on you,” Babcia said. “Imagine it welling out of your own spirit, trailing down your arms and letting the salt absorb its energy.”
I tried, but instead of flowing, I had to tug on the energetic strands of bullshit I felt were pulling down my spirit. The worry over my competition came up easily. The concern over the crystals was a little harder, but after nudging it for a moment, I felt it begin to drain away.
It was tough. Some things didn’t want to come up. When I came to the bond that drew Ethan and I together, I nearly cried. The connection I had with Ethan was so frail now. It was like if either of us pulled in the wrong direction, it’d break.
I could feel the demon’s suffocating energy as I touched our bond. I tried to drain it out, but the leshane’s energy was sticky, like tar. It wasn’t going anywhere.
“I can’t get it to move.” My expression strained with the effort of carving out the leshane’s nasty vitality.
“Order it to leave. No energy, good or bad, that is not yours can stay with you, if you demand it to go,” Babcia said. “Stand your ground.”
I was good at that. I told the demon’s influence to get the hell out of here. It resisted initially, but the energy knew it didn’t belong to me. I felt the demon’s magic siphon away, flooding into the salt.
“Look, Emma!” Arthur gasped beside me, and I opened my eyes. Wonderment encompassed me as I saw dark tendrils swirl around my arms, stemming from my core. The tendrils were sucked into the salt, until my chest felt lighter and my spirit felt like it was floating inside my body. The heaviness was gone, replaced by a feeling of ease. I took a breath. It was like an elephant had gotten off my chest.
I drew my fingers out of the salt, and blew out the candle. Babcia took the bowl and poured it into a pot of water, which she carried to the kitchen to dump down the sink.
“That made such a difference,” I said in astonishment.
“Many Seelie fae aren’t comfortable dealing with their darkness,” Bapa said around the pipe in his mouth. “The Unseelie are willing to face our shadows. That is what sets us apart.”
“And make us dangerous,” Arthur pointed out. Babcia nodded solemnly.
Confidence grew in my chest, swelling until it felt like a ball of light glowing inside of me. I was becoming a better Unseelie everyday.
I just hoped it was enough to save the ones I loved.
I returned to the university later that day. I had planned on doing some homework, but Delmare waved me over as I walked by the library.
“Hey,” I said. “Did you and Stefan sort things out?” They’d been arguing about her book on and off since their first fight over it.
Delmare blushed. “Oh, yeah. It was stupid, really. I took another look at my first draft, and I realized he was right. All the changes he suggested are good ones. I rewrote the end of the book, and it’s much better now. I was being too sensitive. I guess he was right all along— don’t tell him that, though, or he’ll never stop gloating.”
“Never.” I smiled.
Delmare paused. I wondered why she’d called me over, until she said, “Em… you should check on Ethan. He doesn’t look good.”
My stomach bottomed out. “Where is he?”
“The Rec Room. I think he wants you, though he’ll never ask.”
“I’ll go see him now. Thanks, Mare.”
I hurried upstairs as fast as I could. When I came into the Rec Room, I saw my mate, and everything fell to the wayside.
Ethan was sitting in an armchair in front of the fire. He looked terrible. The bags under his bloodshot eyes were purple, and he had busted veins running across his face, as well as bruises. It looked like he’d been in a bad fight, and lost.
I knew when he needed me. I could just feel it. I had sworn to kick that demon’s ass from here to hell, and though I hadn’t succeeded yet, I wasn’t done trying. I crossed the room and sat across from Ethan. He barely glanced up to acknowledge my presence. I wanted to reach out and caress his bruised hand, but I didn’t know if the gesture would help him or hurt him… so I didn’t.
“Having a bad day?” I asked, as a way to make conversation, but I immediately wanted to take it back. Every day