Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 392 Ava: Storing Magic

Clumps of white powder scatter across the wooden planks of my doorstep as I stomp my booted feet. The others are headed to the cafeteria for a well-deserved dinner, but I'm too amped up to eat. Magic thrums beneath my skin like dancing electricity, even as my body's exhausted from the day's events.

"Your capacity has grown." Grimoire materializes beside me once I enter the cabin, in his favored childlike form. "The Grand Sage's quartz would make excellent storage."

It's pleasantly warm inside, encouraging me to throw off the thousand layers I'm wearing. Lucas always makes sure our place is tended to so I come home to a heated home. "Where did I put those stones?"

"Under the bed." Grimoire watches as Selene veers away from us, toward the far corner of the kitchen. "In the wooden box with the brass clasp."

"Running away already?" I ask her.

The stones reek of after you enchant them. They make me sneeze and itch.

"Fair enough." Crouching beside the bed, I pull out the ornate box. Inside, three chunks of milky quartz nestle in red velvet, each the size of my palm. "How do I do this? Same as the little ones?"

Grimoire nods, floating in mid-air. "Yes. These hold quite a bit more than you would think. They're of better quality than what we usually use for batteries, so it should be enough to drain you."

I cup the first stone between my palms. The quartz is cool and smooth against my skin, and I swear my magic is eager to dive into it. Closing my eyes, I imagine my excess power as a glowing river, channeling down my arms and into the crystal.

It takes little more than a second for the stone to warm against my skin. Energy pulses in steady waves, and my breath catches at the raw sensation of magic moving through me.

If I let it go too fast, the stone will shatter under its force; it's a lesson I learned the hard way months ago. Now, it's almost second nature to restrict the pace of magical transfer.

murmurs. "The crystal

of purifying taint, this is peaceful. Natural. The quartz drinks in

of the three, reaches capacity after a few minutes. When I open my eyes, it gleams with an inner light, small sparks dancing in its cloudy depths. Lucas says he can't see it,

the box. "Still feel pretty full, but not like I'm

your time with the next one. No

time I let the magic flow even slower, savoring the strange feeling. It's almost as freeing as shucking off your bra at the end of a long day. The quartz resonates in harmony with my energy, creating

her corner, Selene sneezes. That

I can't detect whatever scent bothers her so much, but her nose twitches with each pulse of

stone fills gradually. I watch the light spread

the largest of the three.

their capacity. Quality quartz can store remarkable amounts of magical energy. Not as

This one takes longer, drawing the magic out in steady streams. My shoulders relax as the pressure of

with captured magic now, like a cluster of stars in the wooden box. "That

against the floor. They smell like a lightning strike waiting

if needed, or use them to power spells. Useful if you have

close the box, watching the brass clasp click shut. The thrumming under my skin has settled to a manageable level, though I can still feel the magic ready to answer my call.

his head thoughtfully. "We can always ask the Grand Sage

still pretty full of

was the last time I saw him? The gnome's been scarce lately, though I assume he's still alive and kicking—Lisa would have mentioned

understand how he can do

floating in lazy circles near the ceiling. "I've never needed it myself. Pure magic