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.

taint—which really doesn't sound

close my eyes, too distracted by how it's not visually there, and reach out with my magic. It surges to my command immediately, as easy as

on water, but light and fluffy, like

that energy

eyes snap open. "Wait, literally inhale it?" My lungs cringe at the

quickly. It's just a visualization technique. You're pulling it into your magical core, not

as I can, even as I let my magic

it's like some sort of magical siphon as it flows

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

Grimoire urges. You're

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

back with your own magic. Overwhelm

crashes against the taint like a wave, and for a moment, I'm afraid it won't be enough. It's like being too full after drinking way too much water, magic sloshing this way and that within

then I feel something give way, and suddenly I'm flooded with a rush

forehead despite the cold. My whole body

The world spins around me, and I stumble, nearly

Only there's no snow.

in a

an instant, steadying me with a strong hand on

he asks, concern

can feel the beginnings of a fever setting in. It's like my very bones are aching, and my