Still in the harness, his hands bound, Sparrow gave me a repugnant look. “You get what you deserve.”
Christian gripped Sparrow’s head like a melon and pulled him into his gaze. “What’s happening to her?”
“Did she break the light or drink it?”
“Raven?” Christian turned to look at me. “Answer him.”
My hands were glowing, but the hourglass tattoo was gone. “It came back into me.”
Sparrow laughed haughtily. “You weren’t supposed to drink up the light. I told you to break it like an eggshell. The infusing energy is too unstable.”
“How can she fix it?” Christian gave him a hard shake but didn’t charm him.
“I don’t know. I’ve always known not to take back the light into my body. It’s unclean and lit.”
“What do you mean, lit?”
Sparrow watched the light dancing around me. “Your arrogant crossbreed drank gasoline. When she topped off her energy, it overflowed. It happens to a Mage, and usually we either level it down or pass out. But this light is incredibly powerful. It’s like striking a match.” He looked back at Christian, his grin wide. “She’s going to die.”
Christian threw Sparrow some twenty feet before he hit the house.
Why is everyone so concerned? I’m controlling this.
Aren’t I?
Fear niggled in my brain that maybe this wasn’t just your average energy high. I stepped forward to walk through the bubble, but it traveled with me. When that didn’t work, I attempted to reel it back in, but it resisted. That warmth I was feeling grew hotter.
“Christian? Something’s wrong. I can’t stop it.”
The light swirled faster until the sparks turned into streaks.
“Get back!” Viktor shouted.
Everyone drew back—everyone except Christian.
When my core light heated up, I panicked. I was going to die. “Get away!” I pleaded, stepping away from him.
Christian stood before me, nothing between us but death. “Where you go, I go.”
The light consumed me, and I couldn’t level down. Seeing Christian dead set on dying right alongside me fueled my motivation. If I didn’t control this, I was going to watch the only man I’d ever loved die in front of my eyes. The particles danced between us, intensifying as if I’d become the jewelry. Sparrow’s energy encased me like a shell, and I was terrified as it roared like a hurricane.
With my arms crossed over my chest and fists clenched tight, I slowed down the energy stream. It pulsed for a moment, and when I gained a true sense of it, I swung my arms out and willed it to shatter.
An intense explosion of light flashed like a nuclear bomb, and the energy pulse blew outward, knocking everyone to the ground. My knees gave out, and I collapsed in the snow.
Christian sat up and crawled toward me. Flecks of golden light fell like snowflakes all around us. He pulled me into his warm embrace.
“You’re a fanghole,” I whispered, shivering from the cold.
“Aye. That I am.”
Footfalls quickly approached as a wolf skidded to a stop. It shifted to human form, and a very naked Switch knelt beside us. “Is she okay? I saw the flash of light.”
“Jaysus wept. Cover that up, will ya? Grab a leaf or something.”
“News flash: there isn’t a leaf big enough to cover what I’ve got.”
I frowned. “Where did you come from?”
