“Thanks,” she huffed, turning her attention to the next Dhampir. “Can you douse the remaining Dhampirs in water?” Her eyes glimmered dangerously. “And then I can freeze them.”
“You think you can freeze all of them?”
“Haven’t you learned not to underestimate me by now, wolf boy?”
I threw her a wide smile. “Goddess, I love it when you call me nicknames.”
She rolled her eyes. “Now or never, Nico!” she shouted as two Dhampirs came barreling toward us.
I threw out my magic, my wave of water washed over the forest, momentarily confusing the Dhampirs.
Luce’s magic crackled over the ground, her chest rising as it flowed over the land toward the Dhampirs like vines snaking up a terrace.
I watched Luce as she lost herself to the magic—I knew many of her tells by now. What to look for if she was expelling too much magic.
“Any time now, Lucy,” I told her as the now-soaked Dhampirs regained their focus, charging toward where we stood.
Luce smiled as she closed her fists. I could smell the damp stench of the Ichor magic as it permeated the air, like rotting leaves.
Luce’s body trembled, her chest rising and falling deeply. A bead of blood dripped from her nose.
She was pulling in more than what she had.
Her veinspulsed with the magic running through them, shimmering in the darkness.
“Luce—” Webs of frost sparked out around her feet, coating the ground around her in a thin layer of ice. Air came from her mouth in puffs. I reached for her, she was using too much, pushing herself too far.
She closed her fists, her eyes flying open. The Dhampirs froze in place. Their actions stopping mid-movement as they were captured in perfect stillness.
“Wow.” My grandmother breathed. “I’ve never seen magic so precise.” She ran her fingers over the Dhampir closest to us. Even its eyelashes were frozen in individual strands.
“Are you okay?” I rushed to Luce’s side as she opened her eyes, her body swaying gently. I placed my hand on her back to help steady her.
“Yes.” She pushed out of my hold. “I’m fine, I just need a minute.”
“That was some show of magic.” I tensed, my body going numb at the sound of the male voice behind me.
“You made it back quicker than I anticipated,” my grandmother commented.
“When we heard Nico was here, we traveled through the night.” My heart rattled in my chest; I turned, laying my eyes on my mother for the first time in over three years.
“Nico,” she breathed. Her brown eyes were glassy, and her bottom lip trembled. She took a step toward me, her hands reaching for me.
She halted as I took a step back.
“I didn’t come to see you.” My voice lacked conviction.
My mother nodded. Despite everything that had happened between us, I did still miss her. Seeing her was a punch to the gut.
It was a reminder of the pain that lived inside me.
I wanted to embrace her, like I had so manyother times before—but things were different now. She had lied to me—she and my father had lied to me my entire fucking life.
I wasn’t ready to forgive them for that. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
“Can’t you at least hug your mother?” Anger lined my father’s tone.
“I wish I could.” I raised my chin. “But she’s dead.”
