Page 26 of Sweets and Sycamores

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU

Allie’s heart skipped a beat.

“A…seal?”

The powerful Mage looked stricken as soon as the words left her lips. He sighed, reeling in the rage in his eyes that Allie thought was not directed at her.

“A seal is a magic-suppressing technique. It’s quite advanced and meant to dull a wielder’s powers.

It is likely the reason why your power is so out of control.

Because the seal started to break.” Dominic paused for a moment, that rage slipping and filling his green eyes.

“The seal could be the reason you manifested late.”

Allie froze with shock, a thousand questions swarming through her mind.

“Manif—you mean I could have had my power twenty years ago?” she shrieked.

Dominic shook his head.

“Most seals last up to a few years before they start breaking. And when they do, the power has been suppressed for so long that it…”

“Goes crazy.” Allie finished his thought. She could have had her power for a while now, even if still much later than other Witches. The questions of who had done this to her, when, or how were muffled by one thought.

It was not her fault that she couldn’t control her fire.

Allie felt a weight lifted off her shoulders after spending so much time blaming herself.

“Why are you smiling?” Dominic’s forehead creased with confusion.

“I’m sorry.” Allie chuckled nervously. “It just feels so good to know that this is not completely my fault, and that something is only partly wrong with me.”

“There is nothing wrong with you.”

Allie swallowed her smile at the sound of his growl. Dominic looked like her words had ravaged him somehow, like he shared some of her pain.

It was painful to learn that she had manifested her power years ago, but it had been kept hidden until recently because of this seal. This seal that was now breaking and making her life a living hell.

And someone had put it on her. Who? Who in this world had loathed her enough to do that?

None of the Silverbarks could have done it, as Allie’s seal was breaking when she joined them.

She had no other friends and no other people crossing through her life, except for Sam, who didn’t have magic anyway.

“What can I do about it?” she asked as steadily as she could.

“If it breaks on its own, the stream of power that has been suppressed runs the risk of…exploding inside you,” Dominic ground out.

“But if it’s broken by magic in a controlled environment, you should be safe.

That suppressed power would be released gradually, so you might feel some discomfort.

” Allie didn’t have to think too much to understand that her only option was the second one.

“We have to take it off,” her boss declared.

We.

Like they were a team. The simple thought filled Allie’s heart with warm joy that threatened to overpower her building dread.

“How?”

Dominic scoffed. “I am a Mage.”

Allie didn’t expect him to ever be cocky about it, and it was almost playful and definitely endearing.

“Ah. Of course,” she said and nodded solemnly. No need for further explanation, since Mages sat at the top of the magic wielders' hierarchy when it came to power and skills. As a Witch in her situation, certainly it wasn’t for her to question her Mage boss. She trusted him.

The prospect of having a power she could control was both exhilarating and terrifying.

Allie hadn’t grasped the fact that over the years, she had made peace with things as they were.

She had never resolved to give up, but deep inside her heart, she acknowledged that she wouldn’t be a great Witch.

Maybe not even an average one. But for the last few months, ever since she joined the Silverbarks, she had been living with the hope that she could at least control her fire enough not to be kicked out of the coven.

Her future could look so different now, with the possibility of becoming a great Witch. She had a lot to make up for in a very short time, especially because of Lydia’s deadline, but Allie felt like she had a chance. A real one.

Dominic kept quiet at her side, moving his green eyes from her to the trees a few times. He gave her space to understand and organize her feelings, and she was grateful for it. Yet no matter how much time she mulled over this, the conclusion was plain and simple.

Allie cleared her throat, drawing his emeralds back to her.

“So how do we take it off?” she asked with a smile.

Dominic straightened, surprised she was ready to tackle this already. He expected her to take a few days to think about it, but he also understood her excitement to be rid of the fucking seal.

He wouldn’t get into who the hell had done that to her just because he didn’t want to put Allie through an even more emotional turmoil. But if he ever found out…

“It’s tricky, but it won’t take long,” he started, one hand scratching his temple, as if to make those thoughts shrink.

“Seals are woven in a way that hides their magic until a spell is cast to break them, so I can’t know what kind of seal it is before I start working on it.

