"Got it. Pain with a purpose." I clasp my hands together and draw a deep breath.
Cool metal touches the sensitive skin behind my right ear.
There's a softclick, then?—
Holy Hell!Fire lances through my skull.
I suck in a breath through my teeth, fighting the urge to jerk away from Sebastian's hold. The burning sensation spreads from the point of contact, racing along invisible pathways beneath my skin. Cold follows immediately after, so intense it feels like someone pressed an ice cube directly against my brain stem.
Wylder crouches in front of me, presses his hands over mine, and releases healing energy. "You've got this, Hallowind.”
"Almost done," Sebastian murmurs.
The temperature evens out. The pain dulls to a persistent throb, then fades entirely. I release my breath in a slow exhale and touch the spot behind my ear. The device sits flush against my skin, barely noticeable except for the faint warmth radiating from it.
"How does it feel?" Mom's voice drifts from the hallway that leads to her workroom. She's more opaque today, more present, and relief washes through me.
I roll my shoulders, testing. "I don't feel it or notice anything different."
"You're not supposed to." Sebastian steps back, satisfaction clear in his expression. "It's not supposed to activate unless access to your thoughts or memories is triggered."
Does that mean he won't be able to call me to him?
I want to ask Sebastian, but not in front of all my friends. They don't need to be reminded about my sleepwalking horror show last night and know how badly it cracked my foundation.
Still, between the vomit potion and the inhibitor, I'm better protected than I was. "Thank you."
The words feel inadequate for what they've given me, but Sebastian's small smile says he understands.
Asher squeezes my shoulder from behind me as Wylder stands and offers me a hand. "All right, Hallowind. Enough lazing about. Let's get to work."
I follow the others to the kitchen table, where the old oak surface has been entirely eclipsed by a detailed map.
But this isn't like any map I've ever seen.
My mouth drops open as I take it all in. "Wow, this is next-level cool."
The base layer shows familiar continental outlines—North America, Europe, the Atlantic between them—rendered in deep ink on aged parchment. But overlaid across the geography runs an intricate web of luminous lines, pulsing faintly gold and silver, tracing paths that have nothing to do with highways or state borders.
"Are these ley lines?"
Mica nods. "Yeah. Cool, huh?"
More than cool, actually.Hundreds of ley lines crisscross the physical landscape in organic pathways, like the root system of some impossibly vast tree.
"And what are these different colors?"
Mica beams. "Those are supernatural territories… or at least the origin territories of the major races."
I study the shimmering territories as they bloom in watercolor swatches—amber for shifter domains, deep violet for witch covens, pale green for fae holdings.
"Each major nexus of power bears a symbol," Mica explains. "There's a tiny forge hammer here, a crescent moon there, spiraling glyphs marking places where the veil between worlds runs thin. Mountain ranges glow where raw elemental magic pools. Coastal stretches shimmer where water magic concentrates. Some regions pulse brighter than others, alive with energy, while dark patches sit like bruises—dead zones where magic has been drained or corrupted."
"Where did you get this?" I breathe.
Mica runs a loving caress over the edge of a curling corner. "My grandmother was a cartographer for the Order of the Arcane. This is her life's work, and my older brother has kept it current."
"It's incredible, Mica," Sebastian says.
