by Lizzy Ford
“So it’s not just turning Darkness to Light in general … she can specifically turn someone Light.”
With some restrictions. The deeper into Darkness the person is, the harder it can be and the less likely they will survive the transition. They must survive, Beck, or what she does will pull her into the Dark.
The words scared him. Morgan couldn’t know how close she’d come to going Dark. “She toasted this guy,” Beck agreed. “And I don’t think he was anything near what Dawn is.”
It pleases me to know Morgan did it. She is what you need.
“She almost killed him, Sam! I mean, I know he volunteered, but what on earth were they thinking?”
Probably that she wanted to save him the way you want to save her. I do not know his reasons.
Beck frowned, some of his urgency fading with Sam’s calm acceptance of Morgan’s rather freaky skill. “Who in their right mind would want to be burned alive?”
Someone who has a reason to be made Light.
Beck shook his head. Before he was a Master, he had never broken any rules, never dared to color outside the lines. He had never been a risk taker like Decker, either, and to think his counterbalance risked everything – her soul, her life, Noah’s life – to test a bedtime tale … it was a reminder of how different they were and what it meant to have a counterbalance. Summer had become Decker’s foundation and Decker pried the shy yet powerful witchling out of her shell. Morgan was the one who would push Beck to take chances while he kept her from diving over the edge.
Counterbalances were opposites in many ways, a realization that hadn’t yet sunk in during the short time he had been drawn to Morgan. He hadn’t known how far she was willing to go to try to help him, and she couldn’t know how close to the Darkness she’d gotten.
It was terrifying to know she’d jump into the Dark to save him.
Where is Morgan?
With a start, Beck realized he had left her at the lake.
Bring her here. I need to warn her about the danger of what she’s doing.
“That I agree with!” Beck vanished immediately and emerged from the fog at the cement pier.
Morgan was curled up at the end of the pier, shivering.
With mixed feelings about what she’d done, he hurried to her and bent, lifting her off the ground. “You okay, Morgan?” he murmured. Her fire magick flowed into him the way it did every time they touched, rendering him fevered. He pushed back to calm it, and the fire fizzled and turned to embers under the calming influence of earth magick.
“Yeah. Took more out of me than I expected,” she admitted and pressed her cheek to his chest. “Where’s Noah?”
“He’s fine. Alive.”
She glanced up at him, hearing the tightness in his response. Beck forced a smile and hugged her close to him, whisking her away to Sam in the forest.
White fog cleared once more to reveal Sam. Beck set Morgan down. No part of him wanted to let go, and she seemed uncertain on her feet. He wrapped an arm around her to keep her against his body. For once, she didn’t resist.
“Is he Light?” she asked, looking up at him. The emotion in her gaze provoked the protective side of him, and he touched her face, his worry easing.
“Yeah.”
Morgan appeared surprised then relieved.
“You should’ve told me,” he said, unable to help it.
“You would’ve tried to stop me.”
“Damn right I would have! Do you know what you risked, Morgan? Sam says if he died, you could’ve gone Dark!”
She gazed up at him, and he saw in her eyes she knew that, but chose to do it anyway. “What else am I supposed to do, Beck?”
“Talk to me! Stop locking me out!”
“I called you when I was done.”
“You tortured the poor guy nearly to death.”
She twisted free of his grip. “I didn’t want to!” she snapped. “I was … I had to … Beck.”
“Look, Morgan, you have nothing to prove to me and everything to lose if something goes wrong. I can help you.”
I don’t need help. He didn’t have to read her mind to guess what she was thinking. She lifted her chin, familiar defiance causing sparks to fly off into the wet forest.
“Next time, you tell me,” he said firmly, not about to back down like he normally wanted to in the face of her anger. He was quietly furious that she took such a risk and hurt she hadn’t trusted him enough to come to him.
She said nothing. He felt the increase of activity in her fire magick and watched her hand go to the pocket where the stone was kept.
“It’s not bothering me,” he told her.
“I plan on keeping it that way.” She took a few precarious steps away from him. “I’m sorry if I disappointed you, but I need to do things my way, Beck. I need to find out who I am and what I’m supposed to do to help you. You can’t do that for me.”
“You never disappoint me, Morgan,” he said and summoned his earth magick to help calm his agitated blood. He pushed some towards her as well so her pinging fire magick stopped tormenting him. “I just want you to talk to me. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? What might’ve happened if I couldn’t save him?”
“Would you have tried to stop me if you knew what I intended to do?” she fired back.
He clenched his teeth, his jaw ticking.
“I did it, Beck. Noah didn’t die.”
“But someone else might if you try it again. If you go Dark because of this, if you try it again and I can’t save someone, Morgan, you –”
“Ruin your plans to save the Light. I know.” She turned away from him. “I need to know what I am and I’m sorry if I’m disappointing you.”
He heard her hurt then, but didn’t know how to fix it. “You’re my sweet, fiery Morgan,” he softened. “My angry guardian angel with the largest heart in the universe. Yes, my plans were at risk but so are we. We’re in this together, Morgan.”
