AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The more I did the right thing, the easier it got. Well. Sort of. More like I was training my brain to react a certain way to a series of stimuli. It would become instinct, eventually. I hoped. If you considered a thing that had to be taught instinctual.
Resolve lined his face when he lifted his gaze to mine. “Where do you want to do it?”
“Somewhere folks won’t hear the screams and call the police.”
“All right.” He didn’t ask me if I was sure, and I appreciated it. “Let the Mayhews know.”
A big part of me wanted to text Marita instead and then jump into Dad’s arms so he could zip me away from her temper. I didn’t want to subject myself to what came next, but no one else had any bright ideas on how to remove the Hunk. And I wanted more than to remove it.
I wanted to destroy it. I wanted the Maudit Grimoire to cease existing. I wanted to ruin it the same way it had tried to ruin me.
But first, I had to pay for every drop of magic it had lent me with the pain of revoking its hold over me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Thanks to my Tinkkit engagement ring, whose gift was sending me off to sleep with a twist of the band, I didn’t so much as twitch until we arrived in Sweetwater. I can’t say that I woke refreshed and ready to face the day, but I was determined and eager to kick frost giant butt.
“I hope you enjoyed your nap.” Marita, with Colby on her head, turned in her seat to look at me. “Colby and I could have used another backup singer, but we let you sleep out of the kindness of our hearts.”
“Thanks?” I shoved into an upright position. “Has Dad narrowed things down for us?”
“The hair he was using melted.” Derry pulled onto the side of the road. “It was ice, I guess?”
The intensity of Dad’s focus, paired with the multiple attempts required to track as Bjorn moved, meant he had forced a lot of magic through it. There was nothing for it. We would have to find another way if Dad struck out.
“I’m not sure.” I hadn’t gotten close enough to Bjorn to tell. “Dad might have zapped it too hard.”
The soles of my shoes sank into soggy grass when I stepped out to join Dad, who set his hands on my shoulders to hold mestill while he scanned me for any aftereffects from the third and fourth anchors he ripped out of me prior to us leaving Dallas.
I was halfway to the finish line. More than. Closer to freedom from the Hunk than I had been since the day the book fell into my hands. But I knew better than to think the rest would come easily. The price of such magic was never cheap, and I had run up quite the tab.
“Well, Doc?” I forced a smile for him. “Will I live?”
“Yes.” His expression cleared, but he didn’t smile back. “How do you feel?”
“Sore and weirdly tingly.” I shook out my hands. “I’m not sure if it’s from Colby healing me—” which she had insisted on doing afterward, “—or if it’s a side effect of expelling dark magic from my soul.”
No matter how you sliced it, that was what the Hunk had done. Gone straight for the core of my magic. I should have noticed quicker, should have stopped sooner, but looking back I had no idea what I could have done differently.
Sometimes life throws so much at you all at once the only thing you can do is hunker down and pray you survive it.
On the other hand, even though life gave you no pointers ahead of time, you got hit with the guilt, the remorse, the wishing things had gone differently.
Life was kind of a dick.
“The ranch is about a mile ahead.” Marita rolled her shoulders, then twisted her torso from left to right, loosening up for the shift after a long ride. She pivoted, sniffing the air, then pointed. “That way.”
“Are we driving or walking?” I was stiff from lying boneless across the backseat. “I’m good either way.”
“Walking.” Derry cracked his neck. “Your dad told us to stop when you woke, so it worked out well.”
“I can fly ahead and scout,” Colby volunteered, rocketing into the air to burn off her pent-up energy.
“No,”we all yelled at once, the volume startling a squeak out of her.
“We don’t know for certain the director doesn’t know about you.” I had a gut feeling Clay had kept his mouth shut, but I couldn’t risk it. “The director knows Dad can fly. There might be traps if he’s trying to protect himself against an aerial attack. I’m guessing anything that would catch a black witch would work well on magic moths too.”
“Oh.” She spun into a tight circle, landing on my shoulder. “That would be bad.”
