Shadow Kissed (Magic Side: Wolf Bound 4) - Page 84

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Savannah

Alone with my guilt, I descended through the trees down to a small lake. The eternal mist of the place hung low along the banks and crept in silken tendrils over the water.

Stepping to the water’s edge, I looked down. The shimmering silver surface reflected the flat gray of the sky and the dark green of the pines. But my reflection was just a wisp of shadow, a dark, featureless silhouette in the water. I was empty, missing my other half, and this place had no illusions about it.

A lump formed in my throat. It was time to start putting myself back together. To repair everything I had broken and torn apart, everything I had hidden from and lied to myself about.

Closing my eyes, I recounted the spell Aunt Laurel had taught me—the spell to release my wolf. I’d memorized it and looked it over a dozen times since, but terror still took me.

Would I be able to do it without her help or Jaxson’s? Would I be trapped without my wolf, unable to recover the shard of her soul and face down the Dark God?

Taking in and holding a deep breath, I pulled my shirt over my head.

Okay, Wolfie, it’s time for me to undo all the damage that I’ve done. I hope that somehow, you can forgive me.

Going over and over my aunt’s spell in my mind, I unbuttoned my jeans and pulled them off. One by one, I piled my human things on the grass until I was naked, the way I had been born. The way we had been born.

The two of us.

Forcing down the doubt and guilt churning inside, I stood up straight and summoned my magic. Slowly, ice water trickled around my skin, and the cold began creeping in. I inhaled slowly, filling my lungs with air and my body with magic until I was shivering and vibrating with power.

Opening my eyes, I began to weave the unbinding spell. As I spoke the words of the incantation, my power flowed out with my breath, the magic pulsing the air around me.

My skin began to burn, precisely and painfully, like a tattoo of fire. Flashes of light flickered, and then runes began to glow all over me—spells of binding. They wrapped around my body like chains of writing, but as I tried to tear them apart with my magic, I found that they were stronger than forged iron.

Anger consumed me. I’d had a hand in making this spell, and I should be able to break it.

I pulled down my magic from the ether until it was a burning ball of ice in my chest. I pressed out with all my strength until my legs were quaking and cold sweat dripped from my skin. My lungs hurt, and my arms shook, but I kept pressing outward. I felt the spell chains bite into my skin, yet they wouldn’t break.

“Let me go!’ I growled.

Savy! a plaintive voice cried.

Shock tumbled through my mind. Wolfie?

My heartbeat accelerated, and I pushed even harder against my restraints. “Wolfie, are you there?”

I can’t get out.

I fought the spell, anger and desperation fueling my magic. The beads of sweat cut through the frost forming on my skin, and I trembled with exhaustion.

You’re slipping away! Wolfie cried. Don’t leave me!

Panic set in, and I snarled in desperation.

We’ve done this before,Wolfie said, her voice like a shout, but barely audible above a whisper or an echo down a long hall. Remember.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I tried to envision the bonds of magic, but instead, I saw another place.

A memory of a bare concrete room. An IV stand to my right with a blood bag and a tube connected to my arm. A fluorescent light buzzing overhead.

My arms were tied down with leather straps. The rogue wolves had drained my blood and injected me with magic inhibitor. My magic was fading, but so were the bonds that I didn’t know were even there.

A month ago.

I remembered the terror. I remembered arching my back and pulling against my bindings with all my strength. Of begging “please” in a whisper to anyone who could hear me.

And then, someone had responded. Someone I’d never known was there. A guardian angel. A part of my soul.

Wolfie.

Tags: Veronica Douglas Magic Side: Wolf Bound Fantasy
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