“Yes,” he answered immediately. “I’ve tried twice. She keeps saving me.”
Penny cocked her head, studying Devon. “Interesting. You are driven to rescue each other. I can mimic that in magic, I think.” She looked down at Charity. “If I just…”
“But should you do that?” Emery hastened to say, putting out his hands to stall Penny.
“Yes,” Devon said in a tone that brooked no argument. “You should do that. Do whatever it takes. She needs to live.”
Penny looked up again. “It’ll be a hard road for you.”
“My life has always been a hard road. Charity makes it worthwhile.”
A sweet smile crossed Penny’s face. “Let’s hope this isn’t the biggest mistake of your life.”
Her fingers started to move, weaving something Devon couldn’t see. Emery’s brow furrowed and his eyes roamed the air before returning to Devon. “This will be permanent, what she’s doing. What I’m about to help her do. It’s an energy exchange. If one of you needs energy, you will take from the other. If one of you is dying, and the other doesn’t have the resources to help, you will die together.”
“She is dying,” Penny said, her hands still moving in a lovely, silent dance. “If I don’t do this, that’s it. It’s over. We all go home and listen to my mother bicker with vampires over how many guests at one time is prudent.”
“We really shouldn’t be bringing our own lives into his decision, babe,” Emery murmured. Even so, he reached out his hands and started weaving his fingers through the empty air.
“Do it,” Devon said without hesitation. “Do whatever needs to be done.”
“His magic is a bonfire among sparks,” Penny mused, as though to herself. “It is so deliciously wild. It’s the song of the forest. The thrill of the hunt. It complements hers perfectly. It’s part of the reason hers has exploded. Why his has exploded. They are greater together than the sum of their parts. Dual-mages…”
“Don’t try to make sense of it,” Emery told Devon, focused on things Devon couldn’t see, hands still moving. “She’s just figuring it out aloud.”
Penny smiled, and something warm twinkled in her eyes. She barely flicked her gaze up to Emery. “And he’s making this into a masterpiece.”
“It’s usually the other way around,” Emery murmured. “But it just so happens I know exactly what she means to him. This is how I pay it forward.”
Something grabbed Devon by the vitals, way down deep in his person. He clutched at his sternum without thinking.
“Yes, that’s the spark that ignites your magic,” Penny said. “Take that out, and you can’t change into your animal. You are no longer a shifter. But connect it to Charity’s spark, and no one can take away your ability to change unless they use her magic to do so. But she has the same fail-safe, because of the energy exchange, so it’ll go back and forth until the end of time.”
“Unless one of you is dying,” Steve said from the sidelines.
“Yup. Unless that. Then who cares if you shift, am I right?” Penny said.
“Bedside manner, love,” Emery whispered.
“Sorry,” she responded, just as softly. “Reagan has grown on me.”
“We got something coming this way,” Macy called out. “It’s a long way off, but it’s tall and slim and…like…swishing when it walks. It might not be the same elf, but—”
“It’s the same elf. They would have chosen someone smart for this duty,” Emery said. “Good at solving riddles. We should’ve had Reagan come through. She would’ve been good at figuring out how to hide a body.”
“You’re thinking of Dizzy and Callie,” Penny said. Devon vaguely remembered those two from the mage battle. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of Penny’s forehead. An invisible fist reached into the very center of Devon, a primal place directly linked with his wolf.
He gasped or snarled, he couldn’t be sure which, and doubled over, trying to protect his middle. Straining to keep his defensive magic from forcing out his wolf.
“Yes, right there,” Penny said softly.
“We gotta go,” Steve said. “It’s definitely the same elf.”
“Almost…” Penny’s hands moved faster. Emery matched her pace, his face breaking into a sweat as well. “Just about… Yes, Emery. Perfect—”
Searing pain sliced through Devon before settling into that primal place deep inside of him. His wolf thrashed toward the surface, threatening to take over. His magic blossomed outward, only to pull back inward as energy drained from his body.
He swayed with dizziness and felt Emery’s large hand on his shoulder.
“This is really going to suck for you, bro,” Emery said. “But we’re out of time. Those elves can move fast when they want to. Welcome to that hard road Penny talked about.”
Devon nodded as his energy kept draining. He scooped Charity up into his arms and stood. The blood rushed from his head and his vision swam.