Because I was trying to split it apart. And it would split apart. It was inevitable.
As I threw myself into the height of my power, once again I felt it try to lock me in place as that inevitability climbed me like jungle vines.
With a still heart, I ignored it and plunged the rest of my power – all my magic – into the blade.
I heard McCain scrabble forward, felt him lock a hand around my ankle.
I didn’t jerk away, didn’t break my attention.
“No,” he screamed.
I paid him no heed.
“No,” he bellowed once more, voice pitching with pure distress.
He’d been waiting for so long for me, hadn’t he? So long for me to break him free of his prison in the past and buy him a new future.
And I would deliver on that dream, just not in the way he wanted.
McCain had lost himself to power. It had narrowed his world. It was time for me to open it up.
As his grip tightened around my ankle in one last ditch wave of desperation as he tried to climb me, I pushed the last of my power into the blade.
And it broke. In an echoing split that I swore shook through time itself, the dagger split apart.
The metal didn’t splinter and blast through me.
No. Instantly, it turned to light.
Two, white-hot, pulsing globes of light.
McCain’s grip on my foot slackened, his fingers falling as one ball of light shot into the center of his chest. It knocked him away from me, and he fell on his back with a rattling thump.
One of the balls of light shot toward Max, too. It plunged into his chest and sent him shaking to his knees.
Just before he could fall backward and pass out, he made eye contact with me.
Enduring eye contact. He also whispered, “Thank you.”
Then Max, my Max, rocked back and lost consciousness.
All around the dump, magic was popping like balloons that had strayed too close to the fire. The magic soon returned to the ground in hissing wisps of colored steam. Witches were also pulling themselves out from behind cover.
… It was over.
No, not yet.
It was time to get both these boys back home to where they belonged.
I pushed down on one knee and placed a hand flat on McCain’s chest.
I’d pushed almost all of my magic into breaking the dagger, but there were several fireflies left, waiting to be used.
And use them I did. Concentrating with all my might, I willed a vision of the past to flow through me.
I felt the grass beneath my feet, the sun on my cheeks, the wind in my hair.
And I opened my eyes.
There I was, back in that pastureland.
I smiled as I tipped my head back and stared at the expansive blue sky above.
Beautiful didn’t do it justice.
It was right. For everything had turned out right.
Before I could turn and use the very last of my fireflies to travel back into the future, I heard someone calling my name.
Mary.
She pushed over the top of the hill, her skirts swaying around her legs as she ran down toward me.
Her hair bounced around her shoulders, a red halo lit up by the sun.
As she neared, I saw her eyes pulse wide at the sight of Max.
It wasn’t fear, wasn’t hatred. God no, it was love.
“Oh my,” she stammered as she reached us and dropped down to one knee, her whole body shaking with convulsions of emotion. “He’s back. He’s back. My McCain is back.”
I stood there and smiled. Which was a feat considering my injuries.
But hey, it was over, and that would be enough to make any girl smile.
It took Mary a long time to pull her shocked attention off McCain and lock it on me. “You did it. Child, you saved him.”
“In a manner of speaking,” I managed as I brought up a hand and tried to neaten my hair over my shoulder. I gave up when it felt like I was trying to run my fingers through a knot of wire.
Mary’s lips quivered. She tried to push to her feet, but before she could, McCain stirred. Showing his strength and speed, his hand shot up and locked around Mary’s wrist.
At first, my heart wanted to beat with fear. At first, my heart wanted to tell me that I’d been wrong, that I hadn’t managed to save McCain after all.
I pushed that inevitable conclusion away and watched, waiting to see what would happen next.
Mary turned her head down just as McCain tried to sit. There was a frown on his face. It wasn’t powerful, wasn’t angry – it was simply confusion.
He shifted his attention from me back to Mary. As soon as he saw her, a spark of familiarity lit up his eyes and curled his lips into the warmest smile I’d ever seen. “Mary? What’s happening? Where am I?”
A single tear fell from her eye and trailed down her cheek.
I looked down at her. I didn’t smile. To be honest, I still didn’t know what to think. McCain had been a world-class asshole. He’d cursed my whole family for generations.
“It was the magic. His magic did it to him.” Mary, obviously reading my mind, shook her head. “It was the cost of using his magic.”
Could I actually believe that?
“Mary, what’s going on? Who is that woman?” McCain asked. His tone was completely different. Gone were the strident power and hatred. In their place were innocence and confusion.
Mary smiled at McCain then tilted her head up and faced me. “You took his magic, wiped the slate clean. How?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t want to lose my Max. So I found a way to make everyone win.”
Ever since I’d met Mary, she’d always called me child, always looked at me as if I needed protecting. Now she shifted her head back and nodded as if I were an equal. “You are surely more powerful than I ever was.”
I snorted. “Not anymore. I used up all my power. I’ve only got a single spark left to get back home.”
A wide smile spread across Mary’s pale cheeks. “Your magic won’t be gone completely, Chi. Though you’ve used up most of it, and you’ll never see full visions of the future again and you’ll never be able to travel to the past, you’ll still catch glimpses.”
