Emery stood slowly as this crazy magic flitted in and around us. Pumped through us. Set me on edge.
“No.” Emery held out his hand, and a wave of support and comfort welled up through me. Emery, filling in all the holes with his presence. “Don’t hide from it, Penny. Accept it. It feels foreign, just like my magic does, but it won’t hurt you.”
“Will someone tell me what’s happening?” Reagan asked, and I could tell she was on edge.
I could also see a thin strand of gold connecting her and I, floating through the air, though not taut. Another strand connected Emery and I, and this one was as thick as my arm and glittering gold. Then another hung between Reagan and Emery, basically flapping in the breeze.
“Uh-oh.” I pointed it out. “There’s the triangle my mother was talking about. Seems like my mother was right. But where’s the kingdom?” I squeezed my eyes shut and grabbed my head. “I really, really hate hallucinating. I didn’t like when Reagan made us do it, and I don’t like that this magic is making me do it.”
“I know.” Emery put his arm around me and walked me out from under the canopy. “But you can’t keep resisting it. That has been your problem in the past. You’ve pushed it away.”
“What the hell is going on?” Reagan demanded again, following us.
Vampire magic throbbed from two points close to us—one was unmistakably Darius, and the other was a mid-level vamp hiding in the trees.
“Huh,” Emery said under his breath. “That’s helpful.”
“What is?” Reagan asked, by our side.
“Penny has shared her rare ability to feel other creatures’ magic.” He gave me a squeeze. “It’s…helpful.”
“It’s stronger than usual.” I wiped my face of sweat before realizing it was rain. “I feel like I’m cracking up. Worse than before. I hate this.”
“I know. Shhh. I know.” Emery rubbed my arm before marching me into the trees. There he stopped and turned me, positioning my body opposite his. “You haven’t totally assimilated my magic with yours, and you’re resisting what I can only assume is the goblin’s magic. I can feel it tearing you up. Messing with your mind. It’ll drive you crazy eventually, Penny. You have to open up and let it all mix together. To fuse. Otherwise you’ll never totally be at peace with magic again. You’ll always feel like you’re cracking up.”
“Can I help?” Reagan asked, peering in my face.
“She needs to do this herself.” Emery’s thumbs stroked my arms. Rain trickled through the trees and splatted on the top of my head in fat drops. “Go back out to the clearing. Keep her mother and the other dual-mages there. Keep them away from her. And get rid of that vampire that’s hanging around. He’s distracting me.”
“So it worked?” Reagan asked. “Did the dual-mage spell work?”
“Not yet. First she has to accept the magic. Then we need to finish the spell with a blood oath.” Emery wiped the increasingly wet hair away from my face. When Reagan was gone, he lowered his voice, calm and confident, “We’re going to do this together, okay? I’m going to walk you through it.”
“Have you assimilated the other magic?”
“I’m ready to—on your go-ahead. This is the beginning of our dual-mage partnership. We have to learn to mix our magic together and work with unity.”
“I thought I accepted yours.” I closed my eyes and leaned into his body, feeling the raging storm of his magic and the ethereal, sparkling tidal wave of the foreign power.
“Good. Close your eyes. And breathe. Take in your surroundings. Open up to them. Listen to the nature around you. Feel it.”
I did as he said, worried about all that power that wanted to suck me under and consume me. Afraid that if I completely gave in, I’d see light flares and rainbows forever.
“It’ll all be okay, Penny,” Emery said into my ear, helping me relax, pushing me toward a trance. “You can create a new normal, but first you have to accept that which feels different.”
It almost sounded like he was reading it out of an ancient book. “Did you have to be coached like this?”
“No, but I’ve heard stories of people not being able to assimilate. Conrad and I prepared for it just in case it happened. I know the basics of what needs to be done, and I know you. Trust me, Penny. You’ll be okay on the other side of this. And you won’t be alone. I’ll be right there with you, feeling the same things you do.”
It was the last bit that finally tipped me over the edge. That reminded me that he was a man I trusted with not just my life, but with my very soul.
“Okay,” I said, loosening up. Trying harder.
He started his coaching again, taking me into a trancelike state. To the edge of a cliff. All I needed to do was step off. Step off and fall into the absolutely enormous pool of magic waiting for me.
“I’m scared,” I admitted.
“I know. But we’ll jump together.”
He took my hand, and though there wasn’t an actual pit, I felt like he was readying us for one. Taking a deep breath, I kicked away my last safeguard. I mentally stepped forward.
And I fell.
21
Emery sucked in a breath as the gush of magic enveloped him, dragging him under. He held on to Penny for dear life. This wasn’t what he’d expected—he’d thought there would be a momentary feeling of drowning, not this sensation of being dragged to the bottom of a vast ocean. It felt like the world should be in utter chaos to match what was happening to them.
“Breathe,” he forced out as he was turned upside down and ripped from side to side, all without moving a muscle. “Breathe.”
Her breath came in ragged pants, and he could tell Penny was clawing for air.
“Keep breathing,” he said, forcing himself to do the same, crushing her to his chest.
Air went in, got stuck, and was then forced out. In, stuck, forced out.
“Almost there,” he said, really hoping it was true. His legs weakened. His arms shook. He didn’t know how much longer he could take it.
He didn’t hear Penny breathing. Fear gnawed on his nerves.
“Come on, baby. Stay with me. Keep breathing.”
He heard a ragged breath. A stifled sob.
She was terrified. As a woman who was new to magic, and felt everything incredibly deeply, this had to be ten times worse for her. Given that he felt like he was going to drown…
“Almost there, baby,” he said, rubbing her back. Pressure squeezed his chest.
He hadn’t mentioned to her the risk that one of the partners, or both, couldn’t assimilate. Such a failure would stunt the mages magically, maybe even kill them. He hadn’t mentioned it because he hadn’t thought it would be a problem. And it wouldn’t have been, if not for the raging, all-encompassing magic she’d stolen from that goblin. Thank God they were forming a dual-mage pair, because if they hadn’t, she would’ve eventually had to either assimilate the stolen magic or go crazy. And if she had been forced to face it alone, she might not have made it.
“Almost there,” he said, his heart lodged in his throat as he listened to her ragged wheezing. “Almost. Don’t fight it.”
He felt her nod, and her nails dug into his sides. Slowly, painfully, the magic seeped into him. It expanded through his body and scratched down his bones.
Penny whimpered, but her chest rose and fell. She held on.
“Almost…” Little by little, the fog started to clear. The intense pressure eased.
A sob ripped from her throat, and relief flooded him. If she had enough breath to cry, she had enough to live.
“We’re there.” His eyes misted as the pain drifted away, slowly but steadily. Magic still tore at them, whipping around and within them, but it was manageable.
Penny’s breathing evened out. Her muscles loosened.
The strange flares of light—the splashes and splotches of rainbow—disappeared from his vision, and a new feeling welled up. Like their perfectly balanced bubble, this felt calming and blissful. Serene.
The feeling wasn’t around them, though—it ran through them. Emery gasped as all the dark, painful places in his soul were filled with light and goodness. Her touch was soaring through him, sweet and lively and perfect.