the way he was right before I cast the spell. He won’t get sick. He won’t age, and I hope the hex won’t progress any either . . .”
My father looked amazed. “I don’t even know how you would begin to do that and keep him alive.”
“It’s a rather familiar trick,” I said. I didn’t want to explain any further, though I had a feeling I’d have to.
“What do you mean?”
“Who else near and dear to you is also frozen in time, staying one way forever and ever, never aging, never dying, never changing . . . ?”
Wesley stared. “Did you do what I think you did?”
“Don’t look so aghast,” I said, processing his shock. “You did it with Lainey.”
“I gave her a tiny bit of my soul so she wouldn’t be corrupted,” he said, his features turning white. “She was whole otherwise, no other problems. She wasn’t rotting on the inside, some sort of very black magic destroying her.”
“So I gave him a bit more than a tiny bit.”
“How much more?” Wesley looked like he was going to be sick.
“I don’t know. Maybe a third.”
“A third!”
“Give or take.”
“What the hell!” Wesley blasted. “A third? You have absolutely no idea what that’s going to do to you! Or to him!”
“Well, I had to give enough to actually keep him alive, so—”
“Holy shit.” Wesley put his head in his hands.
“Wow.” I didn’t know what to say. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear like that.”
“You’re going to hear it now.” He was shaking his head. “Oh, my God.”
“I didn’t know what to do!” I shrieked.
“That much is obvious.”
“I just did the first thing that came to mind that might work. I wasn’t sure, of course, that this would freeze the spell, but—”
“Well, we’re going to find out pretty soon.”
“Why are you so mad at me?”
“Why am I so mad?” he repeated. “I don’t know, maybe because you just powered something up that no one will be able to stop. You did it without thinking. If you went mad, there would have been no way to stop you. Magic-wise, you’re the most powerful being on this whole planet.”
“Was,” I amended. By giving Cyrus such a large part of my soul and performing that spell I burned myself out. I was now, like Wesley, a shadow of my former self.
“Was,” he agreed. “Before this mess.”
“And before whoever’s behind Dylan’s scheme showed up.”
“Whom we have no chance of stopping now.”
“Like we had before.”
He sighed. “But that’s not our worst problem. We’d better pray that if this thing goes south, Cyrus dies. If that thing inside him wasn’t frozen like you hope . . .”
“Thanks. That’s cheerful. All my sacrifice in vain.”
“Well, the alternative is that our enemy can still control him and he terrorizes the city. Or the world. And there’s always the unfortunate side effect of madness. What if Cyrus is mad and you’ve given him a third of your life force?”
“You did the same thing for Lainey,” I pointed out again.
“I gave a tiny part. You gave a damn third!”
“You’re swearing again.”
“Yeah, and I’m going to continue to swear until Cyrus wakes up and we see what happens.” He stared at Cyrus. I followed his gaze. He glanced back and said, “Guess that answers my question.”
“What question?”
“About whether or not you love him. It’s completely obvious.”
I sighed. “I never said anything. Not to him.”
“I never said anything to Lainey either,” Wesley said in a quiet but friendly tone. I glanced over and noticed a small smile on his face. “I gave her that part of my soul without telling her. I’d go around using endearments in another language that she didn’t understand so she wouldn’t know how I felt and I wouldn’t have to admit it.”
I shook my head and gave him a wan smile. “God, I am so your daughter.”
He nodded. “Well, make sure you find a way to tell him how you feel. If he lives through this. You don’t have my problem, at least, so you won’t have to go through a new life and a new memory.”
“No.” I shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll find my own unique way to screw it up.”
Wesley sighed. “Don’t. Just . . . don’t.” He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “Hold on to love and happiness for as long as you can, Fantazia. Hold tight. They’re the only things that make life worth living, especially lives like ours.”
Our conversation ended as I felt my freeze spell wear off. “It’s gone.