Out in the pasture beyond Stella, the ley lines drum in the same color, as if we’re in sync. As if I’m tied to this land and part of it—like we exist in a symbiotic relationship.
“You are magic,” Stone whispers almost reverently, as if he’s standing before the shrine of the Blessed Zoning Coordinator.
“What do I do?”
“Touch the earth,” he instructs.
Fear wobbles my confidence. “What if it explodes?”
He laughs. “Do you really think that’s going to happen? Your glow matches the ley lines over there, and you think if you touch the ground you’re going to, what? Cross the streams, like inGhostbusters?”
“I mean, maybe?”
“Just try it. Be the brave Coco Chanel I know you are.”
I clench my hands, but the glow doesn’t die. It only strengthens, and so, figuring that if I don’t do this my whole body will look like a giant glow stick in a few minutes, I drop to my knees and lay my hands atop the soft, dewy grass.
Almost instantly, a ripple of magic erupts from underneath my palms. It’s small, and fades before it reaches the pulsing ley lines.
Stone drops beside me. “You’re holding back. Don’t hold back.”
“I’m not—”
Before I can tell him I’m not, that he’s wrong, he takes my face in his hands and kisses me—deeply, with a yearning that sends little tingles spiraling down my spine.
This is not the kiss of a man who woke up from amnesia and is trying to figure out his life.
This is the kiss of man whohasfigured things out—who’s strapped into the front row seat of a roller coaster, ready to face every dip, every turn, every loop head-on.
And I’m with him.
Completely.
Utterly.
It’s stupid.
More than that—it’sspellbound.
And no doubt, it’s also love.
It’s as if his feelings soar beyond the lack of memory, like they’re seeded deep inside him and nothing can rip them away.
I give myself over to the kiss, dissolving, melting into it and him.
When Stone pulls away, it feels like the sun’s been plucked directly from the sky.
I blink, opening my eyes.
He nuzzles against my cheek. “Now, do it. Show me what you’ve got.”
Something clicks inside me, and I dig my fingers into the earth, grabbing big clumps of grass.
Power ripples from my hands, and this time it doesn’t fade out. This time it surges all the way to the ley lines, and when they touch, the earth ignites.
Light erupts from the ground, illuminating the entire pasture as if someone lined it with lights and flipped them on.
I sit back on my heels. My jaw drops.
