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“So, the village will work like a battery charger,” I say, the words slow and even as I consider her theory.
I’d already decided I needed to get the necklace back to the Grundelier settlement. That’s why we’re on our way there, now. But I only considered the magic of the village might connect with the pendant to show me a vision, not that the necklace was drained of energy and needed to be recharged, magically speaking.
“Do you think there might be a way I could recharge it, myself, without having to bring it back to the source every time? I don’t plan to stay in Louisiana forever, so I won’t be able to just pop over to the village every couple of days.”
“We could try,” she says, twisting to angle her body toward me and away from the window. Holding out a palm, she adds, “Give me one hand and hold the pendant with the other.”
“What are you going to do?” I ask as I follow her instructions.
“We,” she says, emphasizing the word, “are going to try to funnel some of our power into the stone. Now, close your eyes.”
I cast a glance to the front of the car, but neither Erik nor Jesse seem to be paying us any mind. I know they’re listening, of course. But it appears they’re going to let this play out however it will with no interference from them.
Turning back to Steph, I give her a shallow nod and allow my eyes to fall shut. Her grip on my hand tightens as she instructs me to take deep, even breaths, filling my pointless lungs slowly before releasing it just as smooth and evenly.
“Now, imaging your magic as a golden, glowing ball in the center of your chest,” she says in a soft, almost hypnotic tone. “It spins and pulses there, just waiting for you to call upon it.”
I try to picture it in my mind, but for some reason, my brain keeps showing me a red throbbing knot of energy. Not gold. I mentally shrug, deciding the color isn’t really that important, as long as I’m visualizing the core of my magic.
“Now, you want to siphon a little of that energy and send it through your body to the necklace. I’ll do the same, through our linked hands. You might feel a tingle.”
As soon as she says the words, the hairs on my arms stand up. I can feel her magic trickling into me, stinging my palm before slowly moving up my arm and across my chest. I refocus on my own ball of magic, imagining a thread untangling from the core and drifting toward the necklace in my hand like a spiderweb in the wind.
But the red ball of power only pulses faster, spinning and vibrating wildly in my mind. I try to calm myself, to stop it, but I’ve lost control. Before I can open my eyes or sound the alarm, the ball explodes, and pain lances through my chest and down my arm like a bullet tearing through flesh.
I open my mouth to cry out, but before any sound can emerge, everything goes black.
“I know it feels wrong, but you have to remember why we did what we did. We have to keep her safe.”
The deep male voice pulls me from the darkness, and I blink a few times to clear the cob webs. As my surroundings come into view, I freeze.
I know where I am.
I look down at the thick beige carpeting beneath my feet. Lifting my gaze, I trail my fingertips over the wall, coated in the lightest shade of lavender paint.
This is my childhood home. And that voice…
Dad.
“What if they come for her, Joe? How will she protect herself?”
Oh, God. Mom?
I force my feet to move. The voices are coming from the end of the hallway, escaping through the door that’s cracked open just an inch.
“No one is coming for her, my love. We’ve made sure of it.”
“She told me the mailman would be late today.”
“What?”
“I suggested we watch for the mail because her new DVD was supposed to arrive today. Her eyes unfocused for a moment, then she shook her head and said the mailman would be late. When I asked her how she knew, she said she felt it in her tummy. What she meant was she felt it in her gut, Joe. She had a premonition.”
My entire body goes rigid as my feet freeze. I’ve always had these gut feelings, and over the years I learned to trust them. Of course, I had no idea it was magic working deep inside me until my bonds broke and released the full force of my power.
But what does this mean? Mom mentioned a DVD arriving in the mail. I remember getting animated movies delivered when I was young. Maybe four or five years old. Was my magic leaking through the bonds restraining it even that far back?
“Was the mailman late?” Dad asks, cutting off my thoughts.
