Concealed (Unbound, Book 4)

Chapter Twenty

Skipping fifth period WC-1, I went straight to the clearing after fourth period with Mr. Jenzen, who I continued to discuss asinine topics with. Today was what my favorite color was, which allowed me to be dismissed five minutes early. Honestly, I'd have thought he'd be impressed with what I knew about colors and their attributes. It wasn't my fault he liked green. Aside from its many positive qualities, like being used in hospitals to promote healing, green also meant jealousy, envy, and ickiness.

Obviously, I focused on the latter.

Calin had texted me at lunch to say that he'd asked Maible to hang out but hadn't told her what we planned, which was good. I'd gone for a run but still felt an abundance of energy coursing through me. During the entire drive, I questioned whether that would be enough or if I should chance letting it build for a few more days.

I determined it wasn't worth risking bursting at an inopportune time.

As soon as I parked, I made my way through the pathway into the clearing and sighed, feeling like I'd come home. I quickly cleansed the area of negative energy and then laid on my back on the grass with my arms and legs outstretched, imagining my shield dissipating. Within a minute, I felt the connection balance me. It must have been at least ten minutes, but I held it for as long as I thought I could before it felt like I was giving away too much.

When I let go and sat up, I felt amazing.

It was like I could see every dust mite in the air as it passed.

The smell of lavender was overwhelming, yet I didn't see a plant anywhere, which was slightly disappointing.

Standing, I grabbed my bag from where I'd placed it beside the campfire logs and went over to the cliff. I pulled out the book that Islene had gifted me and sat down, letting my legs hang over the side. Finding it impossible to write that way, I shifted so that I was lying on my stomach and crossed my ankles, my toes hitting the edge of the cliff.

For my very first entry, I detailed what I had done to strip the Larkin family of their powers. After I finished writing the basic spell, I went back to the start. Taking a safety pin from my bag—my mother always told me to keep a few on hand in case something in the nether regions of my clothing ripped—I narrowed my eyes and brought the tip to my pointer finger, pushing up with my thumb until the pad of my finger was thick and meaty.

I bit my bottom lip and winced as the pin pricked my skin, a bead of blood blooming red.

Quickly, I turned my hand over and imagined what I was about to write would be invisible to anyone who wasn't of my mother's heritage, which meant that Devland would never see how I'd amended the spell so that the Larkin's could earn their power back. Amazed, I watched as the blood was absorbed into the page. After the blood slowed, I stuck my finger in my mouth and picked up my pen with my other hand.

Concentrating on what I wanted to relay, I kept my intent to keep it secret in the back of my mind. As I wrote, the words grew bold. A second later, an outline of light encased them before fading from the outside-in. I continued to write as quickly as I could because as soon as I started a word, the one I'd written before had disappeared.

When I finished, I rolled over and sat with my legs dangling over the side of the cliff and the book in my lap. I hunched over and imagined the words I didn't want anyone to see. Instantly, the page filled with cursive that seemed to be lit in the background of the original text, barely legible.

I squealed and rolled back over, grabbing my art pencils from my backpack. I sketched a border around the spell and flipped to the next page where I repeated the process, only this time I drew a lavender plant and wrote the secret spell—basically the mantra I repeated to visualize it invisible—to make the passage disappear around the leaves. When I imagined the spell visible, it looked as though I had highlighted the plant with light.