“Teo, what if you have no magic anymore?” Sebastian said hoarsely.
“It’s worth that price,” Mateo said, just as hoarsely.
Sebastian blew out a long breath and raised his head. “Everyone else has to leave.”
“Sebi—” Isabel started.
“Isa, por favor, no sé que va a pasar,” Sebastian said. “You too, please, Molly. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Molly grabbed Isabel’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go so he doesn’t have to worry about your magic being caught in his.”
“Thank you, Molly,” Sebastian said gratefully. “Wesley—”
“The hell I’m leaving,” Wesley said flatly. “I was only inches away when your magic saved us all from Blanshard. It’s not going to hurt me now.”
He got to his feet, leaning down to address Sebastian where he still sat on the floor. “I’ll walk the ladies down,” Wesley said. “And then I’m coming back to be with you.”
Sebastian had only managed to move as far as the floor next to Mateo’s settee when he heard the front door open, then close again.
“You can do this, you know,” Wesley said lightly, as he took the chair closest to Mateo’s head. Mateo’s eyes were closed again, his breathing too shallow. “Your great-aunt only bound Blanshard’s magic. It logically follows that you can do the same thing.”
Sebastian stared somewhere past his brother, his heart pounding uncomfortably fast. The brooch relic was a heavy weight in his pocket, his magic still buzzing in his blood. “Except I did destroy Blanshard’s magic. What if destruction is all I’m capable of now?”
“Your blood inherited a lineage of fighting magic that hurts the nonmagical,” said Wesley. “Your legacy may be complicated, but perhaps your magic knew what it was doing, destroying Blanshard’s evil magic, and you ought to give yourself a little more credit.”
Sebastian glanced up at Wesley. “You make it sound like it wasn’t my choice,” he said. “But Wesley, he was going to kill you. I wanted to stop him. And now I’m not sure I can use my magic as anything but a weapon, but I would do it again to save you.”
Wesley’s expression flickered for a moment, the smallest flash of something vulnerable. Then he reached down, and snagged Sebastian’s wrist, the one with the tattoo. He turned it over, so the tattoo was facing up. “Whatever has happened to your magic, I can still see your lion.”
Sebastian swallowed. “Really?”
“Yes,” said Wesley. “And I’m the only one he lets see him, so I’m afraid I’m going to insist you find more faith in him, because really, in a way, he’s mine.”
The tension in Sebastian’s chest eased the barest amount. Nothing could fight his despair like Wesley. “But I have to stay in control,” he said, barely more than a whisper, “and I have not had full control of myself for years. I don’t know if I believe I can keep enough control on my magic to do this.”
“Sebastian,” Wesley said, also quiet. “Have more faith in yourself as well. If you can make a scoundrel like me believe in magic, you can do anything. You can bring your brother all the way home.”
Sebastian bit his lip. With Wesley’s hand still on his wrist, he reached for his magic—and then he reached for Mateo.
Clear the vines but don’t raze the jungle,he told himself.Break the chains, don’t break Mateo.
Magic thrummed through him just below his skin. This was madness. It was asking the ocean to fill a glass of water, asking a stampede to gently pull your carriage—
Wesley’s fingers tightened around the lion tattoo. Wesley, who believed Sebastian could do this. Sebastian closed his eyes and swept out with his magic.
“Oh,”Wesley said, in surprise, butgoodsurprise, like he’d just seen something wonderful.
Sebastian kept his eyes closed, kept his focus on Mateo’s living magic, warped by the aura pumped into it, choking Mateo with its unnatural strength.
Sleep, not destroy.Put Teo’s magic to sleep—
Mateo gasped.
Sebastian’s eyes popped open—and Mateo’s eyes were wide too. His hands had gone to his heart.
Sebastian’s own heart leapt to his throat. “Did—did I—”
“No.” Mateo was breathing hard, but he was starting to smile. “No, it’s not completely gone. It’s like—it’s like you put out the fire, but left a candle. You didn’t extinguish the flame.”
