Page 62 of Loving Amari
I run around everyone and flash down the stairs to the main floor with my vampire speed. I’m anxious to get to Carla, desperate to hold her, to see her, to make sure she’s okay.
But when I reach the door, I find it still locked by Tofi’s protection spell. The pink webbing holds firm against my attempts to open it.
Through the window, I can see her.
My beautiful Carla is levitating about ten feet off the ground, her body glowing with pink light. Her eyes are pulsing bright pink, so bright they’re almost white at the center. Her curls float around her head like she’s underwater, moved by invisible currents of power. She’s pulling all the spirit orbs from the academy toward her with threads of magical webbing. Even the one in Bobby’s enclosure bursts out, the device unable to contain it against her will. The orb follows with the others, drawn to her like moths to flame.
She pulls them toward her with magical web strings, controlling them with the grace of a conductor leading an orchestra. It’s the most beautiful and terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.
The children lift the shield protecting the academy. I feel the magic dissipate, the barrier falling away. I burst out the door into the night. I watch as all the spirits surround Carla in aswirling vortex of blue energy, dozens of orbs circling her like planets around a sun.
Then she does something even more magical. Her eyes meet mine through the chaos, through the spirits, through everything.
That’s when I notice Nathaniel in his full form, standing not far off in the courtyard. But he’s looking up at Carla with fury twisting his features, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“Enough, Nathaniel. Time to end this.” Carla’s voice rings out across the courtyard, resonant with power. It doesn’t sound entirely like her anymore. There’s something otherworldly in it, something divine. “You aren’t taking my cousin, or any of the children of Wintermoon. And I’m taking back the power my ancestors gave you.”
“Try.” Nathaniel sneers, his lip curling. “You cannot take it unless I give it willingly. That’s the law. Even you can’t break it.”
Carla smirks, and it’s the most confident expression I’ve ever seen on her face. “We shall see.”
She snaps her fingers. Every spirit orb caught in her magical web explodes simultaneously, turning to blue dust that evaporates into the night air. The display is breathtaking.
I smile, knowing exactly what’s happened. Understanding floods through me.
She’s ascended.
And she looks magnificent. I marvel at her, unable to look away. Her power radiates from her in waves I can feel even from here. She looks like a goddess made flesh. Her beauty has always been there, but now it’s amplified, transformed into something that transcends mortal comprehension. I couldn’t be more proud of my woman, doing this for us, for our family, for all of Wintermoon.
Nathaniel becomes fearful. I can see it in the way his eyes widen, the way he takes a step back. He creates a door to try to escape, the familiar blue portal forming in the air beside him.
Carla snaps her fingers again. The sound is sharp, final. The door vanishes like it never existed, not even leaving a ripple in the air.
“No more running,” she says simply, her voice calm and cold.
Nathaniel turns to her, desperation bleeding into his voice for the first time. “This isn’t the end. You can’t keep me contained forever.”
“I know.” Carla’s expression hardens, her jaw setting. “For what this is going to cost me, I’m going to have a lot of fun with you in limbo.”
She casts a spell from her fingers, pink webbing shooting out faster than I can track. It envelops him, trapping him completely. He struggles against it, but it’s useless. The pink magic turns brilliant white, so bright I have to shield my eyes.
“Give me back my family’s power, you fucking asshole.”
Carla siphons the magic, all the blue energy flowing out of Nathaniel in streams of light. It pours into her, her body completely absorbing it. She glows so brightly she looks like a star. When it’s over, she opens her eyes. They’re blue at first, crackling with the Blackwood magic she’s reclaimed. Then they shift back to pink, even brighter than before.
“Now you’re just a simple soul.” She tilts her head, studying him like an interesting specimen. “Let’s see how far you get before Verto catches you.”
A portal to the void opens up directly under him, the black emptiness of limbo yawning wide. It sucks him in with tremendous force. He screams as he falls, the sound cutting off abruptly when the portal closes with a snap.
Carla lowers herself slowly, gracefully, her feet touching the ground gently. The glow around her dims slightly but doesn’t disappear.
I charge toward her with my vampire speed, desperate to hold her, to touch her. But I hit something hard when Ireach her. Some kind of shield that’s like a pink web, invisible but impenetrable. The impact doesn’t hurt, but it stops me completely.
And then Carla starts to cry. She has a full breakdown where she stands, sobbing so hard her whole body shakes. Her tears flow down her cheeks, pink with her magic, leaving glowing trails on her skin.
That’s when I realize. When understanding crashes through me.
She’s no longer of this plane. Of this realm. Carla is lost to me. It feels like death all over again, like Granada burning, like watching everything I love turn to ash. But I just stare at her, smiling through my own pain because I know why she did it. I understand the sacrifice she’s made. For me. For our children. For Wintermoon.