“May I draw a vial of your blood?” I asked her. “I’d like to study the magical energy split more thoroughly. With your permission, of course.”
Opal nodded. “If it helps you figure out how I can manage this better? Go for it.”
I summoned a needle and a vial from my lab. “Arm?”
Opal looked at her grandfather.
Ted gave me one more pointed look before nodding at Opal.
She offered me her arm, and I stuck the needle in her vein. Her arm flickered, and I moved the needle before she became solid again. That happened three more times before I finally got enough blood to fill the vial.
“Thank you.” I held the blood up and swirled it. Even though it was the same shade of red, there was a clear distinction down the middle, separating the blood. “Truly fascinating!”
“Grandpa Ted, I’m not feeling so good,” Opal yawned, flickering into her phantom form and not solidifying again. “Can we go home?”
“Of course,” he whispered, his gaze meeting mine. “Please help us figure this out. Some days, she’s stuck in phantom form, while others she’s foretelling the death of a stranger and passing out before astral projecting and wandering around Kalista.”
“I’ll figure out how to stabilize it,” I promised them before I fell back into a portal and materialized into my estate, vial in hand.
Rune was standing in my kitchen, barefoot, pretty green hair up, swaying in a cream-beige robe, and eating leftovers Jesper had made us the night before.
She glanced up. “Hey, spell daddy. I figured you’d be buried in meetings till midnight.”
“I was,” I said, teleporting the vial into my lab and wrapping my arms around her. I inhaled her midnight orchid scent. “However, now I’m buried in something much more interesting.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Oh Fates, what now?”
“Hybrids.”
“Oh?” She blinked. “I’ve always heard there was no such thing.”
“There is now,” I grinned as my magic popped around us. “I just met one. Ted’s granddaughter, believe it or not. Half phantom, half banshee. Fascinating magical split of an improbable genetic interaction. Completely breaks the known theory. I’m vibrating with curiosity, in truth.”
Rune snorted. “You’re vibrating because you love exploring new ideas.”
“Magically scientific idea,” I corrected.
Her lips curved into a smile, but there was a clear pain in her gaze that I felt in the bond. “Honestly, I need a distraction.Everyone’s tense and working overtime with the kidnappings and the humans, and Allison keeps sending me provoking messages about all of you. It’s getting under my skin. Jesper made me take the night off to stay with you while the squad works on another kidnapping. He somehow made Jarvins allow it.”
My magic crackled, reacting instantly, white-hot and furious at the thought of that human messing with her. “Viperling…” I moved closer, cupping her jaw gently. “Ignore her. She’s a weak human playing with powers she doesn’t understand.”
Rune exhaled a shaky breath. “I know, but it’s still unnerving.”
“Let’s distract you, then. Come to my lab with me,” I held her tighter. “Let me show you something groundbreaking.”
I teleported us into my lab beneath my estate. I summoned the vial of Opal’s blood and placed it into a levitation rune upon one of my workbenches while Rune perched on a nearby counter, swinging her legs and watching curiously.
I muttered a spell, letting the magical essence visibly flare within the blood.
The magic inside the vial glowed two distinct colors: silver-blue wisps for the banshee magical energy, and white trails for phantom energy.
They separated and curled back together before they repelled again.
“Holy shit,”Rune gasped as she watched the magical energy within the blood. “It’s like they’re fighting and hugging at the same time.”
“Exactly!” I spun toward her. “These two magical essences shouldn’t mix at all. But theyare. Just enough for her to exist, but not enough for her to stabilize her powers.”
The magical essence in her blood split and flickered like two heartbeats pulsing out of sync.
