Spring Rain (9 page)

Morgan was torn up. Her insides were icy one
moment, fiery the next from the combination of the soul stone and
foreign magick, and she was shaky. She didn’t recall what happened
after sinking into the water and assumed she’d been rescued at some
point, maybe by Noah, and taken to the hospital.

Summer supported her as she wobbled with her
first step. Gentle, warm earth magick soothed her physically, but
did nothing for her flying thoughts. It reminded her too much of
Beck’s magick and how incredible it always was for it to flow
through her. He was the only person she knew who could soothe the
agitated fire magick and help her feel grounded, balanced.

She had hoped, if she ever crossed paths
with Beck again, she would remain completely unaffected, and
everything that might’ve been between them stayed in the past.

The moment she opened her eyes and saw his
strong profile, athletic frame and concerned teal eyes, her fire
magick had surged and begun to sing, begging to flow to him instead
of salvaging her life by fending off the soul stone. Redirecting it
required energy, but it was focused once more now that he was out
of sight.

She hadn’t known what to say to him and
still didn’t. Her heart was tumbling in her breast while adrenaline
stemming from more than magick flew through her. Fire fueled her
emotions, sending them tumbling in every direction. She’d wanted to
know he was safe and well since leaving him after the soul stone
attacked him.

His presence here … it was a mistake. A huge
one. She had left to protect him. He was in danger if he was
anywhere near her, more so now that Dawn had found her.

But I need to touch
him.
The sense that they were supposed to
be together had never faded despite their time and distance. The
powerful bond she didn’t comprehend was more than magick, more than
physical, more than anything she could possibly explain – and it
was aching so badly for one single touch, it almost drove her to
her knees.

“One step at a time,” Summer said.

Morgan blinked and realized she was standing
dumbly in the middle of the room. “Sorry. Just …” Flustered, she
started forward again.

“I understand.” Summer’s smile was
genuine.

Morgan studied the quiet girl. The last time
they’d seen one another, they were locked in a stone coffin and
left to suffocate by Dawn. Summer had been hurt. “You look really
good, Summer. I wondered how … how everyone was.”

“We’re all healthy,” Summer replied.
“Connor, too.”

Morgan’s spirits dampened at the mention of
her brother. She pulled away from Summer to finish the unexpectedly
taxing trek to the bathroom. She was exhausted, weak and hungry –
and the last thing she wanted to deal with was how she was going to
tell Beck and Connor why she’d left.

And why she had to leave again in order to
protect them, the Light and all the witchlings from the soul stone
Dawn wanted to use to destroy them. She had to find a way out of
the hospital, to bypass the edgy twins in the hallway outside and
Summer in her room.

Closing the bathroom door
behind her, Morgan leaned against it briefly to rest.
I’m in no shape to run anywhere.
Desperation unfurled within her, and she
swallowed the urge to cry. If Dawn had drowned her in her
apartment, she’d quickly figure out to check the local
hospitals.

“I’ll get you some clothes!” Summer
called.

With irritation, Morgan realized she needed
something more than a hospital gown if she was going to leave.
“Thanks.” She tested her body, relieved to discover she was
healthy, just fatigued.

Twenty minutes later, she emerged after a
hot shower, the scrubbed soul stone in hand. Her body temperature
stabilized without it to mess with her system, and she sat down on
her bed in a towel with a sigh. Summer had left clothing folded on
her bed next to a baggy of homemade cookies. Morgan couldn’t stop
the smile that started to form when she touched the warm treats,
knowing full well who had brought them. Beck could survive off
cookies. While she liked them, she needed real food.

Still, the offering touched her. If
anything, he should hate her for almost killing him then lying to
him about what happened.

Maybe he does.
She toyed with the cookies. Maybe he was
concerned for her the way he was for every witchling, because he
was a good person and good people didn’t run away and hurt those
who cared about them.

The idea that Beck was there as a friend,
that he had gotten over her or worse, was unable to forgive her,
struck her hard enough that she doubled over with invisible pain.
Morgan forced shallow breaths through her tight throat, unable to
straighten until she had calmed some of her emotions. There had
been a time when she trusted him, and for the most part, she still
did. What she couldn’t trust: herself and her ability to protect
him from the stone when she knew without a drop of doubt it was bad
for him.

Which meant she was, too.

Why, then, did the sight and thought of him
after so long still hurt and fill her with such exhilaration, she
wanted nothing more than to let her fire tangle with his calmer
earth magick and for their bodies to tangle with one another the
same way?

She nibbled on a cookie then set it aside
and got dressed. Summer had guessed her sizes correctly. The
designer jeans, top and cardigan felt soft and expensive while the
booties were comfortable and trendy. Morgan felt one step closer to
normal with the nice clothing. She wrangled the tangles out of her
hair and managed to subdue the wild curls with a little water then
tucked the soul stone into her pocket and glanced towards the
windows.

With any luck, she was on the ground floor
and could jump out and run. The fleeting hope was crushed the
moment she peered out the window to see she was on the fourth floor
of the hospital.

She leaned her hips against the walls below
the window with a sigh and nibbled on another cookie.

“Can I come in?” Beck’s muffled words were
accompanied by a tap at the door.

Her heart skipped then raced. Morgan started
to panic and drew a deep breath. “Yes.” She prepared herself
mentally as much as possible before turning to face him. She needed
to push him away, to let him know in no uncertain terms that he
wasn’t welcome in her life and she was leaving.

The moment the door opened, her courage
melted, and all she could think about was taking away the hurt she
saw in his gorgeous teal eyes.

Beck closed the door behind him it, studying
her. He wore a goatee, and she inadvertently recalled how sexy he
had looked with a day of scruff on his features after the night
they’d spent cuddling. She could almost smell the cookies on him,
feel the soothing warmth of his magick and his body heat. The
memories of their kisses, of how he’d held her, rendered her
breathless, aching … scared she’d lost everything.

