SEVENTY-TWO

I had one word in my mind. Fuck.

The way he stumbled to get out of the bed made me scramble upright. His eyes were blown wide when he looked at me.

Looking down at my hands, I saw they were shiny. It wasn't sweat or an outer manifestation of inner radiance. It was light. My skin had a coat of light all around it.

I asked the goddess for magic because I didn't expect her to give it to me. It was also because I wanted something my mother had lost and it was the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't pause to consider how Valens would react to me having magic.

"I have something to tell you," I said to him. He nodded, his eyes fixated on me while he kept his distance.

"You definitely have something to tell me," he replied.

The light on my skin intensified when I opened my mouth to blurt things out to him. It started as a soft glow but as I watched, the soft glow brightened and brightened, turning me into a gigantic lightbulb. I closed my eyes against the burning glare of the ligh