Page 42 of Poison Sun

“I can’t believe you’ve never read this thing before,” I mutter as I turn another worn page.

I don’t care how much he dislikes magic after what happened to his dad. How can he not be curious? How can he not want to arm himself with knowledge in case something happens and he needs to use it someday?

“Like I told you before—I stay as far away from magic as possible.” He flicks his gaze up to meet mine, capturing my full attention with the piercing starbursts of his eyes. “At least I did, until crossing paths with the girl with the comet tattoo.”

My fingers instantly go to the tattoo behind my ear.

“Why did you pick a comet?” he asks.

“It symbolizes change,” I explain, my mind traveling back to the day I chose it. “A comet, hurtling through the darkness, brings light and transformation. For me, it meant embracing my magic and changing my fate.”

Because I can use my blood to see the future, I think, although I obviously don’t say that part out loud, no matter how tempting it is.

The more time we spend together, the more it sinks in that there are others like me and my sisters out there. But I can’t risk exposing us. As much as I want to be honest with Blaze, two days isn’t enough time to build that kind of trust.

“Change,” he says, leaning back. “I like that. It’s hopeful.”

“It is,” I agree. “We used ink from the same pots, hoping it would bind us through blood.”

“Do you think it does?” He watches me closely, like I’m a secret he’s trying to unravel.

Which, I suppose, I am.

“I do,” I say, and that’s when it hits me.

“What?” he asks.

“I have an idea.”

“I can see that.” He smiles and motions for me to continue. “Want to share?”

“This might sound crazy, but hear me out.” I take a deep breath, excited and amazed that I didn’t think of this earlier. “You can use your blood to do spells on objects. So, maybe you can do spells on people, too? By inscribing your blood onto their skin, like a tattoo? Maybe there’s a spell you can do to get the poison out of Amber’s blood?—”

“I can’t do that,” he cuts me off, tearing his gaze away from mine.

I flinch at the sudden change of his tone. “But have you ever tried?” I ask, unwilling to drop it so easily.

Shadows darken his eyes. “I have.”

“And…?”

“It went wrong,” he says. “Really, really wrong.”

“What happened?” I lean forward, the book forgotten, needing to know more.

He presses his lips together, gazing out at the mountain.

I say nothing, instead giving him space to think.

“I wasn’t in full control of the magic,” he finally says. “It requires far more precision and strength to use blood magic on skin than it does on objects. When I tried, it was like the magic overwhelmed my intentions and took on a life of its own. I won’t do that to anyone again. I can’t. It’s not worth it.”

The intensity in his eyes makes it clear he won’t budge on this one.

At least, not yet.

“All right,” I decide. “Then it sounds like we’re going to have to figure out a way to strengthen your magic and make it more precise, so that you can do it.”

He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You seriously want me to do a blood spell on your friend, after I told you I don’t have that level of skill?”

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