Logan’s rumble was darker than the beasts we faced as they came scurrying out of the graveyard perimeter. “Seems we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way, then.”
I had no idea what he meant, until his power ramped up, and I realized that he’d been holding back. There was a tugging sensationin my gut, and it wasn’t until my back arched and I cried out that I felt Logan draw from my energy as well as his own.
Which was impossible. We could connect and elevate power, but he couldn’t steal mine unless I freely gave it to him—I didn’tremember anyone asking permission.
“Use your fucking crystals,” Logan grit out, sending forth a wave of power that knocked the monsters back. It didn’t disappearthis time, and it seemed that even Logan had a limit to what he could explode with magic alone. I managed to reach up withone hand, while keeping the other firmly on Logan, and grasp my necklaces. Closing my eyes, I prayed to Selene that we wouldmake it out of here alive. Not just us, but every other student who walked the grounds.
The swirls in my gut grew, and if I wasn’t locked in a power strong enough to shake the lands, I would have cried out. Justas Gran’s photos had suggested, there was an immediate boost to my magical essence as soon as the crystals touched my skin.They’d been resting against my jacket, but on bare skin it was akin to plugging into that spellcaster energy.
Logan sent out another wave, and this one did what the others hadn’t been able to, disintegrating the creatures into mistydust, and then we were alone once more.
Or so I thought.
A face appeared on the other side of the graveyard, one that was so familiar my heart clenched.
“Mom . . .” I sobbed my relief, releasing Logan’s shirt. I’dbeen holding him so tightly my knuckles ached. “Mom!” I said again, stumbling toward her. “You were in there with them?”
Her arms wrapped around me, that familiar hug I’d felt a million times in my life, and would have called the most comfortingembrace in the world. Only this time it felt different.
Pulling back, I looked her over. “What were you doing with the monsters, Mom?”
Her face was drawn as she sucked in a deep breath, and I noticed how disheveled she looked, as if she’d been pulled from bedinto this spot. She even wore flannel pajamas and had bare feet.
“You called me, sweetheart,” she whispered, her lips trembling. “And we have a lot to talk about.”
I felt him at my back, his power along with the heat and chemistry that had drawn me to Logan all year. “Demon-witch,” Loganmurmured, and Mom’s gaze snapped to him.
Stepping out from the two of them, I wondered why I was once again unable to catch my breath. “Demon-witch,” I murmured.Demon-witch.I knew that term. I knew that fucking term.Witch massacre.From their own kind.
“You stay away from my daughter,” Mom snarled.
Logan’s smile wasn’t nice. “Paisley belongs to me. You know that, and I’ll kill anyone that takes her from me.”
I waited for Mom to fight him, to hit back and refute his claim, but there was only a skitter of fear over her face. “Giveme the rest of the year,” she breathed. “Please. She needs to learn before they come for her.”
Goddess of the damn moon. What was happening here?
A sniffle escaped me as I pressed my hand against my chest, the shock too much to process. Logan’s gaze snapped to me, and he examined me in a burning sweep. “One month,” hecountered. “I’ll give you one month and then I’m coming for you, Precious.”
I burned and died under his gaze in that moment, before it was all over, and he disappeared into the air once more. “Mom,”I breathed, shaking uncontrollably. Even as I continued to stare at the spot Logan had just vacated.
“I’ll explain everything,” she whispered, bundling me up into her arms. “I promise. But we need to get out of here now.”
She used air to lift us above the land, just as Logan had done, and then we were outside the barriers. A portal was alreadyset up there, and when she dragged me through, we were back home. On the porch. Like I’d done a million times. I was so shockedI didn’t stop to think how she’d managed to get through the securities of Weatherstone in the first place, or use the airelement when it wasn’t her affinity.
There was no time to ask either, as Dad was already waiting for us, his expression wreathed in agony, which eased when Momfell into his arms. “I got her, Tom,” she sobbed. “I got her in time.”
“What is happening?” I said in a huff, my body still vibrating from the power and... Logan.
Paisley belongs to me.The burning intensified, until I was in real danger of setting our house on fire. I couldn’t think about that. I couldn’tthink about Logan. Not until I had other answers.
When my parents pulled apart, I got a front-row view to the panic, fear, and rage in their expressions, and I braced myselffor what was to come. “Paisley, I need to tell you everything,” Mom whispered, her face begging me for forgiveness. It terrifiedme that I didn’t know what she’d done to warrant such forgiveness. “I need you to understand.”
Dad stepped forward. “Not tonight, Beth. You’re both exhausted and terrified. I’ll let the others know Paisley is here. We can deal with the rest in the morning.” He reached back to pick up a book from the ledge near the door, as if it had been sitting there waiting for my return.
He held it out to me, and I took it without thought, looking down to find the title:The Reapers of Purgatory. I jerked my head up. “How did you know I was searching for this book?”
“Read it,” Dad said gruffly. “Read it first, and then in the morning we’ll talk.”
