“Callie,” I commanded softly, taking a single, measured step forward.
“Don’t!” she shrieked, throwing her hands up as if to ward me off. Her violet eyes darted around the room, taking in the scorch marks, the melting ice, and the blood. “Don’t come near me! You said I was just a hazard, that I blew up the hotel because I was upset! But that wasn’t just me…that thing under the floor was looking at me! I felt it in my head! It tasted my…my…my magic, Greyson! It wants to consume me!”
Pointing a trembling finger at the glowing cracks in the floorboards, she sobbed, “It woke up because of me. It’s coming for me!”
“It wants the energy you possess,” I corrected calmly, though my chest tightened at the sheer, unadulterated terror radiating from her. “You are a Conduit with the capacity to absor
