Page 68 of Shadow of Spring (Wild Haven 2)

“I’m getting some serious naughty librarian vibes right now. Do you want to punish someone for talking too loudly?”

“Stop. We can all hear you. Just, no,” Davis grumbles from the couch, letting his head fall back and closing his eyes.

“As I was saying,” Lena glares at everyone in the room. “We’ve been assuming for many years that the Axis tainted our parents. That the magic infected them and screwed them up. I’m starting to think we were wrong. Miri and Davis are bonded; they got a magic boost right away. That magic hasn’t altered their personalities.”

“You’re right. Davis is still a dick.” Ruby winks at Davis, who grunts in agreement.

“What if the reason they agreed to join Anthony’s Axis is because they wanted more power? We don’t know what they were promised, but I, for one, can absolutely believe my dad would have been salivating at the idea of gaining power and more magic. It’s not much of a stretch.”

“That’s a great theory and all, but what does it have to do with anything?” I ask.

“We’ve shied away from using magic for most of our lives, scared about what it might do to us. I think we need to learn what we are capable of. We know Anthony is a Fae who was exiled from Fairy. I have no real proof, but I think that Serafina and Colton are as well.”

“Why?” Miri moves back to the couch to sit next to Davis.

“For a while now, I’ve been noticing a glow around people. In reading about my magic, I figured out that I’ve been seeing people’s auras. Anthony, Colton, Serafina, their auras are different from everyone else’s. It’s like they’re tainted.”

That’s enough to render us all quiet, except for Ezra, who’s snoring softly. He’s slept through our entire conversation. Jesus, did he stay up all night?

“Okay, then. Who wants to get stabbed first?” Ruby jumps up from her spot on the ground and looks around.

“We’re not going to stab anyone. How about a little slice across your finger?”

“Ugh, are we really going to willingly submit to giving ourselves a bunch of paper cuts?” Ruby groans loud enough to startle Ezra, who mumbles something about cake, but he doesn’t wake up.

“I’ll go first.” Miri gets back up and leaves the room, returning a few minutes later with some towels, a knife, and some rubbing alcohol.

“Where do you want me?” Miri holds up her supplies.

Nervous energy surrounds Lena, and I almost hear her brain backtracking. I grab her hand and tug her next to me. “Why don’t you both sit on the couch? That way, if anyone passes out, you won’t fall on your ass.”

Lena squeezes my fingers and then takes a seat on the couch next to Miri when Davis gets up. He moves to the arm of the couch, frowning down at the both of them. I lean against the back of the couch, behind Lena.

Miri arranges a towel on her lap and pours some rubbing alcohol on another cloth, and cleans the knife. “I have no idea if this is doing anything. It just seemed like something I should do. I can boil some water next.”

“I’ll tear up some sheets,” Lena jokes.

“We’ll be all set for someone to give birth,” Ruby tacks on as she sits on the other arm of the couch.

“Well, I apparently have fertility magic, so I wouldn’t say that too loudly.” Lena chuckles when Ruby blanches.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Miri holds the knife in her right hand, over the tip of her middle finger. Gritting her teeth, she makes a quick swipe and a thin trail of blood beads up.

“I’m going to touch you to see if I can heal it.”

“Go nuts.”

Lena’s face is a study in concentration as she reaches out and cups Miri’s injured hand in hers.

“Oh, do you feel that?” Miri smiles at Lena, but Lena doesn’t respond, too focused on her task. There’s a small charge in the air, like static electricity gathering. The urge to reach out and touch Lena pushes at my shoulders and my fingers twitch. I curl them into the couch as it becomes harder to resist. Lena doesn’t need my help with this, but it’s almost impossible not to lend her whatever power I have.

“There.” Lena blows out a breath and smiles as she looks up. Miri wipes away the blood from her skin and grins when she sees it’s completely healed.

“You did it!” Miri cheers.

“It was a tiny little cut. Let’s not get too excited.”

“Nope, I’m getting excited. You were able to heal me from a curse. This was just to make sure that wasn’t a fluke, and I’m convinced. Was it hard?”

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