Outcast of Magic (The Rise of the Sorceress Book 2) by L.A. Grant

Author:L.A. Grant [Grant, L.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

17

Corben

The sight of Hawksmoor Academy crumbled and broken at the bottom of the ocean haunted me. Spires torn from the main building, walls scattered in broken pieces, books rotting away, reclaimed by the sea beneath…I took a deep breath, focusing on the walls surrounding me.

Strong. Solid. Created and maintained by magic. It would survive this age, as it had so many others. It would not crumble while in my care.

But then who would take care of it?

The unwelcome thought struck my mind, and I realized I was holding my breath. I pushed it out, forced myself to maintain my walking speed. I didn’t need Gwen to know how many worries tumbled in my mind. I couldn’t afford to trust her. Even if she’d helped Morien.

Morien. My brother, only two of us remaining in the once-great Hawksmoor family. Two men still bonded to the same woman, unable to find love elsewhere, no matter how badly we might want to.

Which only made me hate her more.

And want her, all the same.

I turned left and into a wall, my magical sight allowing me to see the hidden doorway. Gwen followed, unhesitating, despite the fact that her magic was blocked.

Mostly blocked, I reminded myself. She’d almost reforged her bond with Morien. I’d hated pulling her off like that, forcing her from him. Afraid I’d hurt her. Thankfully, she seemed fine.

Gareth, on the other hand, had gone after her, and I hadn’t seen him since. At least the bond was quiet, now. It seemed to have calmed down, for reasons I was unsure of.

It didn’t matter why. What mattered was that we needed the dispel ring. So I could stop Michel, driven insane by the half-formed bond. And I could free Morien and I, too. Free to find joy in another. To have children, and carry on the Hawksmoor name.

To be rid of this longing, this pain, once and for all. And to be able to give Gwen back to the colonel before this got out of hand.

My hands involuntarily turned to fists at that thought, and I forced them to relax. Gwen had made her own bed. She’d have to learn to lie in it.

Once this bond was gone, she wasn’t my problem anymore.

The Oracle Room lay hidden in the center of Hawksmoor Academy, holding the scrying crystal. Legends said that the academy was built here because of the area’s unnatural powers. Near the water, on a cliff, in a place humans had found too harsh to colonize.

A perfect area for witches to hide.

Secret corridors and hidden-away nooks, away from the prying eyes of students, led to this central room.

I stepped into it, and Gwen followed, as quiet as I was. Part of me wanted to reach out to her. To find comfort and warmth in her. She’d always helped focus my powers, sharpening the foggy future into crystal clear possibilities. She helped me see the multiple paths that lay before me, and not just the one I tended to obsess over.

Like the one that would lead to the downfall of my family’s legacy.

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