I’ve always hated seals.” Dom grimaced. “And because we both have elemental magic, I’ll need to draw power from nature.

From the sycamores, to make sure we don’t tip the power balance one way or the other.

” The beautiful Witch frowned. “Once the seal is broken, and your power is free, there is a risk that it might be drawn to me, or draw my power to it.”

Her mouth formed a silent “Oh.” Dom knew this would be the most difficult part, to ensure their powers wouldn’t get intertwined. Maybe he should get another Mage to—no. The thought repulsed him, and he didn’t trust anyone else with Allie.

More importantly, she trusted him.

But shouldn’t it be her choice? Dom cursed this voice that sowed doubt in his heart, but it was too late. Now he couldn’t avoid giving Allie the option without hating himself.

Even if he could live with hating himself.

“I can find another Mage to do it for you, if you want. Someone who doesn’t possess an eleme—”

“What? No!” She leaned forward on her hands into his space, bringing those big, round, chocolate eyes close enough that Dom wondered if she could see into his soul.

They trembled and sparkled with determination as the setting sun basked them into soft light.

“I don’t want anyone else. I trust you.” Again, those three words he’d longed for came to Allie’s lips so naturally.

His heart did a strange quivering thing in his chest. “Unless you don’t want to… ”

What?

“I want to.” The last thing Dominic had wanted this badly was to find a cure for the sycamores.

“Then it’s settled,” Allie said and leaned back. “But how can you draw from the sycamores if they’re sick?”

“The magic is still there, I can feel it. It’s strong enough to resist this rupture for a while.

” As if on cue, a chill wind swept against the warm air shield Dom had put up, bending the sycamores’ branches downward.

They had been listening to him ever since he was a child, and Dom always felt like he borrowed their power at times.

“The sycamores’ magic is disconnected from the earth.

They cannot act to protect the land as they did before, at least not until the connection is restored.

But the sycamores still have their magic. ”

“Makes sense,” Allie said, her gaze wandering over the dancing auburn crowns surrounding them.

“I’m sorry that happened,” Allie whispered, and before Dom could brush it off she went on.

“I promise not all Witches are like that. Unfortunately, most of them are and have this wild behavior of biting anyone who tries to get close. I guess it’s because we live lonely lives unless a coven chooses to accept us. And even if they do…”

Dominic waited, but she didn’t finish her thought. It wasn’t hard for him to guess at the ending. Allie had left her coven to learn about her power because they refused to help her. Didn’t accept her. His hand flexed on the blanket.

“About the seal.” She changed the subject suddenly. “Can we do it now?”

Dom nodded. He came prepared to do it if Allie wanted to.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’m ready.”

All right. He could do this. He had performed spells much more difficult than breaking a seal. He’d also broken his fair share of seals while working and learning under the Diviners' Order.

“Lie down close to the tree.” Dominic guided Allie so he could reach both her and the tree.

She obeyed, that trust she’d offered him shining through her relaxed features.

“Close your eyes,” he urged her, fearing he might lose focus from the spell if he met her gaze. “I’ll make it as painless as possible.”

The corners of her mouth went up, crinkling the freckles on her cheeks.

“I know you will.”

Dominic did his best not to let her words overwhelm him as he placed one hand on the tree trunk and the other on Allie’s abdomen and focused on his magic.

A warmth built inside Allie’s core that wasn’t caused only by Dominic’s touch. She was heating steadily, like a pot on the stove. It wasn’t painful, but it was uncomfortable, like he had warned her.

Allie wanted to open her eyes and watch the powerful Mage at work, but she wouldn’t move an inch until he told her so. She didn’t want to risk messing up the spell or breaking his focus, so she lay there patiently, heating up.

More and more.

Sweat beads gathered on her forehead, her palms, the back of her neck.

Allie felt like she was running a high fever, one that kept rising with every breath.

Her skin was scorching, from the top of her head to the tip of her toes, her muscles pulling taut under it.

The pain came in waves, pulsating through her body faster than her heartbeats.

She squeezed her eyes, forcing her body to sit still and to not writhe on the cool ground.

“Dom,” she whispered when the pain became unbearable.