Page 54 of Summertime Hexy
“Lux... incendere... lux...”
Nothing.
The mist rises.
I can’t breathe.
The tear widens.
And Ibreak.
Just for a second.
I drop to my knees and whisper, “Please. Just let someone see me.Someone.”
Suddenly, a roar.
Not from the tear.
From behind me.
Derek.
He crashes through the trees like a nightmare made of leather and fury. His eyes are glowing. His voice is a snarl.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!”
He slams into the mist, blade out, slashing it back with pure brute force. The veil pulses in protest. The tendrils recoil.
He’s at my side in a blink, yanking me to my feet, arm braced around my waist like I’m somethingworth saving.
“I lost you fortwo hours,” he growls. “And you end up at the edge of a veil rupture?”
I try to smile. “You always show up at the most dramatic moments.”
“Hazel.”
My throat tightens.
“I couldn’t feel my magic,” I whisper.
He cups my face.
“You’re not your magic,” he says. “You’re you. That’s enough.”
I believe him.
Derek’s blade is still humming in the air beside me, mist curling at our feet like smoke from a dying fire. My hands are shaking, and my magic’s still not fully back online, but I’m on my feet.
Barely.
Then I hear it.
Voices.
High-pitched. Scared.
“Hazel?”
