“The light,” I growl. “The fucking peace. We can’t survive in it. I thought it was just making me tired, but it’s more than that.” My focus flashes to Koda as I remember his warning—and Adriel’s. “Demons don’t belong in Stella-Astrum. We’re… I’m… fading away…”
Dying.
My voice trails off as a wave of peace fills me again, washing across my fear, calming and soothing me. I nearly sink into it again, welcome its warmth, but this time, I fight it, dragging at the darkness within myself.
“No!” I snarl, shaking myself savagely, my shout sending a ripple of my dark power through the room.
It’s a sharp wave of darkness that wakes my wolves.
Their violet eyes suddenly blaze back at me as they regain consciousness. Koda and Taniya jolt where they sit, swiveling to me with curses on their lips.
Beside me, Roman is alert, but there’s a new darkness in his eyes that scares the fuck out of me. During my time in the Wilds, I learned his greatest fear: losing his family again. Losing me. And I see it in his eyes now.
“We need to get the hell out of this world,” he says.
Before we fade to nothing.
I jump to my feet and head straight for Malia, who didn’t react to the wash of my nightmare power.
She continues to murmur quietly to herself as she focuses on her book, and I soon realize why my magic didn’t affect her. A shield shimmers around her. It appears to be made of the same light that fills our environment, but it’s visible now that the last wisps of my dark power brush up against it before they disperse into the air.
I’m forced to slow my approach, stopping just outside the shield.
Her posture and focus reminds me vividly of when she was in the prison and I had to wake her from the illusions that environment had created. I thought that only those of us with dark souls would be drained by this world, but maybe the effect on Malia has been just as intense. Rather than experiencing a drain on her power, she might have struggled to process the sudden influx of light magic.
Too much pure magic.
“Malia?”
She looks up at the sound of my voice but doesn’t seem to see me.
The book in front of her is open to a page glistening with images of angels’ wings. Even the black-as-night feathers seem to glow on the page.
“Malia,” I growl, allowing my wolf to rise, harnessing the power of my compulsion as her alpha. “Lower your shield.”
She blinks at me, then refocuses, tipping her head as if she’s confused by the shimmering orb around her body. “What the…?”
With a wave of her hand, the orb disappears. “Nova?”
“What was that?” I ask her, gesturing to the now-absent light.
“I don’t know,” she whispers.
Roman’s presence behind me is unmistakable. “Malia’s power is reacting to this world. She’s growing stronger. When you threw out your darkness, she put up a shield—”
Malia shakes her head. “I didn’t—”
“Instinctively,” Roman says. “Without even thinking about it.”
Malia’s brown eyes are wide and glistening. “I’ve always had to call on my power before. I’ve never used magic without thought.”
I reach for her hand, but I’m cautious. The light magic in this world has already drained me, and I have to limit my exposure to more of it. Right now, its effect on Malia seems to be overwhelming her. While it’s depleting us, it seems to be empowering her—but to the point where it’s consuming her thoughts.
“I know that my power is changing,” Malia continues. “I could sense it from the moment we arrived. I didn’t want to worry you, Nova, but I’m not sure if this new aspect of my power is a good thing. Not when the light can hurt you.”
My hand wraps around hers. “You’re my sister. You will never hurt me. Or Taniya. Or anyone else you love.”
Malia’s witch magic has never been a danger to me, and I’m determined that our stay in Stella-Astrum won’t change that.
