Chapter 28
By the time breakfast was done, and everyone was sipping coffee or tea, the list had been divided by affinities. “I’ll take
all the herbs,” Mom said, ticking them off. “I have a lot of them here already, and I can have the equipment to ensure they’re
purified and set up for the spell.”
“I’ll go with her to find the few we don’t already possess,” Dad said, taking a large gulp of his black coffee. He appeared
to have slept as little as Mom. “We’ll have them all back here by the time you all return.”
“Jensen and I will find the deep-sea urchin,” Mom added. “You need a strong water affinity to go that deep.”
“I’m handling lava,” Trevor rumbled, sounding tired. “Dad’s going to be busy helping Mom with all the rest.”
Dad pointed his finger at his son. “You call me if you have any issue. You haven’t graduated yet.”
“I’ll go with him,” offered Tobias, who was also a fire elemental.
“I think it’s best no one goes alone,” I suggested, pushing myself forward on the couch.
“Agreed,” Jenna said quickly. “Alice and I will go after the snake. There’s one at the reptile house in Chicago, so we don’t
even have to leave the country.”
“We’ll get the candles and plants,” Noah and Haley said together. Noah added: “Most can be found at Weatherstone, and the others will be in the Kingston private stores.”
And Rafael Kingston wouldn’t stop them when his life was on the line.
“Leaving Logan and me to deal with the essence of the dead, a finger bone of a reaper witch, and, of course, the blood of
a spellcaster.” I exchanged a glance with my mate. “That one will at least be easy.”
Logan’s smile almost did me in. “I’d happily bleed for you, Precious.”
Good-natured groans rang out around the room, but they all knew better than to give him too much shit about how soft he was
for me. Though I did think I heard simp from Tobias as he grinned at his friend.
Logan sent him skidding across the floor with a little blast of power, before leaning back casually. “Not that we will need
my blood. It’ll come from Rafael, since he’s the one who set this curse in motion.” Karma was knocking on that asshole’s door,
and I couldn’t be happier about it.
“Everyone stays updated in the group chat,” Dad said, pocketing his phone and his part of the list. “We should aim to all
be back with our items by the end of the day. Let us know if anyone has a problem with that.”
Mom spoke up quickly. “Wait, the suppression potion will take at least a week to release Paisley’s power.”
Logan’s expression was worrying as he leaned forward. “I have a plan to cleanse it from her essence quickly, once I confirm
it won’t worsen the curse. If it’s not possible, then we’ll find a necromancer to help us. Headmaster Gregor owes me more
than one favor. It’s not ideal, because we don’t want to bring attention to Paisley and her affinity, but we can’t delay with
this curse worsening.”
I wasn’t surprised the headmaster owed him favors . . . It felt like a normal day when you were mated to a powerful spellcaster. Even if he was only two years older than me, Logan had lived a Hel of a lot more life.
“How will you procure the bones of a reaper?” Jensen asked.
Mom’s face fell, but she didn’t cry. “I know that your gran would want us to save Paisley. She’s buried in the family crypt.
You’ll find the bone you need there.”
Taking the bones of a witch or warlock wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Essences of the magic that bound us in life would linger
in death. Unless she released her bone to us, we’d never be able to steal its power. We’d have to wait and see how Gran felt
about us taking her bones when we got to her crypt.
“It’s settled, then,” Dad said, looking around the room. “Those of us with the ability to open transports can collect the
ones who can’t, and we’ll all meet back here tonight. If someone doesn’t show up or check in, we’ll track them down and make
sure they’re okay.”
“Good luck,” Logan said.
“And thank you,” I added. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate every single one of you in this room. You’re the best family
and friends I could have hoped for.”
I gasped as Tobias barreled into me for a hug, holding me against his hard chest as he rocked back and forth. “If you knew
my actual family, you’d understand why I’m so happy to be part of this one,” he said with a fake sniffle. At least I assumed
it was fake.
Logan nudged him away. “Hands off, Tobes. If you want to keep them.”
Tobias and Noah exchanged an amused glance. “Jealous Logan is my favorite,” Noah said. “It’s nice to see him flustered for once.” Logan simply leveled him with a glare, and Noah laughed, unconcerned.
“He simps only for her, remember,” Tobias added, exaggeratedly serious. “Let’s not get our asses fried.”
My heart fluttered when Logan didn’t deny that comment. That flutter turned into a hurricane as his hand slid down my back
and cupped my ass. I spent a good few seconds reminding myself that there was no sex at all until this shit was over. Which was almost as much incentive as the whole going to die from this curse part.
As Dad and Logan headed out to the porch to set up the transport magic needed to start moving us around, Mom pressed a kiss
to my cheek. “We’ll see you soon, honey,” she said. “Stay safe.”
“Love you,” I replied, throwing my arms around her and holding on tight.
Everyone else gave me a hug as they left, until it was only Logan and me in the house.
He took my hand, leading me back into the living room. “We need to try to cleanse you of the suppression potion first,” he
said. “But there are a few risks.”
Magic was all about balance, and I was more than ready for the payment. “What are the risks?”
“Firstly, I could trigger the curse and move our timeline up much faster. If it looks like that’s happening, I’ll stop what
I’m doing. We can’t risk sending you into a downward spiral of dark energy, or pushing the curse past the point of reversal.”
