The Demon's Half

Chapter 33

We needed the sunset.
That's what Alilla said. The spell wouldn't work otherwise. Apparently, spells were tricky. Some needed moonlight. Others needed sun. So we waited.

Jade and Alilla refused to leave my side. Not even for bathroom breaks. They thought I was suicidal. I could hear them. Every single thought.
Every whispered fear they tried to shove behind layers of logic and reassurance. I heard them as clearly as the birds chirping outside the window. Even when they tried to block me, shoving their anxieties into corners, painting runes on their arms, I dug in. Their training wasn't enough. The wards weren't strong enough.
But I never told them that. So they hovered. Watching. Waiting for the moment I'd shatter.

I hated being babysat. Alexander had been right about that. I wasn't a child. But that didn't matter. Because the second Logan walked out, I broke.
He didn't understand. And I'd been too frantic, too pinche loca to care. There was no going back. And Gods, I would miss him. I'd miss Daisy—her wet nose, her frantic tail, the way she'd lick my face every morning like she couldn't survive another second without me awake.
I'd miss Logan's arms, once the safest place I knew. Now... it just hurt.
But being cut off from my soul? It didn't just hurt. It was like trying to exist without skin.
I wanted Alexander like a drug I hadn't been allowed in years. I wanted to rip his name out of my chest and stitch it back in whole.
The tears came jagged and loud. Alilla shoved a mug into my hands, herbal, bitter, pretending to be medicine. I drank it. My body stopped shaking enough that I could breathe. Not because the grief left, only because the potion turned the volume down.

"Sunset. Let's go." Alilla's voice cut through the silence.

We gathered what we needed: Her spellbook, a bundle of dried, angry-looking weeds, and a glass jar full of something that looked like purple sand.
I didn't ask. Didn't care. My head was still full of ghosts. Of Logan's voice breaking. Of Alexander's grip on my chin. Of my own body, feeling like it didn't belong to me anymore. I was only half real.

Jade placed the book open right in front of the oak tree. I turned my head, just slightly, and saw the swing. The same swing where I'd sat with Alexander only hours ago.
It swayed just slightly in the breeze—empty now.

"Morgan. Focus." Alilla ordered.

I dropped to my knees beside Jade and shoved the memory back.

"I need you both in this," she said. "This is a very powerful protective spell against demons. No spacing out."

She unscrewed the jar of purple dust, dipping her fingers into it. With practiced motions, she began dragging the powder through the dirt. A shape began to form. A rune.
Would she recognize any rune? If she saw it on my skin, would she know what it meant? Would she know who gave it to me?
That was what Alexander wanted to do...

Snap. Snap. Her fingers clicked inches from my face. "Focus, idiot."

I jerked back to reality.

Jade sighed. "Morgan, seriously."

I let out a sharp breath, grounding myself. I was all over the place, fractured thoughts, scattered memories, broken heart.
Pull it together, pendeja.

Alilla knelt before the book again and began chanting. The words didn't belong to any language I recognized. They were ancient and surprisingly beautiful. But I felt them, as if they were touching me. An hour passed, but she didn't stop, until— The scent of pomegranate bloomed thick around us, cloying and sweet. The dirt began to change to grass. The sky deepened into a cinematic blue. Even the purple dust shimmered richer, like spilled magic.

"Hands on the grass," she ordered, like she was half here, half somewhere else.

We pressed our palms flat to the earth. The grass that had bloomed, slowly died with our touch. As Alilla's final syllable slid from her tongue, a low hum sparked beneath my skin. She stood, brushing the remaining dust from her hands.
She moved to Jade first, plucking a thin brush from a pouch and dipping it into a small inkwell at her hip. With care, she traced the same rune onto Jade's palm.