Page 19 of Light Magic

Lacey finished. “He’ll be fine,” she said. “But he needs lots of rest.”

Trent let out a long sigh and leaned down to hug the tiger.

“We tried being patient with these creatures, but they are testing us,” Abbie said. “We should hunt them.”

Magnus nodded. “Agreed.”

“Myg, see that Grandma, Trent, Britt, and Gwen make it safely to Grandma’s room,” Abbie ordered.

The goblin nodded and started for Grandma.

“I want to help!” protested Gwen.

“Me too!” Britt wailed.

“This is not open for discussion,” Abbie said. “Go with Grandma, and Trent, take the animals with you, and protect them all. Understood?”

They mumbled yes and exited through the back with Myg—Grandma holding tight to the girls’ arms as she couldn’t see.

“Should we divide into groups?” Lacey asked.

“I’ll go with you,” Maggie said. They had a similar demeanor and seemed close. Now looking at them side by side, I would guess that Maggie was nineteen years old, like Lacey.

“I’ll go by myself,” Magnus said, marching out of the dining room.

Abbie let out a breath and looked at me. “Sorry about him. He helps us a lot, but he’s a pain in the ass to deal with.”

Maggie snorted. “You can say that again.”

“Anyway, Levi and I are the strongest, so it’s best if we’re separated,” Abbie said. “I’ll go by myself.”

Levi looked at me, his blue eyes dark. “You should go to your room.”

I placed my hands on my waist. “Why? Because I don’t have my magic. Give me a goddamn sword and I can fight.”

“I can get you a sword,” Abbie said.

Levi groaned. “You should go with Abbie, then.”

I glared at him.

“No.” Abbie pointed to Levi and me. “Whatever is going on there, I want no part in it. I’ll go by myself, and you two go together.” She shoved her hand inside the pocket of her dress and pulled out a handful of pink stones. “Here. Send your magic to the stone if you’re in trouble. It’ll alert the others and guide you to them.”

She handed us the stones. Levi took ours.

“What happens after?” Maggie asked. We all looked at her. “Will we spend the entire night searching? What if we don’t find them all? Will we take a break? Or what if we get them all in the next two hours?”

Abbie snapped her fingers and the stones glowed green. “All right, now send your magic and your intention to the stones. Help for help, and I’m done for when you’re tired or you got a dozen creatures. Otherwise, I plan on going until I get them all.”

“Sounds good,” Lacey said.

“Can we go now?” Maggie asked.

Abbie nodded. As they left, she said, “Levi, you know where the armory is. Take Ariella there, please.” She turned to me. “You can choose any weapon in there.”

“Thanks,” I said.

She nodded again and left the room.