Page 15 of Sophie’s Ruin (Crimson and Shadows #2)

SOPHIE

“Ireally shouldn’t be helping you,” Damien said, glancing behind his shoulder at the woods he’d just emerged from.

“No one will find out you’re helping me. Celeste didn’t even ask if I’d made any progress last night.”

“Probably because she didn’t expect you to make progress so quickly, but I felt your power.

The magic in your blood is strong. The way it was rolling off you…

that was quite impressive.” He chuckled low, his eyes full of wonder as they settled on me.

The dark, almost black depths reminded me of Stern, but there was no malice in them, only curiosity.

I squared my shoulders, standing tall under his admiring gaze. While Celeste was trying to stifle me, Damien recognized my potential and was willing to help me grow stronger. Hope that had flared in my chest after our interaction last night began to burn brighter.

“I want to learn more,” I told him, my tone eager. “What’s the next step?”

The young man just stared at me for a few minutes without saying a word.

My stomach dropped—was he questioning his decision to help me?

I wasn’t sure what I would do if he decided that going against Celeste’s wishes was too much of a risk and changed his mind.

I was not above begging him not to abandon me.

So much hinged on me learning my magic. Henry’s life depended on it.

After another beat of silence, Damien finally spoke, choosing his words carefully, “Once you bring your magic forth, you can manipulate it.”

A soft sigh of relief left me—he was still going to help.

With a nod, I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing.

At once, my mind went to Henry, and I felt my power surge to life, lighting up my veins.

I stared at his beautiful face as if he were standing right in front of me.

He stared back, his eyes like blue waters, drawing me in until I was swimming in them.

I knew this wasn’t real, but I wanted it to be real so much that it hurt.

Suddenly, Henry’s features contorted in pain, and he let out a scream of agony, the sound piercing my ears and my heart.

I might have been screaming with him as power swelled inside my chest, crackling down my arms until it concentrated in my hands.

I had to save him. I would stop at nothing, even if I had to kill them all—the ones who had torn us apart.

Now, it wasn’t just magic burning in my blood but also fury, white-hot and blinding, painting my vision with red.

Just like I would paint the walls red with the clan leaders’ blood when I found out where they were keeping him.

Breathing through my volatile emotions, I opened my eyes and looked down at my magic-wreathed hands.

The rippling blue flames were darker than the night before, but burned brighter as if infused with more power.

I was getting stronger; I could feel it.

“You’re a natural,” Damien said, when I lifted my gaze to his. He was wearing a strange expression on his face—a mix of awe and something else I couldn’t quite decipher. “Try to wield the power at your fingertips.”

“Wield it how? What can I do with it?” I asked, looking down again and flexing my fingers. The flames flickered with the movement but didn’t go out. My lips curved into a smile as I watched my magic burn, mesmerized by its quiet power and haunting beauty.

“Whatever you want,” Damien said in a hushed tone.

A short burst of laughter escaped me. Celeste would have advised me to start small, to take my time and not force it.

Damien wasn’t imposing any restrictions, trusting me to trust myself.

Excitement buzzed in my veins as I turned toward the shallow stream glistening in the pale white moonlight.

Letting my instincts take over, just as I’d done when I’d activated the Tear, I allowed my magic to guide me, but I was also in control.

It was a give and take, a push and pull, my powers and I working together toward one goal.

Right now, the goal was to move the water in the creek.

Soon, it would be freeing Henry and ending his captors’ miserable, worthless lives.

My upper lip curled in a snarl at the thought, and my fingers elongated into claws as I stretched my arms out in front of me, imagining that I was reaching into the stream.

Gritting my teeth in concentration, I slowly turned my palms up as if holding an invisible weight.

My eyes widened as the water in the creek followed my intent.

A churning orb of dripping liquid separated from the stream, rising above the gurgling surface.

The air became strangely charged as blue flames erupted around the sphere, enveloping it until tiny sparks of lighting crackled all around it.

A sheen of sweat broke across my forehead as I tugged on the magic in my body, pulling it like threads from my fingertips and toes and gathering it inside my chest, in my very center.

In a few seconds, my power was concentrated in the middle of my chest, churning and crackling like the spewing orb hovering above the stream.

All my muscles tensed as I focused on the ball of water, and a heartbeat later, released my power with a low grunt.

My magic exploded out of me, its force launching the water sphere into the woods on the other side of the creek.

It crashed into the trees with a thunder-like sound, incinerating them in the process.

I sucked in a sharp breath as a heady rush of power flooded my veins.

The exhilarating feeling was intoxicating, and I closed my eyes, reveling in it.

Tilting my face up, I basked in the power and in the moonlight.

I’d never felt so alive and so much in my element.

Here, at nighttime, using my magic—I’d been born for this.

There was freedom in the darkness, and there was freedom in the magic.

When the two combined, I felt limitless.

As a master of both, I could be unstoppable.

“That felt amazing,” I said, still with my back to Damien. “I can’t wait to find out what else I can do.”

“Who are you talking to?” came Celeste’s voice from behind me.

When I spun around, Damien was no longer there. He must have disappeared when the witch had shown up, using his magic to move through space.

How convenient, I thought, taking a mental note to ask him about how that worked when we resumed our training tomorrow night. At least, I hoped Damien would still show up tomorrow.

“No one,” I finally responded, focusing on Celeste. The witch eyed me suspiciously as she ducked her chin. “What are you doing here?” I asked, and immediately regretted it. The question sounded accusatory as if I had something to hide.

“I wanted to check on your progress…” Celeste trailed off, her gaze stretching behind me to the burnt woods on the other side of the creek.

Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the damage.

So, the witch could be rattled after all.

