Free The Darkness Within by Kelly Hashway

at all. He hasn’t done a single spell.”
    “Good. But that just proves my point. We need to bind his powers.”
    “I don’t see how that will help. He’s still learning. We have to teach him. Show him how to control the magic. Cutting him off from it isn’t going to help. The magic is part of him. He won’t feel right if he can’t tap into it.” I couldn’t help but wonder if Ethan’s efforts not to use his magic had anything to do with why he couldn’t keep his hands off me. Maybe that pent-up energy was finding another outlet.
    “So, this is about protecting his feelings? The only reason you don’t want to do this is because he’s your boyfriend and you don’t want to upset him. What if it was Shannon? What if it was me? How would you feel then?”
    “What if it were you? What if your magic was going haywire and the rest of us wanted to bind your powers? Would you still think this was the best solution?” My blood pressure was rising. If Dylan wasn’t careful, he was going to get my fist in his face.
    “I was in Ethan’s position.” He pushed past me and out of the stall.
    “What?” I crossed my arms, waiting for him to explain.
    “I did lose control of my magic once. Things got really bad. My parents wanted to bind my powers. I refused. I said the same thing you just said. I didn’t want to be separated from the magic that was so much a part of me. My parents freaked—they turned their backs on me.”
    My mind raced to the conversation I’d had with Shannon. Ask him why he wasn’t in school before we formed the coven. Ask him where he’s been and where his family is. Ask him what his last name is—his real one . I was about to hurl those questions at Dylan, but he kept going on his own.
    “Ben took me away. He looked after me. Helped me get control.” Dylan sighed and met my eyes. He didn’t look angry. He looked sad, like someone who had lost a lot. “I know you don’t believe this, but I want to help Ethan. I want to fix what’s wrong with his magic. But I’m not Ben, and since he’s not around…” His stare turned icy, and it was all I could do not to turn away. “I’m doing the best I can.”
    He really didn’t have a thing for me. I had it all wrong. Dylan had been looking out for Ethan. It wasn’t about me at all. Well, except for the part where I took away the only family member who hadn’t abandoned Dylan.
    “You and Ben lived on your own?” I choked on Ben’s name.
    Dylan nodded.
    “Where were you before you started school here? Did you and—?” I couldn’t say his name again. “Did you just stay home and practice magic?”
    “Ben said we had to stay under the radar. He hadn’t exactly gotten my parents’ permission to take me away. They tried to find us, and let me tell you, it’s nearly impossible to stay hidden from a locator spell, especially when the people searching for you are blood relations. The connection is too strong.”
    “So, you were hiding from your parents?” That sounded all too familiar.
    “Yeah, and believe me, you’re lucky your parents don’t know you’re alive.”
    “Ethan’s hiding from his family.” I didn’t know why I’d admitted that to Dylan.
    “I figured as much. You two try to keep a lot of secrets, but it’s hard to fool someone who’s been in the same situation.”
    I finally uncrossed my arms. “Believe me, it’s not the same situation.”
    “Oh no?” Dylan stepped toward me, and now that I wasn’t afraid he liked me anymore, I stood my ground. “You mean you aren’t in hiding because of magic?”
    Okay, so we were. “Is that why you changed your last name? So your parents couldn’t track you by it?”
    “That wasn’t because of my parents. I told you they could find me through a locator spell. The name change was for everyone else’s sake. I couldn’t have them trace me back to my real family. Not that anyone gave a damn about me or Ben. We were invisible. And after a while, our parents stopped