Training the next day was brutal—six hours of channeling alliance-amplified hybrid magic while Morgana threw progressively more complicated scenarios at me until I could maintain power flow while running and dodging and not accidentally killing the training dummies that were standing in for allies.
By hour five I was running on fumes and stubbornness, my control fraying at the edges every time I tried to push more power through, and when I finally vaporized a dummy that was supposed to represent a friendly vampire I had to stop before I killed someone real.
"Enough." Morgana's voice was firm. "You're done for today."
"I need to—" I didn't finish because honestly I didn't know what I needed beyond being better than I was.
"You need to rest." She packed up her crystals. "The demon attacks tomorrow. Exhausting yourself tonight won't change that."
Tomorrow. The word sat in my chest like lead.
