Page 113 of Claim the Light
He peers at me as if he also wants to ask me something. “You encountered the keepers of magic.”
I nod, although it didn’t sound like a question.
“The woman I love met them, too.” Again, the corners of his mouth twitch upward. “She told them to fuck off. Well, not in so many words, but the intent was the same.”
My eyebrows rise, but I suddenly recall the conversation between the keepers of light and elemental magic. They spoke about a time when they’d all been drawn to the same place and a supernatural being had broken the natural order. I can only imagine it was the woman he’s speaking of.
His humor fades, his speech becomes cautious, and now he asks the question I sensed he was building up to. “Will you do something for me, Sophia Dragon?”
I reply without hesitation. “Yes.”
“Return my heart to the woman I love.”
He spoke of this woman as having the power to live an eternal life, which must mean she’s still out there. Somewhere.
“But… how will I find her?”
“Your path will take you to her.” His eyes twinkle. “For she is also a creature of old magic.”
Nathaniel’s silhouette begins to fade, but his quiet smile remains burned into my memory. “Claim the light, Sophia Dragon. It will never lead you astray.”
Then he’s gone and the bright light vanishes.
Micah rises from his crouch, cautiously lifting his arm from his eyes.
Tears are streaming down my cheeks. Tears of hope, but also of responsibility.Oh, what a thing to cry about.
“Sophia?”
Nathaniel told me that I can’t harm beings of old magic with my power, and old magic runs in Micah’s blood. But he also carries light magic, so it might not be enough to protect him.
I edge toward him, feeling more terrified than I’ve ever felt in my life. I should reach out into the universe right now, tear a little opening into another realm, maybe into the old magic keeper’s realm, and take myself away from Micah immediately. Stay away until I can return, in control of myself.
But my legs won’t move.
Even though Micah couldn’t see Nathaniel, I don’t know how much he heard of our conversation, if anything.
Micah’s expression smooths out, a look of quiet peace falling over his face as his gaze takes me in, running from my hair to my lips and up to my eyes.
“If you need me to wait for you, then I want you to know, I will wait a lifetime for you, Sophia,” he says.
He steps toward me and doesn’t stop.
“If you need me to take risks and throw myself into the path of danger, then I’ll do that, too.”
He’s so close to me now, but still, I can’t back away.
His arms close around me, arms that are full of acceptance as well as strength. His palm brushes my cheek and I’m holding my breath and shaking because any second now, I worry that I’ll change something in him.
His voice lowers. “If you need me to stand at your side and be the person in your life who stays constant and true, I can do that too.”
My eyes fill with tears as I trace the shape of his jaw, read the love in his eyes, and sense the power within him. A deep power, an old magic that’s like a solid foundation beneath my feet.
Finally, I can exhale.
I press my lips to his, drinking in his kiss and all the heat that comes with it.
When I pull back, nothing has changed.
