Chapter 28
Sylvia
“Is this really what you want?” Ben asked.
“I’m sure,” I said, frankly growing weary of the question. I did my best to ensure my impatience didn’t spill onto him. “My decision is mine. No one else’s.”
Only a few days had passed since the incident at the Crimson Gala, but Delilah confirmed my suspicions that our time here was limited.
She and Lee would be leaving soon, presumably with Ben in tow, and we would need to vacate shortly after.
Apparently, this safehouse didn’t operate optimally without her presence.
Something about arcane magic calling to magic.
If I wanted to execute a transformation spell, it had to be now.
Everyone seemed to have found their way to the room Delilah had selected for my transformation. The second-floor guest room had made itself accessible, creating a comfortable, inviting space with hardwood floors, a bed, and enough furniture to house the others.
I watched Delilah pace back and forth as she reviewed the rune and spellwork that Father had drawn out.
She had been at it most of the day before announcing that she was almost finished, and despite all the intensive work, her flowing hair, jeans, and ethereal top still looked flawless.
She murmured to herself studiously, making last-minute notes upon the paper, crossing out phrases and adding new ones.
The sight had to be unsettling for the fairies gathered around me on one of the tables: a witch tampering with fae magic.
Though I did have to wonder if Ben, Zia, and Rowan were drawn close to me because of the gemstone.
But Ben had made it clear that he was not interested in more power.
Zia clearly had no need for it. And Rowan…
Well, perhaps I should keep an eye on him.
However, he eyed me disdainfully. “Any spell that requires outside influence has no business existing,” he said, prompting Zia to elbow him. Insulted and relieved by his opinion, I decided I didn’t need to fear him snatching the gem to make himself a stronger protector.
Although Zia wasn’t as blunt as him, she didn’t hide the uncertainty in her eyes.
Across the room, Jon watched Delilah with hope bordering on desperation.
I thought back to when he had insisted upon the deal with her, how readily he had put his faith in a witch for me.
Everyone in the room could barrage me with comments that I was out of my mind, but none of that mattered because Jon would not leave my side.
The ruby was tucked safely in Jon’s upper coat pocket, but it still beckoned to me across the room like a melody.
Use me, it sang to my senses. The air smelled sweeter inside this room, housing the gem’s raw, simmering magic. It was incredible that the humans couldn’t feel the intoxicating pull of it.
At last, Delilah approached Father, who was lingering near the threshold. She held out her work. “Here. I believe weaving in these parts of my own shapeshifting expertise will make the transformation less volatile. What do you think?”
Father’s expression melted from skeptical to impressed to—anxious. I had no doubt he had been hoping that Delilah would be unable to make the spell more workable, that perhaps she would be able to deter me from going through with it.
“It should be stable,” he said with a reluctant nod.
I flew over to peer at Delilah’s notes myself.
The black fae runes and incantations Father had sketched out for me earlier were now heavily modified with blue ink.
The prickle of Father’s stare was hot on my back with—was that embarrassment?
I supposed having his life’s work corrected in a little more than a couple of days had to sting on some level.
I cut a glance over my shoulder at him and found that stormy, knees-to-jelly sorrow in his expression again.
If only he had known about this correction ten years ago. Everything would be different.
“You’re confident?” I asked Delilah.
“If you weren’t so cute, I’d be insulted,” she said.
“At my age, there’s little in the arcane arts I haven’t played with.
Your father’s spell wasn’t broken, you know.
Just incomplete and desperately in need of a feminine touch.
No offense.” She added this hastily, smiling at Father, who just stuffed his hands into his coat pockets.
“You’ve dabbled in fae magic?” Mother’s voice cut across the room. She was hovering a few feet from Father, arms folded over her chest. Her long hair was left unbound today as though the months on the road tailing us had somehow changed her habit of plaiting it each morning without fail.
Delilah barely seemed to register the venomous tone.
“Here and there. Ben’s been a great help in recent years.
” She sat on the edge of the bed with the papers spread over the comforter.
“Obviously, I wish I’d be able to help you become a full shifter, to be able to change between forms at will forever.
But I’m afraid that’s not compatible with what we need to do.
However, you’ll be pleased to know I can bend the rules. Enough to give you a choice.”
Father straightened with a glimpse of the ardent curiosity he’d worn so many years when crafting his own spells to be combined with gem magic.
“A choice?” he echoed. “But this here—” He tapped an intricate line of runes drawn on the first page. “This makes any form permanent.”
“After seven days.” Delilah pointed out an added line of script in blue ink. “Once seven sunsets have passed, you will be able to untether the gem magic in you before it fully takes hold. Think of it as an extended test drive.”
It was a better deal than I could have ever hoped for—the chance to choose between fairy and human one last time. Perhaps it was better than I deserved.
Cliff stood behind the winged leather chair that Jon was sprawled in, leaning against the wall.
His smile was soft, still tinged with tension at the corners: a mixture of long-held concern and the fresh guilt from the other night.
In the last few days, he’d seemed surprised every time I looked his way, as though he expected I’d never acknowledge him again after frightening me.
He’d made no secret of his protective pull over Jon since the moment we’d met, the moment I’d begun to draw his best friend into my world inch by inch. I was surprised to find, over time, that protective gleam extended to me, too.
But today, his gentle silence spoke volumes. He would be in my corner, whichever path I chose.
And Jon…
Stars, the affectionate tenderness on his face spilled through me and nearly knocked me right out of the air. His lips curved as my stare roved over him, and I couldn’t help but match it. He loved me. He would never leave me.
Didn’t we both deserve this? A taste of happiness after a decade of hell for both of us.
Every occupant awaited my response.
“Anything else I should know?” I croaked out.
“I’ll paint the rune on the floorboards here,” Delilah said. “You’ll lie down atop it, holding the stone. I hardly need to tell you to keep a tight grip on it. Then all you’ll need to do is repeat the incantation exactly as I tell you. It’s best to familiarize yourself with it beforehand.”
“And then it will hurt,” Father said softly.
Delilah nodded. “And then it will hurt.”
“I’ve experienced pain before,” I said, perhaps too quickly.
“Not like this.” Father’s voice deepened, more urgency behind each word. “It will feel like every bone in your body is shattering and reforming—over and over. When I transformed, the agony of it left me sightless for a few minutes.”
I tried to imagine him on that fateful night. For the first time, it dawned on me how terrified he must’ve been: blinded, alone, in fathomless pain. My comfortable surroundings, filled with people who cared for my well-being, could not have been more different.
“I can help,” Zia’s sweet voice cut in. “I can offer a soothing spell to block out the pain during the process.”
Delilah was shaking her head before Zia had finished. “Any added spellwork will muddy the transformation. We can’t risk it. This is a pain that must be felt. Understood?”
“Everything has a cost,” I murmured, my stomach twisting in knots.
“You’re in good hands, sweetie,” Delilah assured. “I gave you both my word. But you can still walk away. No one will think less of you for it.”
I took a deep breath, letting the gemstone’s thrilling beckon flood my every sense.
Use me. Use me. Use me.
Even from across the room, power rippled from it, wrapping around me like a song.
I took a long, deep breath. “I’m ready.”