Bright Blaze of Magic (Black Blade, #3)(75)

He reached over and squeezed my hand, and I laced my fingers through his.

“I know,” I said. “And I love you for that.”

I hadn’t said the words to him before when we’d been together in the library, and I’d almost died last night. I could still die tonight. So I wasn’t going to let another second pass without telling him how I felt, potential jinxes be damned.

He blinked, as if shocked by my words, but then his whole face lit up, shining brighter than the sun and all the Midway lights combined. “You love me?”

For a moment, I felt unsure, since the words had just slipped out, but it was too late to take them back now, and I didn’t want to anyway. I nodded, staring into his eyes. “Of course I do. You’re kind, thoughtful, considerate, supportive, and you always think about others before yourself. Not to mention the fact that you’re handsome and charming and you live in a mansion.” I grinned. “You’re a hard guy not to love, Devon Sinclair.”

My voice was light and teasing, but the look in Devon’s eyes was anything but. That hot, hot spark in his green, green eyes erupted into the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. A wave of love washed over my heart and spread throughout my entire body, bringing a dizzying rush along with it. Without a word, Devon stepped forward, cupped my face in his hands, and pressed his lips to mine.

It was a soft kiss, just a brief touch of his lips against mine, but I felt more in this one kiss than I had in any of our others because I loved him, and I knew that he loved me too.

All too soon, we broke apart, but Devon opened his arms and I stepped forward and laid my head on his shoulder. And we stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, for a long, long time.



The rest of the day passed by in a blur, as Claudia, Mo, and the others planned who would be on the lochness bridge with me, where the rest of the guards would be positioned, and what everyone should do depending on who won the duel. All too soon, their plans became reality, and it was time for me to face Victor.

According to reports, the truce was holding down on the Midway and none of the Ito, Salazar, or Sinclair guards or workers had been attacked by the Draconis. The Volkovs were keeping to themselves and staying out of things completely, just the way Claudia had predicted.

Around nine o’clock that night, I was back in the guest bedroom, putting on my gear for the evening. For once, I wasn’t wearing my mom’s trench coat. Instead, tonight I’d opted to wear a black cloak in honor of the Sinclairs. In fact, I was wearing the same outfit that I had during the Tournament of Blades—black boots, black pants, and a white sleeveless silk shirt, topped by the black cloak. I hadn’t bothered with a black cavalier hat, though. I hated wearing those hats. The stupid feathers always fell down into my face.

“You look good,” Oscar said, fluttering around me the way he had been ever since I’d come back to the bedroom. “Just like a Sinclair.”

I nodded and finished pulling my black hair back into its regular ponytail. I thought about sticking my chopstick lock picks through my hair like usual, but I didn’t want to lose them during the fight, so I left them in one of the pockets of my mom’s coat, along with her ironmesh gloves.

I looped my black leather belt with its three bloodiron throwing stars around my waist and tucked several quarters into a hidden slot on the belt, just in case I needed to pay the lochness’s toll. I didn’t know how the monster would feel about a duel taking place on its bridge, but I wanted to be prepared.

For the final touches, I slipped my mom’s star-shaped sapphire ring onto my finger, then slid her black blade into the scabbard hanging off my belt.

I stared at myself in the mirror over the dresser. Oscar was right. I did look like a Sinclair, especially with my silver cuff flashing on my right wrist. But I also thought that I looked like a Sterling—like my mom. And that made me happier than anything else, because I knew that she would be proud of me, no matter what happened with Victor tonight.

Even if I still didn’t have any idea how to defeat him.

Still fluttering around my shoulder, Oscar looked at me in the mirror. I turned and held out my hand. He flew forward and landed on my palm, his cowboy boots tickling my skin.

“No matter what happens tonight, I want you to know how much I care about you,” I said. “And what an amazing friend you’ve been to me this summer.”

A soft, almost reproachful snort sounded, and I looked over at Tiny, who was on the same table as before.

“And you too, Tiny,” I added.

The tortoise nodded and went back to eating the fresh pile of lettuce that Oscar had brought for him earlier.

Oscar looked at me, tears shining in his violet eyes. “Don’t you dare do that,” he snarled in his twangy voice. “Don’t you dare say goodbye to me. It’s the same thing your mother did the day she left the Family. I never saw her again after that.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not saying goodbye, and you will see me again.”

I kept my voice strong and my eyes steady on his, as though I really did believe every word. But I didn’t. Not deep down inside where it really mattered. I thought of Victor’s lightning and I had to hold back a shudder. I still didn’t know how to stop him from electrocuting me with his magic, much less how to actually steal his power. But Oscar didn’t need to know that.

No one needed to know that.