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I hum in my throat and focus on releasing the illusion, on figuring out how to undo what I’ve done.
“Wait!” Hardin exclaims before I can really get started, scaring the shit out of me.
“What!” I squawk back, sure I’ve just done something wrong and I’ll be stuck like this forever.
He holds up his phone, chuckling. “I just want to get a picture, love. Send it to Fielder and Ezra, so they know what you did.”
I scowl at him while he snaps a few pictures. “Don’t do shit like that, Hardin. It scared the crap out of me.”
He laughs unrepentantly and then tucks his phone away and motions for me to continue. I turn back to the mirror and take a deep breath, trying to release the illusion as I breathe out. Nothing happens. Shit.
I try again. And fail again.
The two witches in the room with me are silent, letting me figure out how to do it myself. But as I fail over and over again, I become more and more agitated.
“Fuck!” I finally shout. “I’m going to be stuck like this forever.”
Gideon huffs and shakes his head. “I don’t believe for one second you can’t do this, Rosalind. Focus. Find the thread of magic you’re feeding into the illusion and cut it. Just like when we’re doing spells together.”
I nod. I know what he means. When we do spells together, I can feel the thread of magic I put into the spell to join with theirs, weave together in the tapestry of the casting. But this feels different.
I don’t know if it is because this magic is just mine, or if it’s that this type of magic is more a part of me than spell work. But I can’t just track the single thread. So, instead I find my magic all of it in my whole body, and shut it all off at once. Like taking a lawn mower and cutting a huge swath of grass.
My heart stops beating and all of my muscles tense up as agony ripples through me.
Fuck, that hurts. I gasp in pain. And both of them grip my shoulders. “What did you do, love? It shouldn’t have hurt.”
I look up, find my reflection in the mirror and let out a breath when I look like myself, then shake my head as I answer his question. “I couldn’t pinpoint the thread. So I just cut all of them. I didn’t-I didn’t realize how many I had.” I look at Gideon. “Is it possible I’ve been doing spells without realizing it?”
Gideon tilts his head as he considers my question. “I don’t see why not. You’ve been using magic in your videos for years, its possible you’ve done other spells without meaning to.”
I trickle of dread works over my skin. “Then… What did I just release? Is that… I didn’t get rid of the protections that you guys did, right?”
Hardin cups my face, blue eyes scanning over mine.Can you hear me, love?
Yes.
He visibly relaxes as I send my response. Merritt and I have been working on my focus and control with the communication spell. So now I can actually have conversations without pouring out my innermost secrets. A huge improvement from then seeing all my conflicting emotions.
A blue black line of glitter mist appears between me and Gideon, and I nod at him, knowing that he’s confirmed that they can still track me.
He shakes his head slowly. “I don’t think you severed the ones we did with you. The spells seem to still be intact.”
I swallow and nod, leaning into Hardin, who still has his hands cupping my face. “So then I must have had other spells I was feeding magic into without knowing it?”
Gideon nods. “Yeah, though I’m not really sure how that could be possible. Like we’ve said, most beginning witches still need ingredients in order to cast anything. How many threads did you have?”
I think about it for a moment before shaking my head. “More than ten, but less than fifteen? I don’t know the exact number. Is there a way we can find out what spells they were?”
Hardin shakes his head grimly. “No. We might be able to find out the most recent ones, within a few days. But anything that you’ve cast before, like the last month, wouldn’t show up.”
I wilt. That means we’d basically be able to see all of the spells we already know I did. Unless I’ve been casting in my sleep in the last month, it won’t tell us anything.
A pounding sounds at the door and I arch a brow at both of them in question. They’re both here, and Fielder and Ezra are off doing something, so I don’t know who this could be. I disentangle myself from Hardin and head toward the door, only to be pulled back by Gideon. “You’re not answering the door wearing that.”
I look down, surprised to find myself in a tank top and panties. How had I not realized that I’m not dressed? How was I that comfortable with them seeing this much of my body?
Hardin slips out of the bedroom, and I know without asking that he’s going to answer the door. I hurry to the closet and grab a pair of leggings, tugging them on before shrugging into a bralette and pulling on a sweater.
