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.

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

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

on water, but light and

imagine drawing that energy towards you. Like you're

open. "Wait, literally inhale it?" My lungs

quickly. It's just a visualization technique. You're pulling it

can, even

enough, it's like some sort of magical siphon as it flows over my magic

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

urges.

It feels endless, like I'm trying to drink an ocean through a straw. Just when

Grimoire says, push back with your

it won't be enough. It's like being too full after drinking way too much water, magic sloshing this way and

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

burning sensation intensifies, and I can feel sweat beading on my forehead despite the cold. My whole body feels like it's on fire, and

The world spins around me, and I stumble,

Only there's no snow.

grass in

is there in an instant, steadying me with

he asks, concern etched

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