Page 63 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

I had no choice in the matter any longer. I threw my head back and screamed as the pressure within me burst, exploding outward in a wave of white light. It shot out through the trees like a shockwave, shaking limbs and blowing over smaller saplings, until it hit the edge of the ward.

There was a low rumble before the entire sky above us lit with the same white light, arcing over the trees like a lacy dome.

I collapsed against Dax, my body shaking violently. My chest and throat burned.

He cradled me closer, lifting me off the ground and into his lap. His hands stroked my back as I turned my face into his neck. I sobbed into his throat, grasping at his biceps with my hands.

“It’s okay, Ally. You’re safe.”

“I could have killed you,” I cried.

He hugged me closer. “I’m immune to magic, remember?”

“Not my magic. I’m different and so is my power. It can affect you.”

His hands stilled on my back. “What?”

“I’m Anointed,” I sobbed. “Talant said that I have the potential to become like him.”

“Imprisoned?” Dax asked, his hands smoothing my hair away from my face.

“No, a goddess.”

His fingers froze in my hair. “What?”

“He said that I could become a goddess if I was willing to pay the price. But I don’t think it’s worth it. I don’t want to lose anyone I care about for that.”

I had no idea what I was saying, only that the tears and words were pouring out of me unchecked.

“Shhh.” Dax shushed me.

I continued to shiver, feeling a chill down to my bones now that the power had escaped me.

“I’m going to lift you and carry you back to the house,” he said.

I nodded, my forehead rubbing against his throat.

Dax slipped an arm beneath my knees and another around my back before he rose to his feet.

“Hang on to me,” he said.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight. There was a whoosh, Dax squatted down, and then we were in the air.

He was silent as he flew through the night, carrying me close to his chest. My breath trembled as I tried to calm down, but the tears kept coming.

He dropped lightly to the ground, barely making a sound when he landed. Then, he spoke.

“Ally, look up.”

Fear spiked through me, and I lifted my head. But the sight before me wasn’t one of destruction. The white light that curved over the resort, shimmered and shifted, the patterns of the lace twisting and turning, as though the magic danced to music that no one else could hear.

“What is that?” I asked.

“I think it’s the ward,” Dax murmured. “It reacted to your magic.”

He stood in the yard in front of his cabin, holding me in his arms, and we stared up at the lights dancing in the sky.

Until I shivered again.

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