Page 58 of Loving Amari

“So what’s the consequence?” I ask, though dread fills me because I already know.

You will have to choose between your ascended role and your family. Not forever, but for a time.

“I can’t cry on this plane, but I want to. I want to scream. I want to rage against this.”

When you ascend, you will have just enough power to siphon back the magic from Nathaniel. To strip him of what he stole from the Blackwoods. But you won’t be able to do it again. You’ll be bound by my laws, just as all supernatural beings are. What you give out, you cannot take back. It must be given back willingly.

“And when I do that, I’ll be bound to my plane.” The reality settles over me like a shroud.

Yes, for a time.

“I won’t see Amari again. I won’t see my children again.” Each word is agony.

That is correct.

“For how long? Your perception of time in these realms is different. A time for you could be centuries for me.”

When the time is right. When Wintermoon no longer teeters on the edge of destruction. When you have learned what you need to learn.

A pause. Then the voice continues.

But I want to leave you with one more thing. One more truth before you make your choice.

“What is it?”

It is your job to learn how to balance?—

“Loving Amari,” I finish, understanding flooding through me. “How to love him from a distance. How to protect him without interfering. How to be his mate without being by his side.”

Precisely. You cannot physically interfere with things that go on in the plane he’s bound to. You can only watch. Only influence. Only guide from afar. It will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done.

“But Henry, Brookstone and Blackburn...” I protest. “They’ll still be out there. Still threatening Wintermoon.”

Nathaniel is your job. He is the piece you must remove from the board. There are other Blackwood witches who will rise to face Henry. Other warriors who will stand against the corporation.

The voice grows firm.

And it is my hope that you will use your influence to build a final Blackwood coven. One that will stand the test of time. One that will never fall to corruption or greed again.

I get lost in the pink orb, feeling its power call to me. Images flash through my mind. Three women cloaked with different shades of brown skin, their hands linked. A young boy with vivid blue eyes. “Three sisters, one son.”

Yes. They will be your legacy in the living realm. Your influence made manifest.

I reach up, my hand trembling as it hovers near the orb. “This is going to hurt. Really going to hurt, isn’t it?”

Transformation always does. But you are strong enough to bear it.

“One more thing,” I say, my hand still hovering. “Will Amari be okay? Will he survive this separation?”

You aren’t going to lose Amari forever. Only for a time. After all, I created the rules, and who am I to break them? I won’t take a mate from a mate. The bond will remain, stretched thin but unbroken. He will feel you. You will feel him. It will be agony, but it will not be death.

I take a deep breath that I don’t need in this realm. “You have a deal.”

I knew I could count on you, Carla Blackwood. You have always been my most reliable child.

I touch the orb. Power explodes around me like a supernova, forming webs of pure energy that wrap around my body, my soul, my very essence. The pain is exquisite and agonizing, like being unmade and remade simultaneously. Every cell in my body is being rewritten, elevated to something beyond mortal comprehension.

I start to levitate in the white void, my back arching as the transformation takes hold. My eyes burn, shifting from brown to bright pink that glows like neon. Magic tingles in my fingers, different from before.