Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 352 Ava: Purify

"What do you mean?"

You'll need to draw the energy into yourself, he explains, and then overpower it with your own magic.

This is not what I expected. "Draw it in? Like... absorb it?"

He nods. Exactly. The resulting friction between your magic and the taint creates a sort of burning purification. It neutralizes the harmful energy and can even bolster your own reserves.

The idea of pulling this dark, ominous energy into my body makes my skin crawl. "And what if there's too much? What if I can't handle it all at once?"

Grimoire's ears twitch. In those cases, you'd need to purify in stages or enlist help from other magic users. The stronger you are and the more magical capacity you have, the more efficiently you can handle these situations. This amount should be easy for you, especially with your recent expenditures at the wards.

I grunt, still uneasy about the whole concept. The thought of willingly drawing this taint into myself feels wrong on a visceral level.

It's relatively easy magic, Grimoire assures me. It just requires fine control, which you've been improving lately.

His words are meant to be comforting, but they don't quite hit the mark. Maybe because it feels kind of like he just told me to eat evil. It's just wrong. "Does it hurt?"

Grimoire pauses, and that hesitation speaks volumes. It can cause fevers as your body fights against the toxic nature of the taint, he admits. But it doesn't necessarily hurt in and of itself.

"Fevers," I repeat, my voice flat. "Great. For how long?"

As long as it's required.

but we can't just leave a mass of aggression-inducing taint—which really doesn't sound right—around. It's invisible.

distracted by how it's not visually there, and reach out with my magic. It surges to my

on water, but light and fluffy, like clouds.

encourages. Now, imagine drawing that

inhale it?"

says quickly. It's just a visualization technique.

again, I inhale as deeply as I can, even as I let my magic touch

like some sort of magical siphon as it flows over my magic and into

first tendrils of tainted energy touch my magical core, I gasp. It burns, a cold fire that spreads through my

going, Grimoire urges. You're doing

draw the energy in. It feels endless, like I'm trying to drink an ocean through a straw.

says, push back with

surge within me. It crashes against the taint like a wave, and for a moment, I'm afraid it won't

give way, and suddenly I'm

whole body feels like it's on fire, and my magic slowly consumes the

breath. The world spins around me, and I stumble, nearly falling

Only there's no snow.

in a wide circle

me with a strong hand

he asks, concern etched

nod, not trusting my voice just yet. My whole body aches, and I can feel the beginnings of a fever setting in. It's like my very bones are aching, and my teeth chatter, despite feeling as though I'm