Page 190 of Cherish

“On it,” he says grimly as he springs to his feet.

Jaxon joins him, and seconds later the already shaking ground cracks wide open. At the same time, a whole section of earth explodes outward and disappears. Moments later, hundreds of paranormals start pouring out of the ground, flooding the cemetery as the prison begins to fold in on itself.

Remy stumbles, starts to sag, and I race to catch him. “Are you all right?” I ask. “Can you manage to portal back to school?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t. My magic’s gone.”

“Gone?” Dismay pours through me. “What do you meangone?”

I hold my breath, terrified that I already know the answer.

“I burned it out.” He shrugs, but there’s a sadness in his eyes that’s impossible to miss.

My heart clenches. I did this. I asked him to do the impossible, and somehow he did. But I didn’t know that meant he’d pay such a horrible price.

“It’s okay,cher,” he says, wrapping me up in a hug. “It was worth it. We freed all these people who had their lives stolen from them. What more could I ask for?”

“Your magic back?” I ask, hugging him as tightly as I can.

“It’ll come back, eventually.” He shoves the metal etching of the manticore in his backpack, then slings the pack over his shoulder. “It always does.”

“You’ve burned it out like this before?” It took bringing down a prison built by an actual god to burn it out this time. What on earth has he done in the past?

“No,” he concedes. “But I’m trying to be optimistic.”

“Yeah, but what if it doesn’t come back?” I choke out.

“Well, then, at least I lost my magic doing something important,” he answers. But he’s swaying on his feet now, and I can tell exhaustion is setting in.

Macy stands next to him, propping his arm over her shoulders for support. And then we all take a minute to recover from all the shit that just went down. A part of me can’t believe we brought down the prison, but another part of me has never been happier about anything in my life. The Crone went out of her way to make this place a living hell for the political prisoners she kept here, and the fact that she’ll no longer be able to have anyone sentenced makes me happier than I can say.

But Remy losing his powers? The Crone still on the loose? The elixir we meant to use to make a deal for Mekhi’s life gone forever? My head is spinning with all the awful things that still have to be sorted out.

But the longer we stand here, the more exhaustion sets in. Any energy I did have, I expended helping Remy bring this place down.

I compromise by bending over and bracing my hands on my knees. But as I do, something presses into my thigh, reminding me I have something valuable in my pocket. I don’t know how valuable, but maybe it’s enough to trade for Mekhi’s life.

The vial of Celestial honey.

105

Powered Down

but Never Out

Gripping the vial in my hand, I turn to Macy. “Can you get us to the Witch Court? And then take Remy back to school before Remy’s three hours are up?”

Remy chuckles but there’s little humor in it. “They’re already up,cher.” He turns to Macy and says, “But Iwouldappreciate the ride.”

She nods. “I’ll get you home.”

“That place isn’t home.” He looks out over the collapsed remnants of the Aethereum. “This is home. Or, I guess I should say itwashome.”

“You’ll find another,” I whisper as I squeeze his hand. “Thank you, Remy, for everything you’ve done for me. Everything you’ve sacrificed for all of us.”

“Careful, Grace. You’ll have me blushing soon.”

I roll my eyes, because once a charmer, always a charmer. Power or no power, Remy’s never going to change.

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