“Give it a second.”
One, two, three.
The building rumbles and Chelsea ducks down. “Is it going to collapse?”
“The magicks are talking to one another.”
“It sounds like they’re fighting.” She glances up fearfully. “Like one of them just punched the other. Oops, sorry, Devlin.”
I wave off her apology. “It’s okay.”
A moment later the rumbling stops. “Let’s see if it worked,” I whisper.
It takes another second or two, but the books begin to right themselves. The tome flying in circles stops and dives back onto a shelf. The ones trying lamely to get their covers to flap lift and, by magic, sweep up off the floor and find their way back to where they belong.
The whole place brightens as if it’s taken on new energy.
Which I suppose it has—my energy.
Chelsea slowly looks around, watching in astonishment as the entire shop regains its composure, if you will.
She exhales a low breath. “Holy cow. I think you did it.”
“It’s but a small token of appreciation for your family.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve done so much already. Blair loves you.” Her eyes well with tears. “You’ve given her so much happiness.”
She breaks off into tears. I rise and cross to the counter to give her a hug. She breaks down in my arms, and it takes all I’ve got not to crack, too.
I don’t know what to say. Tell her that everything will be okay, and it’s a lie. It doesn’t feel like anything’s going to be allright ever again. There’s a hole in my heart that will never, ever be filled.
The giving of myself is the absolute very least that I can do for this family.
But instead of saying any of that, the only thing I can reassure her with is, “When the lamp’s light is gone, use one of the others, and let me know when you’re on the last. I’ll refill them. I’ll do whatever I can to keep the magic strong until…”
Until what?
I can’t even think about it. Until I marry Blair? Until she wakes up?
I don’t have answers. I don’t have anything that I can give except my magic, and I’ll give all of it, even if it kills me.
Which it just might.
38
DEVLIN
It’s been a few days since I first gave the lamp to Chelsea, and according to Clara, whom I see every day at the hospital, it’s working. For now.
Using my magic to stabilize Castleview Books isn’t a save-all. It’s a Band-Aid on a wound that will eventually need stitches.
But if a bandage works for the moment, then I’m all in.
I’m back with Blair. The bruises that would be patching her face were healed by magic. She looks perfect, like Sleeping Beauty, and I’m not giving up on her.
I take her hand and squeeze it. “I know you’re in there. Wake up. Please wake up. I can’t…” I squash down a sob. “I just got you back. I can’t lose you again.”
I study her, looking for any sign that she can hear me—a twitch of her eyelid, a flexing of her fingers, but there’s nothing.