“Glimpses?” Even as I asked, I realized I already knew what she meant. The tiny flashes of possible futures that had helped me defeat McCain.
“It’ll be enough to help people.”
I nodded.
She returned her attention to McCain, another smile pressing hard against her lips as she tenderly patted the hair from his eyes.
I stiffened. Even though I’d kind of saved the world here, I couldn’t let this drop. “I may have stripped him of his magic, and he may have apparently lost his memories, but he’s still a criminal.” I stopped just short of calling him a monster.
Mary’s eyes lost focus as she stared past me into the middle distance.
I had a feeling she was about to tell me it was complicated, that McCain’s magic had made him do it.
She didn’t. Instead, she nodded slowly. “Aye, he gave into his magic, like most of us do. I’m not excusing what he did to us McLanes, and I never will. But neither will I give in to the last of his magic.”
My brow crumpled and dropped low over my eyes. “Sorry?”
“His magic robbed us of our future. Robbed anyone around him of their futures. That’s why he needed you – a seer who could create another path.”
I shook my head, finally realizing what she was implying. “I don’t buy that McCain was created by his magic. He had a choice in the matter.”
Mary laughed softly. “We’re not all as strong as you, Chi. We’re not all as good at finding balance. Know this, McCain’s magic was stronger than him. It wanted his future, wanted to become as powerful as it could.”
I frowned, the move driving lines through my chin. The way she was explaining it, it sounded like magic was some kind of parasite feeding off the people who practiced it.
>
… I entertained the possibility for half a second before shaking my head resolutely. Magic was neither good nor bad – it reacted to your fear, to your desires, to your quest for certainty.
“Don’t worry, Chi – he’s lost his power now. His memories, too. There’s no longer anything to punish, just cherish,” she added under her breath as she softly thumbed the hair from his forehead again.
Though I wanted to linger and challenge her, she suddenly shifted over her shoulder, eyes opening wide. “It’s calling you back, my dear.”
“What?”
“The future. You can’t linger here anymore. It’s over, Chi. Return to your own time and reap your just rewards.” With that, Mary nodded low.
“Wait, what about the timeline? Now I’ve removed McCain’s power, won’t history change?”
Mary laughed softly. “Don’t worry, everything will be exactly as you remember it when you return. Now go back. Time to live your future, Chi.”
I bowed low.
Then I turned. I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated with all my power on that last spark of a firefly.
This was it. Once I used it to get back to the future, I’d barely have any magic left.
That brought a smile to my lips. For, if there was one thing this entire adventure had taught me, it was I didn’t need to see the future anymore.
It was time to create it.
Epilogue
So, it was over, ha? These whirlwind last couple of weeks of magic, danger, and seeing the future had finally come to a stop.
I was sitting at the kitchen table while, unsurprisingly, Max was cooking. I had no idea what he was conjuring up, but from the exact tantalizing scents wafting through the room, I could guess it was something exquisite.
Bridgette and Sarah sat across the table from me. Don’t ask me how it was possible, but both of them were pretty much back to normal. Though I could still see a few layers of bandages underneath Bridgette’s tight T-shirt, there was a smile on her face, and she was moving around with the exact same pluck and determination she usually had. She shifted back, locked her hands on the edge of the table, and grinned at me. “You will go down in legend, you know,” she commented as she crossed her arms and didn’t seem to be perturbed when her elbows pushed hard into her torso.
I snorted. “It’ll be a pretty boring legend.” Though I tried to keep a straight face, I couldn’t, and smiled between my words.
“You stripped a sorcerer king of his powers, sent him back to the past where he belonged, and successfully split a man’s soul into two beings,” Sarah said seriously. “You don’t do your achievements justice, Chi.”
I blushed.
I also surreptitiously turned over my shoulder and caught sight of Max as he continued to bustle behind us.
I was still coming to terms with what I’d managed to do. But no matter how incredible Bridgette and Sarah thought I’d been, I couldn’t deny how Max had helped. Without his assistance, I wouldn’t be here today. If he hadn’t continually fought Shadow McCain’s control over his body, I would have succumbed to the curse and never had the opportunity to break it.
Sarah and Bridgette continued to chat amongst themselves. Hot topics included how the hell we were going to fix the damage to the municipal tip, and what exactly the other magical races would think of the huge display of power during our fight. Though a frown pressed across Sarah’s face, it wasn’t severe, and it was clear the witches would find a way to cover this up.
Me? I paid attention to their conversation with half an ear as I locked the rest of my attention on Max, on the way he moved, on his presence.
It still couldn’t sink in. That, not only was he back, but he was finally free. No more shadows flitting across his eyes, no more leaving photos of murder victims around the bathtub on the off chance it would activate my precognitive abilities.
Nope. He was just Max.
Just my Max.
I played with that term, letting it roll between my lips.
We hadn’t had a chance to discuss things since the fight. With one thing and another, we’d just been too busy.