She crossed her arms, unable to stop her
fire’s reaction to his presence. Her magick adored him and how he
fed her passion and emotions, how he managed to soothe her, too,
the way no one else could. She’d always experienced a sense of
safety in his arms, something she’d never known anywhere else.

He walked towards her deliberately, holding
her gaze as if aware she wanted to flee. This part of him she had
forgotten, too, the confident, self-assured man who never suffered
from her problem of constant instability. His earth magick was
touching her ahead of his step, and she eased back. If he were
anyone else, her father or uncle or even Connor, he’d be
furious.

She couldn’t read him.
“Don’t be angry,” she whispered.
And don’t
hurt me.
She hated this thought most, the
fear instilled in her by caretakers who went off in rages whenever
she upset or disappointed them.

“I’m not angry,” Beck said and paused two
steps before her. “And I’d never hurt you.”

She lifted her chin without looking away
from his green-blue gaze. How he heard that, she didn’t know. Any
hope she had of them not being in the middle of a relationship she
couldn’t define was gone. He had once told her they were meant to
be together. She had fought the idea, the feeling, the
instinct.

But it was impossible. She was already
falling into him again, and she wanted to let go and fall the rest
of the way.

“I, uh …” Beck cleared his throat. “Wanted
to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah.” There were no
signs the soul stone had left permanent damage after he touched it.
If anything, Beck radiated with Light and warmth far greater than
he had before. She almost didn’t believe the witchling capable of
wielding all the Light in the world had remotely cared about
her
. She was
unimportant, insignificant in the world. It didn’t seem possible,
given her horrific lot in life thus far. “You?”

Beck reached out to her. She winced
instinctively as his warm palm cupped her cheek. Instantly, his
earth magick moved through her with the warmth of a comforting, hot
bath. Her tension melted, and her fire rejoiced. As the Master, he
was able to take it a step further and suppress her sparking fire
magick.

Morgan’s shoulders slumped. With her
internal struggle to contain the magick stilled, she could focus on
him, his earthy scent and the warmth that sent desire spiraling
through her.

“Better?” he whispered.

She nodded. “How can you be so concerned
about me after what I did?”

“Decker … explained a few things.” Agitation
crossed his features briefly, and the Light around him pulsed
brighter in response to his emotion before it faded. “I understand.
Mostly.” He was trying hard not to let it show – the pain she had
caused and desperately wanted now to burn away.

“I’m so sorry.” Ever sensitive to the
suffering of someone else, Morgan placed her hands on his chest and
pushed candy flames into him, the only thing she could think of
doing to comfort him.

He cupped her other cheek. This time, she
didn’t flinch. It was too natural for him to be touching her, a
state she had missed for months.

“Why couldn’t you come to me about the
stone?” he asked. The Light flared around him again to counter what
she suspected was worry. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but you
didn’t have the right to keep something like this from the one
person who could help you.”

“Don’t judge me,” she said, almost grateful
for the surge of anger that managed to edge aside her attraction.
“You don’t get to do that, Beck.”

“I’m not. But I do get to
ask why you couldn’t say goodbye, why you let your own brother …
and
me
… believe
you were dead?”

“Because it was safer for you this way. The
soul stone damages the Light. It hurts you, Beck, just being near
it. How was I going to let that happen?”

He rubbed one thumb along her jawline. “I
can help. Somehow.”

“No, you can’t.”

“I can.” The determination in his features
was new to her. Beck had been uncertain of himself when she last
saw him. He retained some of the conflicted sense of self, but she
sensed he’d toughened up a little, too, as had she after spending
three months on her own for the first time in her life.

Not that it mattered. All the good will in
the universe wasn’t going to convince her to let him help when
being in the same room with her could cause him pain.

“You don’t believe me,” he said, reading her
expression. “Morgan, I thought you were dead.” His raw emotion, and
her suppressed fire, left her vulnerable to emotions she didn’t
want to feel. Her magick clamored to help him, but he was
controlling it.

Morgan’s eyes watered. “Beck, I did it for
you.”

“I know. I love you more for it. But Morgan
…” His voice broke. He wrapped his arms around her.

Morgan pressed her face to the soft material
covering his chest and breathed in his scent. His athletic frame
was hard and muscular though a tad leaner than she recalled, as if
he hadn’t been eating well since she left. His earth magick calmed
her, and she worked hard to suppress the desire provoking her
fire.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you with the stone,”
she added. “I will never let it happen again.”

“My angry little guardian angel,” he
whispered and kissed her on the top of the head. “Come home with
us. We’ll figure it out.”

Home. The word hurt more than anything else.
For a very short time, he had become the only home she had ever
known. As always, it didn’t last. Nothing good in her life did. She
destroyed her chance at happiness, and almost him, the moment he
touched the soul stone, and she witnessed just how dangerous it was
to the person she cared about. “I can’t, Beck. You have to know
this,” she murmured, troubled.

“You can’t stay on the campus with the
stone. But you don’t have to. You can stay nearby.”

“And wait for Dawn to find
me? Weaken you and the Light every time you’re around?” She lifted
her head to meet his gaze. “I can’t … I
won’t
hurt you, Beck.”

“Losing you is more painful than anything
the soul stone can do.” He touched her cheek, the desolation she
had caused in his gaze.

Heat rose to her face. For a moment, she
struggled with the sense of triumph in learning he did still care
before plummeting into devastation once more knowing it didn’t
matter. She had to stay away. “I almost killed you.”

“But you didn’t. You warned me not to touch
it. I’m like a kid who touches the stovetop and learns the hard way
not to do it again,” he joked. “You saved me. Amber said if you
hadn’t used your fire magick, I’d be dead.”