I nodded. “What else?”
“I could trigger your affinity and unlock the magic completely. You have no idea how to control it, and we’re in no magical
position to banish dozens of monsters like we did on All Hallows’.”
This worried me more than hastening the curse. “If I stay calm and keep my emotions and magic level, I shouldn’t call monsters.” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince with my confidence. “Any other magical issues we need to concern ourselves with?”
Logan pressed in closer; my breath caught in my chest as he leaned down and skimmed his lips along the edge of my jaw, breathing
me in. “None as concerning as those two. Are you ready, Paisley Jane Hallistar?”
“Full name, hey?” I was breathless, fighting for composure. “Must be serious.”
His huge hands slid around my waist, pulling me against his body until there was no distance between us. “The forever kind
of serious,” he whispered, and then his power rose, hotter than I’d ever felt from him, and I wondered if the plan was to
burn the spell from my essence.
As the heat built, so did the bite of flames, and I cried out as Logan’s lips closed around mine. His attempt to scorch the
suppression potion from me was forgotten as I tasted his power, mint and evergreen surrounding me. His magic bit into my skin
and body, colliding with the shield around my magic.
At first, Gran’s spell fought back, but Logan’s magic found a few chinks in the shield, destroying the energy. By the time
he cracked the first few layers, I was panting, locked in the sensation of skin charring from my bones. I wanted to rage at
him for not telling me exactly how painful this would be, but I should have guessed after he told me there’d be a price.
“Breathe, baby,” he whispered against my lips, voice rasping across scorched nerves. He didn’t sound happy about the pain
as he kissed me to take as much as he could.
“It h-has to be done,” I managed to choke out. “Hit me with every-everything, mate.”
Logan’s eyes darkened as his power swelled. I tasted fire and ice, earth and metal, as elemental air swirled around us. The earthiness increased as he tapped harder into his spellcaster side, a hint of rosemary and mint dancing across my tongue.
When he shattered the next layer of the spell, he quenched the burn with water droplets, steam sizzling off us. That was when
my legs gave out, but Logan held me upright. His gaze never left mine as I sank into the pain, and I almost let it take me
over.
“Last layer,” Logan growled, sweat beading his forehead. “Your gran’s spell is strong, and your mom is quite the adept weaver,
which is unfortunate today.”
She’d spent decades honing that side of her abilities while ignoring her innate magic. She was the best. Gripping his shoulders,
my nails dug into his skin, but he didn’t even wince. I attempted to loosen my grip when I sensed I was cutting into him,
but it was as if he was the tether keeping me grounded to this world.
“Don’t let go, Precious,” he encouraged, as if hearing my thoughts. “I’m going to jolt that final layer hard, and I want you
to hold on to your magic. Don’t let it go.”
We’d practiced this in general magic classes last year—how to contain your magic and prevent it from seeping out into the
world. There were times the energy needed freedom, and others when it had to be locked down. Logan wanted me to lock mine
down.
I just hoped I had the strength to do it.
The heat rose another few degrees until we were burning in Hel. A burn I’d endure all day every day if it saved Logan and
my family.
When his final storm of power crashed into me, a scream ripped from my throat, followed by vomit, and I turned my head to
avoid hitting Logan in the face.
The expulsion of the suppression potion was audible, my magic exploding from within my thinly held grasp.
It had been held captive for too long, needing freedom from its cage.
For a second I thought it was all over, that the monsters would come and I’d be too weak to drag them back.
Logan’s energy slipped inside me at the last second, stitching our powers together to keep my magic contained.
The fire died, along with the need to spew power and the contents of my stomach across the living room. “It’s done,” I whispered,
breathing heavily as I tilted my head back to meet Logan’s fiery gaze.
His eyes were piercing, but he was paler than I’d ever seen, having expelled a ton of his power. “Are you okay?” I asked,
concern filtering through me when he didn’t reply. “Logan? Babe?”
“Don’t move, Precious,” he murmured as he lowered his head right near my ear.
That small shift from the spellcaster still set off a scuffle behind us, and faster than I’d ever moved before, I spun and
placed myself between Logan and the scuffle.
Because I knew exactly what was behind us.
Logan hadn’t contained my magic quickly enough and I’d called a monster. The creature shuffled in from the kitchen, and it
was the smallest of any I’d seen. Only standing a few inches taller than me, looking like a giant, black-furred field mouse
on two legs. Beady eyes observed us as it sniffed around.
“Don’t move,” Logan rasped again, and I hated how drained he sounded. “Let me deal with it.”
“I need to learn to control them,” I said softly, not turning away from the creature. “I can’t keep running from my magic.
If I don’t learn my affinity, there’s no point worrying about the curse—the council will kill me anyway.”
Logan’s hands tightened on my shoulders, and I had no doubt he was about two seconds from shoving me behind him. His first instinct was always to place himself between me and danger, but today I was the protector. “Trust me,” I whispered. “I can do this.” I had to do this.
His hands flexed again as his chest rumbled, but he didn’t move. “You’ve got two minutes, Precious. If you don’t deal with
it by then, I will.”
This was my monster, and I was no longer letting the affinity control me.
I was in control.