Half of me believed it wouldn’t work. That Theodore was playing an elaborate prank, and I would look like a fool, chanting spells into nothingness.
But in my heart, I knew it was real.
My body erupted and flooded with power. While casting normally felt like a tightening in my chest, this felt likeliberation. I was weightless yet full of strength at the same time, my magic vibrating and flowing within me, blending into my essence until I couldn’t separate it from my very being. It was as if I had never truly breathed until this moment.
I’d cast the fire spell intending to create a small flame at my fingertip to light the dark space before me. But the moment the word left my lips, the entire room lit with a golden glow.
My mouth dropped open. Theodore must have banished his invisibility spell, for all the items were back in their place, and each candle in the chamber had ignited. Dozens of tapers lining the shelves and floor, every sconce on the stone walls, the candelabras above our heads. They flared to life with fervor, flickering in time to the thumping of my heart.
I met Theodore’s gaze, his eyes mirroring the wonder and energy likely gleaming in my own.
“I did it,” I breathed.
“And how do you feel?” he asked, bringing a handkerchief from his pants pocket and wiping the small trickle of blood from my thumb.
I glanced around the chamber again, taking in the light,reveling in the power still racing through me. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, and a smile curved the ends of my lips.
This was what it was supposed to be. Nothing separating me from my magic, nothing holding me back from what I was meant for. Alchemy in its purest, most natural form.
“Free,” I finally said, locking eyes with him once more. “I feel free.”
Theodore smiled, and a spear shot through my chest. He looked so much like the father I remembered from my childhood. The father I’d lost.
But maybe…maybe I hadn’t lost him completely. Maybe I could find him here, in a dark, invisible chamber, with the man I’d spent my life despising.
“Can I show you something?” he asked. I nodded, and he led me to a tall book stand in the corner of the room. It was made of dark wood, with beautiful etchings of vines spiraling up its length. Atop sat an old leather book, the pages weathered and frayed on the edges.
Theodore carefully set his hand on the open page. “This was your father’s Grimoire, Rose.”
I blinked in surprise. “But I already have his Grimoire back home. My aunt and uncle gave it to me when I turned sixteen.”
“That must be one he created after he and I parted ways.This”—he gestured to the book—“was his first. It contains his notes on blood magic and the spells and potions we crafted. And it’s exceptionally detailed,” he added with a hint of a smile. “Hamilton was a thorough researcher, whereas I was a bit impatient. Always wanting to act. He would often have a theory and wanted to take time to investigate it, but I grew restless, eager to put it to the test.
“Once, we were attempting to spell our house cat to be able to speak to us. I was a tad ambitious and ended up casting on every animal in a half mile radius from our home.” He chuckled lightly, a sound I’d never heard from him. “You should have seen the two of us. Me, desperately running from a horde of wild creatures, and Hamilton racing through his notes to fixmy mistake.”
I grinned at his story, trying to picture the two young men and their adventures. My eyes lingered on the Grimoire, my fingers itching to explore its pages. To feel this new connection to my father.
Theodore’s gaze flickered from me to the book. “Go on,” he encouraged.
I swallowed and took a step toward the stand, reaching out a hand to brush against the old pages. “Can I read it?”
His hand covered mine. “Rose, you canhaveit. It’s yours by right.”
My attention snapped to him. “What?”
When he closed the Grimoire, a small cloud of dust puffed in the air. He clasped the book shut with a leather strap, his fingers skating across the etchings of the moon and series of constellations on the front.
“Treat it well,” he said, placing it in my open arms.
A rush of emotion flooded me as I stared at the cover. The heaviness of the leather tome sat in my heart like a weight, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It wasn’t burdensome. Itfilledme. My chest expanded as I drew a deep breath, something settling inside.
Another missing piece finding its way home.
48
Leo
Ileaned against a tree trunk and crossed one ankle over the other, my tail twitching anxiously against the forest floor. Staring up at the third story window of the palace, I chided myself for the fifth time. I was being ridiculous waiting out here so late at night. Chaz had called me a stalker.
