Page 104 of Reckless Witch

I stare at the first line. This is no spell.

The power in The Shadows is unmistakable.

My heart thunders. I steady my mind, then continue.

There is no doubt they are the key I have been searching for these last ten years.

“Sweet God,” I mutter. My hand trembles so badly I nearly drop the phone.

I know God will forgive me—though everyone else will condemn me, and some would kill me if they knew the truth. I pray He is still able to help me.

The Shadows are not as difficult to control as I’d expected. That frightens me. In the end, though, does fear matter? Once I control them, nothing else will matter.

Once she controls them? Tears stream down my face. Stony jumps from the bed and nudges my leg with her snout as I read the next line.

Denique in occursum mihi Fatum meum

I stare at the Latin words. Why didn’t the spell translate the Latin? Somewhere in the far reaches of my mind, I understand. My spell only removed the spell that hid the words written on the page. Grams wrote the last sentence in Latin.

“Denique in occursum mihi Fatum meum,” I murmur aloud. My Latin is decent, but my brain struggles to focus.

Stony says something. I look at her. She blurs.

“At last I meet my destiny,” she says in piggy snorts.

I look back at the words. “Using Shadow magic is her destiny?”

Real, real, real!

The evidence against Grams is real. Blade—Ethan and Raith—are right.

I collapse into tears.

I’m vaguely aware that Stony stands over me in her natural form. The next thing I know, she lifts me in her arms and lays me on the bed. I curl into a ball as she pulls the covers over me. The bed dips and a warm body presses against my back. She rests her snout on my side and waits.

Chapter Forty-Four

LEILAH

War Games

I slept that night, though I hadn’t expected to. Emotions and the body are funny that way. They protect themselves. I dreamt, but remember only fleeting images. Thank the dream gods for small mercies. I stare at myself in the mirror that hangs on the back of my door as I tie off my one long braid and toss it over my shoulder. Had I known three days ago what I now know, I would have allowed Raith to strip me of my magic and would have left The Academy. Now, I’m bound here for six months and, every day, I must face the three men who have been telling me the truth about Grams all along.

I can never tell them about the spell book. Not that Grams deserves my loyalty. It’s just that I can’t bring myself to tell the truth. That truth leads straight back to me. If Grams can turn, then anyone can turn. Me included.

Eddy Hanks. The name bounces off the insides of my skull.

Without magic, I won’t have the power to help a scum bag like him.

All I have to do is keep my distance from The Three, become a model student for the next six months, then I—

Wait. Do I have to stay here the full six months? What if I allow Raith to strip me of my magic now? Maybe I can make a deal with the Illumina. Strip my powers, give me Grams’ house, and I’ll be out of their lives forever.

I shove aside the panic that rises. It’s possible to live without magic. Millions of people do. This is the only way. I don’t deserve to be a witch. Grams didn’t deserve to be a witch, damn her soul.

She must be in Shadow Hell now, paying the price for her betrayal.

I will live a quiet life as an average mortal.