Magick (Book 3 in the Coven Series) (19 page)

Egan sucks in a huge gulp of air and staggers back from me. Disbelief widens his eyes as he looks down at his hands, turning them over to examine both sides. His eyes meet mine. “Are you okay?” he asks.

I search myself for any hint of dark magic as well as the answer to his question. Finally, I nod. “Yeah. A little tired, but good.”

“What happened?” Rule asks.

I describe the transfer and how the magic simply disappeared.

“There’s nothing left?” Sarah asks.

“Nothing. Completely gone.”

“It’s a miracle,” Hope says.

“Good triumphing over evil,” Caren adds.

I meet Egan’s gaze again. “How do you feel?”

“Better than I have in my entire life. Like I can do anything. But that deep desire to be selfish and cruel is gone.”

Toni rushes to him and wraps him in her arms. I feel her love for him, and his relief that he no longer has to worry about hurting her.

Piper jumps to her feet. “I want to go next.”

One look at her and I remember our conversation that night in this same room, how she wants to be free of her Bane commitment so she can live the life she wants. I motion for her to come toward me.

Sarah steps up next to us. “We don’t know what will happen when we take off our bracelets. We’ve worn them since birth.”

“I can handle it,” I say.

There’s excitement in Piper’s dark brown eyes as she clasps my hands. I brace myself for the moment when her binding is removed. The shock hits me like a lightning bolt. This darkness is older, darker, held captive within Piper’s bloodline for three centuries. It claws at me with a viciousness I’ve never felt before.

I focus on the lightness inside me and stoke that fire until Piper’s dark magic begins the same exit process Egan’s did. When it finally leaves her and disappears, she starts to cry and hugs me.

“Thank you,” she says next to my ear.

I hug her back, knowing that no matter where life takes both of us we’ll always be friends. She releases me and walks away. I notice Rule waiting for her, and he takes her hand in his when she reaches him. I can’t help but smile.

I go through the same process with Caren and Hope, leaving only Sarah. I feel a little woozy and grip the back of one of the high-backed chairs. Suddenly, Keller is right in front of me. “You need to rest.”

“I only have one more to do now.”

“It can wait,” Sarah says.

I shake my head. “No, I’d rather finish tonight.”

“Jax,” Keller says, not letting me have my way so easily this time.

I grip his upper arm. “Really, I’m okay. One more and I’m done.” And thank goodness for that. I feel a touch too jittery and lightheaded. I make the mistake of meeting Egan’s eyes. I try to communicate with a look that he shouldn’t say anything.

Sarah steps forward. “It is a good thing you’re doing. But only do this if you’re sure you can handle it. I would expect that as head of the Bane, my dark magic might be a little angrier than the others.”

I don’t like the sound of that, and for a moment I consider holding off until tomorrow. But I really do just want to be done so I can go sleep for about twelve hours. I lift my hands, and after a moment’s hesitation she places hers in mine. Caren does the unbinding honors. The second the binding slips free, darkness rushes at me and I stumble. I catch myself at the same time I realize I can’t release Sarah’s hands even if I want to.

Sarah’s magic does its best to resist me, but eventually it starts moving my direction. I fight not only it but also the nausea building in my stomach and the shaking in my extremities. I feel sweat forming on my skin. It seems to take about twice as long, but finally the last of Sarah’s dark magic leaves her body. I panic when it doesn’t immediately disappear, instead lingering for a frightening moment before going poof.

My legs give way, but I don’t hit the floor. In one swift motion, Keller grabs me behind the shoulders and knees and lifts me into his arms. “That’s enough for tonight,” he says and stalks from the room.

“Where are you taking me?” My voice feels too far away, like I’m in the process of passing out.

“To bed.”

That gets my attention. “Really?”

He smiles. “Someday.”

My body goes tingly all over, in a good way.

“But for now,” he says, more seriously, “you are going to get several hours of uninterrupted sleep.”

I lean my head against his shoulder. “That sounds wonderful.”

When he reaches the room I share with Toni, he opens the door without setting me down. He takes the three whole strides it requires his long legs to reach my bed and lays me down gently. When he starts to stand straight, I grab his shirt. “Don’t leave.”

He stretches out beside me and pulls me into his arms. “You did too much.”

“I did what had to be done.”

“Not all tonight.”

A shiver goes through me, and Keller pulls the blanket up over us.

“I needed to know how it works, what I can do, if there are limits,” I say.

“Well, now we know you need to go slower.” He rubs my arm lazily.

I place my hand against his chest. “We both know that might not always be possible. I have to figure out how to keep going in case we’re faced with way more than five witches.” I consider telling him about the fissure, but I don’t want to worry him. And, honestly, I’m just too tired to go into it.

He pulls back and frames my jaw with one hand. “You don’t have to be a martyr.”

“I’m not going to die.”

“You better not,” he says with a determined ferocity. And then his lips descend to mine. Everything outside this room fades away, replaced by the warmth and strength of Keller. My hands find their way underneath his shirt and over the lean muscles of his chest. His wide hand meets the skin of my back, too.

Though I want nothing more than for this to go on all night, this and honestly more, I pull back and look into his eyes. He looks half-drugged. I run my fingertips over his wet lips. “I—”

He leans his forehead against mine. “I know.”

Keller straightens my shirt and pulls me close so that my ear is next to his heart. I smile to hear it beating so wildly.

“You make me crazy sometimes,” he says. “Always putting yourself in danger.”

I run my finger in a lazy, swirling pattern on his chest until he clasps my hand in his to stop me.

“Or when you do things like that,” he says.

