Page 61 of Love Lives
"Nine."
"I'm not going to haggle with you, vampire. Five minutes, and I'm not going to correct the mistake of your wretched existence tonight."
Aldrich suppressed a sigh. Of course he had to get a werewolf who hated vampires. What a stereotype. Still, this was going better than he'd hoped for. Five minutes would be enough.
It had to be.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Puckand I spent all night and almost all of the following day practicing Atlus's spell. We only took breaks to eat, and once when Puck tried to reach out to other witches who might be of help. His pickings were slim, though. Now that people were actually dying, there weren't many who volunteered to take part in our war.
I also got the feeling that Puck didn't have a lot of social contacts to begin with, but I didn't voice that. No point in antagonizing him while he was helping. Sure, I hated him for telling me to 'try again' like a broken record, but I knew that he was right. And we were making progress.
Later in the day, we practiced on the vampires in the house. Aldrich still hadn't returned, but I tried not to think about that too much. He was a big boy, and he certainly didn't need me to take care of him.
And I certainly didn’t need him around either.
"You're not focusing," Puck chided me.
"Sorry," I muttered, annoyed at myself. "I'm getting tired."
"We'll try this one more time, and then you can get a few hours of sleep to recharge your batteries."
"Fine." I rubbed my temples, sat up straight, and got back to it.Focus on the magic inside yourself, I repeated in my head. I hadn't been able to feel it beforehand, but now that we'd spent almost an entire day practicing, it was hardnotto feel it. It was as if my muscles were sore after a tough work-out, only that it wasn't my muscles but something that went far deeper than that. An ache that flowed through me.
Funny that the first time I felt my magic wasn't magical at all.
Once more, I chanted the incantation that Puck had taught me. Words in a foreign language that meant nothing to me, but I had memorized them by now. At the same time that I spoke the words, I envisioned what I wanted to happen, focused on Talon and the magic flowing throughhisveins. Getting under his skin was the difficult thing. Puck had told me every magical being had an innate layer of protection against outside magic. Some stronger than others. If I couldn't break Talon's, I could forget about Vlad's.
I strained so hard my head started to pound. Once this was over, I knew I was going to have the worst migraine of my life. Finally, though, I could see a change in Talon's demeanor, in his expression. He was beginning to falter. I pushed forward. Something invisible between the two of us broke. I chanted the words to the spell again, louder this time. Talon closed his eyes and sank to the floor.
Had I really done this?
I exhaled, staring at the vampire.
The moment I lost my focus, his gaze snapped to me. There was dismay in his eyes, but approval too.
"That's enough," Puck said.
"I don't think it is," I argued. "I could barely hold him down for a second."
"While that is true, it's also a fact that you'll be absolutely useless tonight if you try to get any more training in now. Trust me, magical exhaustion is a thing and you do not want to experience it."
Truth be told, I wasn't sure I wasn't already experiencing it. Every time I blinked, my vision swam for a fraction of a second. Maybe Puck had a point, even if I hated it.
"You've made a lot of progress considering the short amount of time we had. This spell is far above the level of a regular novice."
Talon rose from the ground and dusted himself off. "We need to be ready for tonight."
"Yes," Puck agreed. "We'll make some preparation." He turned to me again. "It would be wise of you to get some sleep."
"All right, I get it." Seriously, I wasn't a seven-year old who had to be sent to bed. I would go there of my own accord. As I made my way up the stairs, though, I started to worry again. The sun was about to set. Would Aldrich come back tonight? Where had he spent the day? With a shudder, I thought back to the last time he'd left the house... and the state he'd been in when he’d come back.
I hoped I'd never have to see him likethatever again.
* * *
In spite of all my worries, I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. Exhaustion was great at least in that regard. It would have been even better if it had led to dreamless slumber too, but I wasn'tthatlucky.