“Why did you bring me here?” she whispered, guard up.
Frustrated, Beck’s heart sank. He felt the tug of the stone, the flicker of coldness mixed with her fire. “Sam wanted to talk to you.”
She faced the yeti. Whatever he said to her, Beck wasn’t able to hear.
“Yes, that is the plan,” she replied somewhat archly and crossed her arms. She listened and sighed with a glance at Beck. “You know why, Sam.”
The yeti chortled.
Her gaze dropped as the silent conversation continued. Morgan’s shoulders slumped, and she dug her hands into her pockets. “No, it’s not fair,” she agreed without any heat.
Beck itched to know what they were talking about, but held his tongue, studying Morgan as she spoke to Sam. Every time he saw her, she took his breath away. She was beautiful and in a way very different than he had seen before. Her fire magick gave her a glow that magnified the sultry innocence he had always been crazy about. She kissed and reacted with abandon, too inexperienced to know how to rein in passion he knew would be explosive if he didn’t keep his earth magick between them.
The glow was stronger this night, possibly from her recent release of magick. With a perfect shape, long legs and eyelashes that made him think he’d never given the small hairs the credit they deserved, she was the perfect package, down to the stubborn insistence that she had to protect him that drove him to want to spend two days straight in a gym.
She would never disappoint or inconvenience him. He didn’t know how to tell her he was concerned more for her soul than anything else without sounding like he was telling her what to do. She was close enough to touch, but he didn’t, and his earth magick grew insistent as it tried its best to fend off her unstable fire. The easiest way to calm her was direct contact, but he dared not get too close at the moment.
“My amulet?” she was asking. “Why?” There was dismay in her voice.
Beck, we can’t sense her because of the soul stone, but she’s Light.
Beck stood where he was, certain he mishe
ard. “What did you say, Sam?” he asked, unwilling to believe something that would change his world without hearing it again.
She’s Light.
“Morgan, let him have your amulet,” Beck said softly.
“I know already I don’t fit in!”
“Morgan.” He shifted her to face him and rested his hands on her shoulders. Every time he touched her, he wanted so much more. To take her into his arms, to kiss her, to beg her to trust him enough to just … sit with him forever and talk. “Please.” His magick flowed into her, and he felt her relax.
She sighed and reached into her pocket, pulling it out. She held it up and stared at it.
Beck began to smile and then laugh. “If all she had to do was fry some Dark witchling, we could’ve figured this all out months ago!” he exclaimed.
Morgan didn’t look away from the amulet that glowed faint pink-white, its brilliance illuminating their surroundings. “How …”
The trial. She had to learn to use her magick to fight the Dark and to trust someone – you, Beck – to help her. We are all fortunate that Noah lived, or this would’ve had a different result.
Clearly hearing the words, Morgan lowered the amulet and shivered, moving closer to Beck. He instinctively wrapped an arm around her once more.
“But what does it mean?” she asked, gaze going from him to the yeti. “How can I carry the soul stone and be Light?”
It should strengthen your ability to control its influence.
“Morgan, you’re Light,” Beck added. He sensed she wasn’t registering it or was too overwhelmed to know how to respond. His heart began to swell and his adrenaline rose once more as he realized what that meant.
He had a partner, a mate, a counterbalance, and neither of them was alone.
“Sam,” he said, excitement tearing through him. “Does this at all affect her duty to the soul stone?”
No.
“Can it still hurt the Light?”
It can.
Beck cursed. The brief moment of elation was followed by the knowledge that Morgan couldn’t step foot on campus and couldn’t get near the Light. “Then what difference does it make that she’s Light and not Dark?”
For one, you can be together, provided you never directly touch the stone, Beck, Sam said with a snort. But the stone remains a threat to the Light until she learns to bind it.
It was a compromise of sorts, one Beck found frustrating – yet encouraging. They were one step closer … The quiet instinct of the Master of Light warned him if Morgan had turned Light, it was also because there was a much greater challenge ahead, one that would require both of them to face.
He didn’t dare voice the concern aloud.
Morgan was gazing at him. “I won’t hurt you?”
“I never cared if you did,” he replied.
She rolled her eyes. With some hesitation, Morgan then slid her arms around him and hugged him. Beck sighed deeply. He had never experienced a hug that was this sweet, this long in coming. He nuzzled her hair and breathed in her scent, enjoying the warmth of her magick as it fluttered along his skin and sank into him to the bone. Her body fit against his perfectly, her plump breasts pressed to his chest and her face nestled into the muscle between his arm and chest.
“Will you let me take care of you?” he whispered. “I promise, I won’t touch you if you don’t want. I want to make sure you sleep and are safe.”
Morgan was silent for a long moment, the fingers of one hand tapping his chest as she thought. He knew they had some way to go before she’d trust him for more than a kiss and hug, and he was happy to wait and ecstatic to think they’d be together until that moment came when she was ready.
“Just for one night,” he added. “Stay with me tonight and rest.”
“Okay,” she whispered finally. “I brought my mom back with me. I have to let her know I’m okay.”
“Text her. You’re in no shape to go anywhere, but to sleep.”
