what I was born to do. While the threads of Alastor’s green magic rose from the bowl, the threads from my magic remained missing, but I felt the way the words built inside me, swelling and swelling in the most mesmerizing way.
Far too quickly, the words slowed as did the magic within me until it dwindled and disappeared. That sense of comfortand rightness remained, though, a seed of joy nestled between the confines of my chest.
I smiled at Alastor, who dropped a heavy arm on my shoulders after he put his bowl back in the inner pocket of his magic.
“How do you feel?” Alastor asked Etienne.
Etienne ran a hand over the back of his head. “There was this constant. . .throbbing in the back of my head. It made it harder to think, speak, or function really.” He let out a surprised huff. “Usually for a few hours after a seizure, I feel better, but the heaviness had already started returning.” He rubbed the back of his head again. “It’s gone.”
“I’m hoping the throbbing and heaviness will not return, but if it does, reach out to me,” Alastor said. “I’ll be able to repeat the spell without Teddy next time.”
Offended, I furrowed my brows. “Why without me?”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, cousin,” Alastor said. “I just meant you didn’t have to come if you didn’t want to.”
“I like doing magic.”
Leah rose from the couch. “Your sons like you doing magic as well. Even without the machine, I heard the way both their hearts strengthened while you cast your spell.” She smiled. “Both their hearts are stronger than ever. Fascinating.”
There was still so much I didn’t know about my mage magic and from the look of awe on Alastor’s face, I wasn’t alone.
“Does that mean I get to help heal Respandora?” Goosebumps rose across my arms in anticipation.
“I believe so,” she answered. Her smile grew as she looked at Alastor before she returned her attention to me. “I’d like to monitor them and you a few times while you do your magic to be sure. Nothing that takes too much out of you, though.”
“Thank you.” Etienne held a fist to his chest as he bowed his head.
“We’re both grateful for your help,” Finley added.