I snuggle closer and listen to the rhythm of his breathing. “I have to do this, Keller. After all this time, I finally have a way to get rid of the coven threat. Everyone will be safer when it’s gone. You’ll be safer.”

He kisses the top of my head. “I’ll do whatever you need me to.”

We lie in silence for several minutes while I alternate between being incredibly happy to be held by him and thinking back over the huge changes this day has brought. When I follow my thoughts through the day to the point where I realized I couldn’t separate from Sarah, I curl closer to Keller.

“What is it?” he asks against my temple.

I know I have to tell him the truth, though it will just make him worry more. I plan to be with him for a long time, so I don’t want any secrets between us. “I’m going to tell you something because you need to know. But it’s not going to change my mind about what I have to do.”

“Why do I not like the sound of this?” He shifts so that he can make eye contact.

“If I end up converting witches where there’s more than one nearby, I will need protection.”

“Of course.”

“Because,” I continue, “when I’m in the process of draining the dark magic, I can’t disconnect from the other person. Once it starts, I have to keep going until it’s finished.”

Keller stares at me for a moment before rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling. “There’s always a catch.”

“But we can plan this so that it works. I’ll start with Sean. I think he’s here alone, unless he’s called in the cavalry already.”

“So all we have to do is capture a coven enforcer.”

And now for the next part of the bomb. “It won’t be a problem if he’s alone because I’m more powerful than him now. So is Egan.”

Keller turns his head toward me, questions in his eyes.

“I didn’t notice it at first, but I got a little more powerful with each draining. Because Egan and I are connected and he’s the first witch I converted, so did he.”

“How can you tell?”

“There’s just more magic to draw from now, a deeper well.” Maybe I really will be able to do this without drawing from the fissure.

Keller rolls back onto his side, and the way his T-shirt stretches across his chest distracts me for a moment. “Do you think that’s where the dark magic goes when you draw it out? Does it change to light magic and stay within you?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe. I guess it makes more sense than it disappearing into thin air.”

Keller pushes a lock of my hair back behind my ear. “Does it scare you, having that much power?”

“It would if it was dark magic.” I still see concern in his eyes, feel it within him. “I know there’s the whole absolute power corrupts absolutely thing, but I think I’m okay. And I have you and the others beside me if I’m not.”

“We’ll do everything we can.”

I hesitate before diving into the last part of my “Oh, by the way” surprise pack. Might as well spill everything. “I don’t plan on doing this unless I have to, but Sarah told me that I can also pull more power from a fissure if I need it.”

Keller stiffens. “But that’s dark magic.”

“I know, but she says that won’t be an issue for me anymore. And like I said, it’s only an option as a last resort.”

“But what if she’s wrong? We won’t be strong enough, even together, to stop you.”

“I just have to make sure it doesn’t come to that. I think the fact that I have something positive to fight for will keep me where I need to be.” Yes, I want to rid the world of dark magic, but that’s not all I’ll fight for until my last breath. I think back to those early days in Baker Gap, my taste of a normal life. “When this is all over, it’s not the power that I want.”

Keller takes my hand and kisses each of my fingers slowly. “What do you want?”

“A regular life where the worst thing I have to worry about is what grades I’m going to get and whether a certain boy will ask me to the prom.”

Keller kisses me on the cheek, my forehead and finally my lips, all feather-soft kisses. “You’re so smart that I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about your grades.”

I run my hand along his jaw and feel the slight stubble. “And the prom?”

He captures my hand and presses it against his heart. “Jax Pherson, will you go to the prom with me?”

I smile, ridiculously happy. Prom is such a small thing compared to the fate of witchkind, but it’s so beautifully normal. I can’t help the thrill that goes through me at his asking. “Yes, I will.”

We curl together, and it doesn’t take long for my fatigue to drag me toward sleep. For tonight, at least, I fall asleep a very happy girl.

When I wake the nex
t morning, Keller is still sound asleep. I notice Toni’s bed is empty and wonder if she’s down the hall with Egan. I should get up and start strategizing the conversion of witches, but I don’t want to burst this little bubble I’m in quite yet. So I lie on my side and watch Keller sleep.

I know it’s not wise to think so far in the future, especially when I haven’t even graduated from high school or figured out what I want to do beyond that, but I know with absolute certainty that I want to be with Keller forever. I’ll take it one day at a time, but there’s no denying that’s how I feel at this moment. When he wakes and immediately meets my gaze, I have to wonder if maybe he feels the same. But now isn’t the time for that kind of conversation, probably won’t be for a long time. And that’s okay.

“I guess we have to get up, huh?” he says.

“Yeah. Busy day ahead. Witches to convert, world to save. A white witch’s work is never done.”

He laughs and rolls over to look down at me. “It will be someday, and then you’ll probably just get bored.”

I cup his cheek. “Never.”

He plants a quick kiss on my lips then rolls from the bed. “I better get back to my room before someone notices where I spent the night.”

I prop my head on my hand. “I think that boat has sailed. Whatever will your dad think?”

“I say we don’t tell him.”

I smile and point at him. “Good plan.”

He leans over and kisses my forehead before opening the door.

“Dude, about time,” Toni says as she pushes into the room. “I thought I was in for day two of these clothes.”

Keller surprises Toni by grabbing her head and planting a kiss on her forehead before walking down the hall to his own room.

She shakes her head then walks into the room and closes the door behind her. “Good night?”

A blush heats my cheeks. “Yes.”

She lifts an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

I drop my legs over the side of the bed and sit up. “Not that kind of good night. And I could ask you the same thing.”