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"Only in emergencies!" Wynvail smacked Wane’s hand away, closing the bag and placing it on Wane's shoulder like a mother fussing over her son's first day at school. It melted my panicked heart for a second.
"This is yours, honey," he told me, and handed me a satchel. He scanned my face, searching, worried, and I pasted on a reassuring smile. It was definitely more grimace than smile, but it was the thought that counted. "Look in the front pocket."
I frowned, unbuttoning the utility pocket on the front and reaching inside—
"Motherfucker!" I shouted when ice-cold, electric magic deluged my body, burning all the way to my little toes, searing the tip of my tongue, and frazzling my damn eyelashes. I ripped my hand away, confused and touched and close to tears unrelated to the sharp magic. "How?"
A look into the pocket1 confirmed what I already knew. The bone hair pin sat inside, carved all over with little flowers.
"It must have fallen from Aphrodite's dress when she flew over Olympus. I found it after you … after," he finished softly.
"So your answer to Cronus destroying half the world is a bag full of goodies?" Harvey asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow when Wyn passed him a bag, too. He peered inside and frowned deeper. "There's a cactus in here."
"Trust me, you’ll be glad you have that cactus. Throw it at your enemies," Wynvail said with a little smile. "It's pretty potent when—"
"Verena?" Harvey asked sharply, dumping the bag on the floor and lurching across the room to grab her hands. "Hey. Look at me."
Her hands were covered in light—not just sparks like usual, but gold pooled in the middle of her palms, dripping through the gaps between her fingers. It splattered the floor, glowing as bright as the sun.
It wasn't the same shade of gold as Harvey's sunlight, the magic he'd used to kill his uncle and destroy the town that shielded the bastard, but it was so similar that I paused, a shudder going down my spine. In an alternate world, her magic would be inherited from Harvey, and she'd be our daughter.
"Verena, look at me," Harvey said gently, holding her hands as magic spilled over.
"I can't control it," she gasped, her eyes distant and lined with tears. "I can't stop it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
My heart squeezed tight. She was just a kid. She might have been powerful and fierce and strong as fuck, but she was a kid, and she was scared.
"You don't need to be sorry," Emlyn promised in the soft voice he usually reserved for me. He switched off the radio and set it on the floor, filling the room with static silence. "You've done nothing wrong, Verena."
"We've all lost control of our magic at one point," Harvey murmured. "It's normal. You don't need to be afraid of it—it's your power, no one else's. You're in control of it."
Verena shook her red head, her face so pale. Tears slid from her eyes, carving trails down her cheeks, and my stomach knotted. Some job we were doing of looking after her. We'd made her fucking cry.
"You are in control," Harvey insisted calmly. "Your power feels similar to mine, like sunlight." Hers bright and warm, his harsh and unforgiving. "I bet it feels hot, burning in your chest, right?"
She nodded, gasping short breaths, more magic spilling over her hands until tiny pools formed on the floor. Kai motioned for us to move back; Wyn made sure there was no volatile object or potion in its path.
"Sunlight burns; that's just its nature. Don't be scared of it. I'm guessing it's growing with every minute, filling more of you." Verena swallowed and nodded. "But if you close your eyes and reach for your magic, you can push it back into a small ball."
"I can't," she choked out, her voice small.
"You threatened to kick Kai in the balls for stealing your overnight oats this morning," I said, taking a careful step towards them, "and he's a scary fucker. If you can do that, you can do anything."
"Great pep talk," she said weakly, but if she had the energy to sass me, I must have said something right.
"Concentrate," Harvey guided. "Feel where your magic's growing and form it into a ball. You can do this, just take a breath, Verena."
I bit my lip, nervous and helpless and hating the feeling. All I could do was watch as Verena wrestled with her magic, tears on her cheeks and her hands shaking. But were the golden drips slowing in frequency? Or was I just seeing what I wanted to see?
"Good," Harvey murmured after a long moment. "Keep pushing."
"I'm not having a baby," she muttered.
Now there was definitely less magic flowing between her fingers. I exhaled a rough sigh of relief. Kai rubbed a hand over his face, squeezing my hand with his other. I leaned back against Em, needing the contact.
"It's stopped," Verena said finally, opening her eyes. There was only a faint pool of gold in her palms. "Thanks," she muttered to Harvey, seeming uncomfortable with the sentiment.
"Any time," Harvey replied with a smile I'd never seen before. It made my heart all squishy and soft. Made me want to cry again.
