Page 23 of Autumn L.A.W

Ezra looked faintly pained. “Her aura dimmed. Went quiet. Like something muffled it.”

“That something being the obelisk?” Sahara asked.

Ezra’s gaze darkened. “Yes. Probably.”

Rayna’s voice snapped through the doorway. “Everyone out. Meeting in the library. Sahara, if you so much as wobble, someone is carrying you.”

The library's lamps brightened as they entered. The chandelier flickered, the hearth flared. Rayna shoved a stack of books aside so Sahara could lie down. The library liked her. Usually.

Ezra stepped inside last, and the house stayed quiet. Whew!

Sahara sat up, sipping water and pretending her heartbeat wasn’t tap-dancing. Ezra positioned himself across the table, close enough to see her clearly, far enough to avoid upsetting Rayna’s territorial instincts.

Rayna slapped her palms on the table. “Okay. Ground rules. One: nobody dies. Two: nobody gets dragged into a stone wormhole. Three: nobody kisses anyone unless I approve it first.”

Lioness choked. Joell wheezed. Sahara turned red. Ezra, infuriatingly, did not react.

“Rayna,” Sahara hissed.

“What?” Rayna snapped. “I know that look you’re trying not to have.”

Lioness whispered, “She means the Ezra look.”

Ezra folded his hands. “We should discuss the imprint.”

“Yes, please,” Rayna said. “Let’s do that.”

Ezra focused on Sahara. He was careful, steady, patient. “Tell me what you felt before you woke.”

Sahara swallowed. “It was like walking down a dark hallway. Except I wasn’t walking. Something else was. You know how a passing train can make you feel like you’re going backward, but your train is standing still? It was like that.”

Ezra’s expression tightened. “It’s reaching faster.”

Rayna glared. “Fan-fucking-tastic. Could you phrase that in a way that doesn’t make me want to push somebody into the Hudson?”

“Ick, don’t do that, Rayna,” Crystal said. She had been quiet up to that point. In fact, she had been spending more time with Mason ever since her run-in with the Sea Witch.

Ezra inclined his head. “The more it reaches, the more it learns. The more it learns, the stronger its pull.”

Joell frowned. “So how do we stop it?”

“There are three kinds of unbinding,” Ezra said. “A reverse binding, burning, and rewriting.”

Lioness squinted. “What’s rewriting? Because burning sounds painful.”

“Rewriting,” Ezra said gently, “reminds her magic what belongs to her, and what doesn’t.”

His gaze found Sahara’s and held it.

Something in Sahara’s chest fluttered. It was unexpected, intense, and inconvenient.

Rayna noticed. “Absolutely not!”

Ezra blinked. “What?”

“Nothing,” Sahara squeaked. “Go on. Please.”

Ezra cleared his throat. “Rewriting requires three anchors: one tied to her power, one tied to her spirit, and one tied to the house.”