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“Back the fuck up. Now,” my gargoyle bites out as I keep one hand on my backpack slung over my shoulder.
“Raven, please, give him a chance.” My jaw tics and my eyes widen as I glance past my brother to see Lyra leaning back against her desk, nervously tapping her fingers on her arms.
“You,” I snap, pointing a finger at her as I glance at my brother. “Is this…” My words trail off as I connect the dots. Lyra’s sheepish face as she ducks her head confirms it.
The reason she was disheveled earlier is because she was messing around with Sebastian. Wonderful. Pressing my fingers against my temple, it does little to alleviate the building pressure.
“Please, hear him out, I swear. Use my magic.” She stands, offering out her hand as wisps of magic swirl in her palm.
Flicking my gaze back to my brother, I find his eyes narrowed as he glances between Lyra and me until he settles on me and nods.
“You killed Genie. I should have known,” he states casually, as if he’s reporting on the weather, leaving me to sputter.
“Excuse me,” I start, but he quickly interjects.
“No excusing necessary. I should probably thank you, but we’re past that.”
It’s my turn to frown now as I try to read between the lines of what he’s saying, but it’s too much to break down coming from him. With a sigh, I give him a pointed look. “What could you possibly want, Sebastian?”
He shifts slightly, surprised I’m asking the question. Clearing his throat, he answers. “Your word.”
“My word?” I feel the crease between my eyes deepen, but if he’s aware of how confused I am, he doesn’t show it.
“Yes, and in return, I will help you.”
Brax scoffs, disbelief coming off him in waves as I tilt my head at my brother.
“What could you possibly aid us with? You’re lucky I don’t just kill you right now,” Brax grunts, and Sebastian smirks, rocking back on his heels as he sinks his hands into his pockets.
“Always so grizzly, Brax,” he remarks, earning himself a growl, which makes Sebastian realize just how serious Brax is with his threat. Clearing his throat, he looks back to me. “Is there any point in me speaking if you’re not channeling Lyra’s magic yet? Repeating myself is pointless.”
I purse my lips. He forgets the fact that my mirroring Lyra’s magic is for me to hear him out. It’s for his benefit, not mine. I want to cuss him out and tell him to get fucked, but then the reminder of the lashings he endured filter through my mind, exposing the smallest crack in my walls.
Lyra must sense the leniency in me because she steps closer, coming to my right side with her hand extended. She mouths her thanks, but I ignore her as I grasp at the tendrils of magic I can see.
“So it’s true… you can mirror magic.”
I cock a brow at him. He just heard Lyra mention it, and that’s if she hasn’t already told him before today. What else has she shared with my brother? Fuck. Tamping down my wandering thoughts, I focus on Sebastian again.
“What do you want?”
His gaze shifts between Brax and me as he wets his lips. “What can you do with your magic? What have you learned so far?”
Irritation bubbles in my veins as my gaze narrows at my brother. “That’s not answering my question, Sebastian.”
He rolls his eyes at me, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I’m going to continue with my assumption that you killed Genie. I’m not saying it was on purpose,” he quickly reassures as I open my mouth to speak, but he quiets me once more. “But if you’ve been working on mirror magic, then there is an opportunity to take someone’s magic completely, and my gut tells me that’s why you couldn’t bring Genie back. Necromancers tend to latch on to magic. That’s how this all works for you. You can touch it, take it, claim it. You can do all of that, including snippets.”
“Snippets?” I murmur in confusion, and he nods.
“The power you could have had with my help will forever be wasted,” he murmurs with a sigh, making Brax growl again. “Snippets are like blossoming flowers, so to speak. The magic is the flower in full bloom, and just like with flowers, you can take small parts of it to regrow elsewhere. That’s what you have the ability to do as well.” I frown, confused with his analogy, until he lifts his hand to reveal his magic floating around his palm. “Grasp it.”
I don’t move at first, rendered completely immobile as I consider if he could make this backfire on me. Finally, curiosity gets the better of me and I slip the strands between my fingers.
“Now, from what I’ve read, mirror magic can be performed while you’re touching it. If you completely yank at it, the magic would leave my body entirely with no way to return. However, if you lightly tug, you can pull away the smallest branch for yourself without causing any permanent damage and no longer need the source of the magical presence to use it.”
I blink, and blink again.
That definitely does sound helpful, really fucking helpful, but shit, what is it he wants in response?