She grumbled something he didn’t hear before saying more loudly, “Then tomorrow, I go back to taking care of you.”
He chuckled. “Fine. Sam, later,” he called to the yeti. Without waiting for a response, he whisked them both away to his room at his parent’s cabin. The fire was low, and the bedchamber smelled of the cookies waiting for him by the fire.
Easing back, Beck peered down at Morgan’s face. She appeared exhausted, pale and weak. He pushed red curls away from her features and resisted the urge to do more, to touch her more, instead, releasing her. His earth magick remained strong within her, settling her fire. Morgan still clutched her amulet in one hand and watched him step away.
“Shower’s through there. I’ll set out clothes and get more food,” he said with some awkwardness, wanting the distance and all the emotions and worry between them gone. “I can sleep on the floor or in Decker’s room.” He didn’t wait for her to agree but left quickly, the idea of Morgan naked in his shower a little too much after his taxing day.
Beck made his way down to the kitchen, unaware of the effect of his night until his unsteady hands went to retrieve something from the fridge. He closed the door and watched the trembling. He wasn’t entirely certain what emotion was the strongest right now: profound relief, his remaining fear, the warmth stirred by Morgan’s fire.
He had the answers to some of his most gut-twisting problems and none to others. It wasn’t a full victory to know Morgan was Light and if anything, it felt a little like defeat. She had bloomed overnight while he was no closer to figuring out how they were going to defeat Dawn or be together.
He stood before the bank of windows overlooking the lake. It was starting to thaw in the spring weather, with the middle black and the edges frosted greys and white. Rain pelted the windows while the below freezing nights turned the melted snow and slush into ice. Frozen branches of trees sparkled in the light given off by the veranda, and puffy grey clouds covered the sky. Extinguished candles under protective covers outlined the two pentagrams – one black, one white – where his parents meditated daily.
Shaking away the darker thoughts, he microwaved leftovers for Morgan and returned to his room.
Dressed in his t-shirt, sweatshirt and sweatpants, she was seated beside the fire, her red curls wet and her face tucked in the crook of the arms wrapped around her knees. Her magick was sad, and he sensed rather than heard her tears. She glowed this night, and he was able to see her Light. It gave her subtle sultriness a flare of innocence, a combination that stirred his blood and interest in too many ways for him to give her the peace she probably needed.
Beck set the food down and went to her immediately, knowing how much she’d been through since arriving at the school four months before. He sat down beside her, shoulder to shoulder. “Hey,” he said and nudged her.
She said nothing. Unable to resist, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his body. She gave without a fight this time, her frame shaking and breathing uneven. He steadied her magick automatically and did his best to buffer himself against the fiery, playful invasion touching her brought. He fantasized about the day when he didn’t have to throw up his guards, when he could let his fire melt him from the inside and dare her to unleash everything she could, then make love to her until they couldn’t move.
The potential for a physical relationship beyond anything he could imagine was there. He had tasted it whenever they kissed, and he grappled with his yearning to remember she was damaged and needed time while desire born of hormones and lust quickened his blood.
She calmed in his arms, and he shifted to lean back against the heavy armchair near the fire so he could support her better. Beck held her, breathing in the scent of his shampoo in her hair and trying hard not to notice how her supple, perfect body reclined against his. This was the first night of them, and he feared ruining it.
“Did you call your mom?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Beck didn’t quite know what else to say.
“I thought bein
g Light would change everything,” she whispered at last. “I thought I’d … I don’t know. Forget all the bad things and know what to do next.”
“It’s an incredible step, Morgan,” he replied. “It means the world. It really does.”
“But I’m still bad for you.” She lifted her head. Her gorgeous green eyes were lined with red, and her nose was red as well.
“But look at what you can do,” he said, touched by her distress. “You can help me fight the Dark.”
“From a million miles away!”
He laughed softly, unable to help it. “Morgan, you’re Light. The first Light fire witchling in centuries. Take the victory. It means you’re stronger than every fire witchling that’s existed in five hundred years. It means you’re special.” And you’re mine.
She was listening. She straightened to support her own weight without leaving his body, eyes on his face. “It means we can …” she cleared her throat, tiny flames igniting across her body in a sign of visual arousal he found sexy as hell.
“Be together?” he teased.
She nodded.
“In every way. When you’re ready.”
She didn’t speak and rested her head against his shoulder with a deep sigh. He felt her exhaustion and surrender.
“What is that?” she murmured, pointing to the large history book he had placed by the fire while trying to get through more of it during the week.
“Oral histories of the witchlings.” He stretched until his fingers brushed the binding then tugged it towards them, not wanting to release her. “I was searching for some information about how to trap Bartholomew.”
“Using the soul stone?”
“Yeah.”
Morgan eased away enough to open the front cover. “Did you find anything?”
“No. It’s kind of hard to read, though. They wrote an ‘s’ like an ‘f’ and had other letters we don’t use so some of the words are weird.”
“Did you ask your magick?”
“It doesn’t know, and the earth kind of speaks in riddles, so I can’t really figure out its answers sometimes.”
