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“It’s a long story,” she answered carefully.

“You seem to really like him,” Agatha went on. “I don’t blame you—he’s one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen.”

Loren forced herself to draw a deep breath, but her hands curled around the conduit, her grip on it tightening until she could feel the sharp metal poking into her palms.

Agatha continued, “I think it’s the black hair and blue eyes—such a stunning combination. But also that face…” A low whistle slipped through her lips. “When he came to see me for help with his Surges—which is how we met, you know—I actually wound up crushing on him. I hope that doesn’t bother you. I had a crush on him for years—”

“If you don’t stop talking,” Loren began in a lethally controlled voice, “I’m going to pull out your hair. And something tells me you wouldn’t suit being bald.” One minute of silence passed before Loren opened her eyes.

Agatha was watching her, humor quirking her mouth. “I was hoping that would’ve worked.”

“Making me jealous?” Loren didn’t bother asking Agatha if any of the things she’d said were true. It was probably better if she didn’t know. Besides, Loren couldn’t blame her if what she’d said was the truth.

Agatha shrugged. “Jealous. Upset. Call it what you will.” She shrugged again. “It was worth a shot.”

“You didn’t see anything?” Loren pressed, gesturing to the conduit, still lightless and cold in her hands. But she could feel something nudging at her from the inside, a feeling she thought stemmed from the Venom.

Agatha shook her head. “Let’s try something else. Even with the assistance of a drug, you need to know how to summon your magic, so bear with me here. You clearly have strong feelings for Darien. Would you say that you…love him?”

“Yes,” Loren answered, the word floating from her tongue before Agatha had finished speaking. “Yes, I do.”

“I want you to think about all the things that you love about him. Can you do that? Pretend I am not here.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t say them out loud. Just think them. Feel them.”

Still cupping the amulet in front of her heart, Loren closed her eyes.

She loved so many things about Darien that she wasn’t sure where to start. But she decided she would start at the beginning and see where it led her. Her mind spiraled back to last year, back to the moment when he’d found her in the alley between The Salted Caramel Ice Cream Parlour and Medea’s Magic Tricks. And she remembered…

The look on his face when he’d seen her that very first time. When he’d realized she was human, but had looked at her like she was anything but. Fear had kept her from seeing it back then, but she knew him well enough now, so well that hindsight had shed light on the things she’d missed before. He’d looked at her like she was extraordinary and beautiful, and made of all the things she knew she wasn’t.

She thought of how he’d stared at her in Rook and Redding’s, as if he couldn’t look away from her. Back then, she’d found his stare frightening, no matter how handsome he was, and she remembered nearly choking on the butterflies he’d stirred up in her stomach, so many of them that it felt like her insides would burst open with wings.

How he’d paid for her food after, handing his card over to the server before she could fumble her wallet out of her bag.

How he’d stopped her from tripping on the stairs at Hell’s Gate, holding onto her for longer than he’d needed to, as if he didn’t want to let her go.

The way he always sat facing her, no matter where he was in a room, and how he stayed as close to her as possible, angling his body toward her. And whenever he sat directly beside her, he framed her with his legs spread, a possessive hand on the back of her chair. Always guarding her. Forever her protector.

How he cooked for her whenever she was hungry, and how he always noticed her tattoo flaring with warning before she even noticed it herself.

The way he clung to her when they slept together at night, never letting go, his strong arms wrapped around her body. How he liked to listen to her heart beating as he fell asleep, as if the sound of it was his personal lullaby, his cheek on her breast.

And how every time they kissed, he kissed her as if it was the very last time he’d be able to it. And how, whenever he said goodbye to her, whether it was for school, work, or anything in between, he kept watching her until the moment she was out of his sight.

And…and she remembered the ring. When he’d put the ring on her finger on the Control Tower. Saving her life, knowing full well that in doing so, he was forfeiting his own.

Loren opened her eyes.

The solar amulet was glowing with the many shades of her aura. It warmed her hands, a bright white tinged with rainbow, the colors sparkling across her skin.

Agatha smiled at her. “Love works its own magic.”

Loren smiled back. When she looked at her magic, her smile spread wider, a spark of hope in her chest. “Love works its own magic.”

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