“How did you do that?” she asked low, returning her gaze to my face.

Her eyes flicked over my features as if looking for something.

“You are not supposed to be progressing so quickly.”

“Why not?” I challenged. “You know how motivated I am to learn my magic.”

“You want to use it for fighting,” Celeste pointed out before pressing her lips together in disapproval.

“Because I have something to fight for!” My voice rang out in the night.

My temper rose and my magic rapidly followed, brimming under the surface of my skin, right at my fingertips.

A muscle ticked in the witch’s cheek as she clenched her jaw. Her hands balled into fists at her sides, the knuckles whitening.

I felt all color drain from my face. I knew that if Celeste and I went against each other, the witch would prevail, at least in magic.

I could prevail with my vampire part, but I didn’t want to hurt her.

So I tried to force my magic down. Surprisingly, it resisted, spiking back up as if unwilling to be tamed.

Pushing harder, I managed to suppress it, dispersing it through my body until it was nothing more than a steady hum in my blood.

It was no surprise I had prevailed. Magic might be fickle, but I was no stranger to suppressing my true nature.

The faint current of my powers ran through my veins alongside the insidious thirst that could never be truly quenched and would accompany me until the end of my nights.

“I’m sorry,” I said, keeping my voice even as I looked at Celeste. “I didn’t mean to lash out. It’s just…I can’t wait to get Henry back and put an end to this.”

Celeste’s bright blue eyes softened just a fraction. My neck and back relaxed—the apology seemed to be enough to placate her. The witch was still on my side, and I needed to keep it that way, if only for her to leave me be and not interfere with the progress I’d been making.

“You need to be smart about this,” Celeste said calmly, uncurling her fists.

“Magic is a powerful force. It is not something to be meddled with without proper motivation or preparation. You are just starting to come into your power. You need to take it slow. I know the timing is not ideal, but don’t rush it. Trust me on this.”

Trust her…Henry was placing his trust in me to rescue him…

or perhaps he wasn’t. Perhaps he expected me to use the Tear to end vampires once and for all.

He carried this weight—this guilt—with him, trying to atone for the mistakes in his past. And wouldn’t that be the ultimate act of atonement?

To rid this world of his kind so humans had nothing to fear.

He probably wanted me to use the amulet to obliterate the vampires, leaving only humans and White Witches.

I knew him better than to think he wished for death, but I could see him resigning himself to that fate.

All for the greater good of humanity. Well, if he had, then he would be disappointed in me because I was no longer the selfless martyr.

Perhaps that part of me had died when I’d turned.

Henry had pulled me out of bloodlust, but maybe that part of me had remained behind, claimed by the never-ending darkness.

Henry might be disappointed in me, but at least he would be alive.

He deserved to be. Even if he didn’t always believe it himself.

“I understand,” I finally acknowledged Celeste’s warning.

I didn’t say I would heed it, and the witch eyed me warily as if not trusting I’d truly heard her words of caution. She opened her mouth to say something else, but I interjected, changing the subject.

“How did you find me?” I asked, shaking the remnants of my magic from my arms.

My fingertips tingled as if the power begged to be expelled and unleashed, but I ignored the feeling, opening and closing my fists until I didn’t feel the needling sensation anymore.

“The hex bag I gave you. It also has a tracking spell on it,” the witch replied.

My brows knitted. I didn’t like being tracked, but I knew better than to voice my displeasure aloud. Celeste had probably put a tracking spell on it in case something happened to me when I ventured into the Black Forest on my own.

“I’m going into the village. You should come with me. Amelie was asking about you,” Celeste said.

I stifled a sigh. I didn’t want to go into the village.

I wanted to stay here and keep practicing my magic.

But I doubted Celeste would let me out of her sight after the little demonstration she’d witnessed from me earlier.

I just hoped I would still be able to practice by myself from now on without her hovering over my shoulder.

I also hoped Celeste’s unexpected arrival hadn’t spooked Damien, deterring him from ever helping me again.

“Alright. I’ll go. Perhaps I could try using my magic to move through space like you do?” I asked, hopeful. Maybe Celeste wouldn’t have a problem with guiding me through it.

“We call it glimmering, and it requires much practice and energy. Again, don’t get ahead of yourself,” the witch said sternly.

I clenched my teeth to stop myself from muttering a curse at her stubbornness. Damien had said the magic in my blood was strong. Could she not sense it? I wished she would trust in my abilities.

I will advance quickly, I vowed to myself. The witch will regret underestimating me.

“I’ll run then,” I told her, wanting some time and space to clear my head.

To my surprise, Celeste didn’t offer to take me to the village with her, and I wondered if it was because my growing power was making her uneasy.

The witch didn’t say anything else as she gave a curt nod and disappeared into thin air.

The spot where she’d stood shimmered with soft, wavering light, and my head tilted to the side as I watched it dissipate.

I supposed “glimmering” was more than a fitting term for that act of magic.

If only Celeste had been willing to teach me how to glimmer…

No matter, I would learn one way or another.

In the meantime, I still had to rely on my supernatural speed.

My muscles tensed as I shifted my weight and leaned forward.

A heartbeat later, I was flying through the dark forest, reveling in the freedom of the night.

This was where I belonged—in the wilderness with other nocturnal creatures.

My heart was full, but also empty, because Henry wasn’t by my side.

I hoped I would dream about him when I went to sleep tonight.

Maybe we would get to finish what we’d started in my dream the other night.

It wouldn’t come close to the real thing, to the feeling of his body on mine, but it would still provide temporary release.

My eyes pricked with tears as I suddenly felt sorry for myself because I was hoping for glimpses of Henry in my dreams. I would get him back soon—I had to, and nothing and no one would stand in my way.