Spring Rain (The Witchling #4)(49)

“Would you have tried to stop me if you knew what I intended to do?” she fired back.

He clenched his teeth, his jaw ticking.

“I did it, Beck. Noah didn’t die.”

“But someone else might if you try it again. If you go Dark because of this, if you try it again and I can’t save someone, Morgan, you –”

“Ruin your plans to save the Light. I know.” She turned away from him. “I need to know what I am and I’m sorry if I’m disappointing you.”

He heard her hurt then, but didn’t know how to fix it. “You’re my sweet, fiery Morgan,” he softened. “My angry guardian angel with the largest heart in the universe. Yes, my plans were at risk but so are we. We’re in this together, Morgan.”

“Why did you bring me here?” she whispered, guard up.

Frustrated, Beck’s heart sank. He felt the tug of the stone, the flicker of coldness mixed with her fire. “Sam wanted to talk to you.”

She faced the yeti. Whatever he said to her, Beck wasn’t able to hear.

“Yes, that is the plan,” she replied somewhat archly and crossed her arms. She listened and sighed with a glance at Beck. “You know why, Sam.”

The yeti chortled.

Her gaze dropped as the silent conversation continued. Morgan’s shoulders slumped, and she dug her hands into her pockets. “No, it’s not fair,” she agreed without any heat.

Beck itched to know what they were talking about, but held his tongue, studying Morgan as she spoke to Sam. Every time he saw her, she took his breath away. She was beautiful and in a way very different than he had seen before. Her fire magick gave her a glow that magnified the sultry innocence he had always been crazy about. She kissed and reacted with abandon, too inexperienced to know how to rein in passion he knew would be explosive if he didn’t keep his earth magick between them.

The glow was stronger this night, possibly from her recent release of magick. With a perfect shape, long legs and eyelashes that made him think he’d never given the small hairs the credit they deserved, she was the perfect package, down to the stubborn insistence that she had to protect him that drove him to want to spend two days straight in a gym.

She would never disappoint or inconvenience him. He didn’t know how to tell her he was concerned more for her soul than anything else without sounding like he was telling her what to do. She was close enough to touch, but he didn’t, and his earth magick grew insistent as it tried its best to fend off her unstable fire. The easiest way to calm her was direct contact, but he dared not get too close at the moment.

“My amulet?” she was asking. “Why?” There was dismay in her voice.

Beck, we can’t sense her because of the soul stone, but she’s Light.

Beck stood where he was, certain he misheard. “What did you say, Sam?” he asked, unwilling to believe something that would change his world without hearing it again.

She’s Light.

“Morgan, let him have your amulet,” Beck said softly.

“I know already I don’t fit in!”

“Morgan.” He shifted her to face him and rested his hands on her shoulders. Every time he touched her, he wanted so much more. To take her into his arms, to kiss her, to beg her to trust him enough to just … sit with him forever and talk. “Please.” His magick flowed into her, and he felt her relax.

She sighed and reached into her pocket, pulling it out. She held it up and stared at it.

Beck began to smile and then laugh. “If all she had to do was fry some Dark witchling, we could’ve figured this all out months ago!” he exclaimed.

Morgan didn’t look away from the amulet that glowed faint pink-white, its brilliance illuminating their surroundings. “How …”

The trial. She had to learn to use her magick to fight the Dark and to trust someone – you, Beck – to help her. We are all fortunate that Noah lived, or this would’ve had a different result.

Clearly hearing the words, Morgan lowered the amulet and shivered, moving closer to Beck. He instinctively wrapped an arm around her once more.

“But what does it mean?” she asked, gaze going from him to the yeti. “How can I carry the soul stone and be Light?”

It should strengthen your ability to control its influence.

“Morgan, you’re Light,” Beck added. He sensed she wasn’t registering it or was too overwhelmed to know how to respond. His heart began to swell and his adrenaline rose once more as he realized what that meant.

He had a partner, a mate, a counterbalance, and neither of them was alone.

“Sam,” he said, excitement tearing through him. “Does this at all affect her duty to the soul stone?”

No.

“Can it still hurt the Light?”

It can.

Beck cursed. The brief moment of elation was followed by the knowledge that Morgan couldn’t step foot on campus and couldn’t get near the Light. “Then what difference does it make that she’s Light and not Dark?”

For one, you can be together, provided you never directly touch the stone, Beck, Sam said with a snort. But the stone remains a threat to the Light until she learns to bind it.

It was a compromise of sorts, one Beck found frustrating – yet encouraging. They were one step closer … The quiet instinct of the Master of Light warned him if Morgan had turned Light, it was also because there was a much greater challenge ahead, one that would require both of them to face.