Suffice to say, I was looking forward to the chance of getting him on his own. For more than a chat, if you know what I mean.
… That’s if he was still interested. Because, honestly, he was a different man now, and I couldn’t stop forgetting that. Aspects of Max’s personality had been dictated by McCain’s continuous presence. It would take Max a while to fall on his feet, and I should give him the option to do just that.
“Hey, Chi, are you paying attention to me?” Bridgette leaned forward and waved a hand in front of my face.
I jolted backward, blinking hard at the interruption.
A very specific kind of smile spread across Bridgette’s lips as she turned over her shoulder to see where I’d been staring at.
“What do you think you’ll do next?” she asked.
I swore the question came out of nowhere. Swore it hit me like a slice from McCain’s sword.
… What would I do next?
Crap, I’d put exactly no thought toward figuring that out. But now, as I sat here and considered that possibility, I realized one thing. I was free. No more curse, no more contrived excuses to use my powers. More than that, I owned this beautiful house and would never want for money again.
Oh, and I still had subtle precognitive abilities that could be used for good.
Before the curse, if I’d asked Max what I should do, his answer would have been strong and forthright. Use your abilities for others. Use your power to spy into the future to help others navigate the best path forward.
To do otherwise would be to shirk my responsibility, to shroud myself in guilt.
I brought a hand up, rested the wrist against the side of the table, and started picking at some of the scars along my hands.
I was bruised and battered, to say the least. Though the medi-witches on hand after the fight had done a good job of fixing my more severe injuries, I’d be black and blue for a few weeks.
Sarah and Bridgette didn’t push and sat there in silence as they waited for my reply.
Max had stopped pottering around in the kitchen. The unmistakable sound of him expertly whisking batter had cut out.
It seemed everybody was waiting for me to make my decision. Yet no one was pressuring me.
… Heck, what could I do?
Drag the kitchen table out onto the pavement and offer fortunes? Dig up a crystal ball from somewhere, put a brightly colored scarf on my head, and call myself Madam Veritas again?
No. That world was over for me.
This world? Full of magic and witches and false fairies?
It was just opening up.
It was my turn to cross my arms and lean back from the table as I considered everybody.
Despite the fact my grandmother had always been negotiating the McLane curse, she’d still used her powers for good. Her effect on Detective Coulson and his obvious respect for her was evidence enough she’d made a difference in this town.
Though my stomach clenched at the thought of following in her footsteps, I now had more than enough courage to push that tight, uncomfortable sensation away.
I shrugged. “Well, as soon as Max finishes making pancakes, with extra sauce,” I said pointedly, “I think I might call Detective Coulson.”
Silence met that statement. It kind of felt like it was a hesitant silence as if everyone were giving me the opportunity to change my mind.
I wouldn’t change my mind. “I think it will take me a while to completely settle into my new subtle powers, but I’ll have great help, ha?” I flicked my gaze between Sarah and Bridgette.
Both of them smiled supportively.
“I’ll never be able to see the full future again,” my voice dipped down low, “but I still think I’ll be of some help.”
A massive grin spread across Bridgette’s face as she leaned in and patted a hand softly on the table. “A little help, Chi? Come on,
we both know you’re gonna clean the city up in days.”
I shared a laugh with her.
Then?
Max finished the pancakes.
He set them before us, and we ate, the conversation quickly shifting to other topics.
Though Max engaged in conversation, every now and then, I felt his gaze lock on the side of my face. It felt warm, reassuring, and pleasantly expectant. Was Max, just like me, waiting until we were alone?
I soon got my answer.
Once we were finished, Bridgette and Sarah excused themselves.
Max waited until the front door closed before he turned to face me.
Though my stomach knotted with all sorts of confusing nerves, I turned around in the chair, locked a hand over the back, placed a palm flat on the table, swallowed, and faced him.
Silence. It spread between us, and I swear it was magical. Or at least, something was magical. Because the nerves and excitement kept building and building in my stomach until it felt as if I’d swallowed magical flame.
Max was obviously waiting for me to make the first move.
So I did.
I pushed up, took a step toward him, then another, then stopped. “You’re alive,” I said, and as comments went, it was about as obvious as they came.
A soft smile spread across his lips as he managed a nod. “So are you,” he added in a husky voice that sent thrills tumbling through my gut.
The nerves finally climbed high through my chest and reached my lips, pressing them into a wild grin. “It was touch and go there for a while. But I had a good bodyguard.”
He wouldn’t break eye contact with me. And it was so freaking intense that I swore his gaze was like two hands cradling me.
I pressed my lips together and tapped my fingers on my thigh. “So….”
“What happens now?” he asked in that same raspy voice.
My gaze had dropped to the floor, but slowly, as if I were climbing a ladder, I let it sweep up him until it locked on his eyes. “Yeah,” my voice dropped down low and shivered with a raspy tone of my own, “what happens now?”
“That’s up to you, Chi McLane.”
“Don’t you want… time? Time to figure out who you are without the shadow of McCain?”
A Lying Witch Book Four Page 13
