Riley's POV

My eyes flutter open slowly, not yet adjusted to the light. I notice that I am in a hospital bed, and Lucas is in a chair beside me.

I start to move my head, but a pain shoot throughout my body, causing me to groan. "Lucas?" I breathe.

He looks up and smiles at me. He grabs my hand reassuringly. "Hey, Riles. I'm glad you're awake." he says.

"What do you mean awake?" I ask. Then everything comes flowing back to me like a waterfall. "Wait! Where's everyone! We need to stop Maya!" I exclaim. Lucas laughs.

"Riles, you already did." he says.

I'm confused. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"I mean," he says, "that you kicked some serious witch butt out there." he smiles.

"But, I don't remember anything about it." I say.

"That's okay; the doctor said that you probably won't remember anything from the last 48 hours." he explains.

"Oh," I look down, but then I look back up filled with hope, "Can you tell me what happened?!" I ask eagerly.

Lucas laughs and nods. "Of course, Princess."

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3rd Person POV

Lucas pulled away from his and Maya's kiss, which he absolutely hated. He thought that the only lips that belonged on his were Riley's. But that's not the point.

Lucas had given Riley the signal to shot Maya, but when she did, Maya turned around - like she knew what was happening - she caught the shot, and threw it right back at Riley with three times as much force. It hit Riley square in the head, causing her to fall over and knock her head on the corner of the bar.

Lucas, like always, rushed to be by Riley's side, but Maya threw him back angrily with her dark magic. She stomped over to Riley, who was just sitting up. Blood dripped from Riley's head into her hand, but she didn't pay much attention to that.

Maya looked at Riley with complete hatred and rage.

"You think that I'm stupid enough to fall for your childish 'plans', Matthews?!" she screamed at Riley, "I'm not stupid! I knew about your plan this whole time! The things I used to brain wash everyone were supposed to self destruct once you were dead. And really? Ranger Rick is your best distraction?!" her anger was flowing through her bloodstream, making her blood boil and her face steam.

Maya grabbed Riley by the collar of her shirt and threw her across the cafe, onto a table. A pain flew through Riley, but she got up, not wanting to back down. Maya then charged for Riley, but Riley side-stepped and watched as Maya flew into a wall and fell onto the floor. Riley took this chance to use her magic to defeat Maya.

Riley's arms moved steadily and easily, a golden spark forming and heading towards Maya. When Maya was engulfed by golden sparks, Riley threw her in the air and across the cafe onto another table. Riley sprinted over towards the table to get to Maya, but she was too late. Maya was already standing on top of a table, laughing once again.

"Is that all you got, Matthews?! Weak!" Maya taunted Riley. Maya's dark magic came circling around Riley, dragging her towards Maya. The magic was to powerful to escape, so Riley stopped struggling. The magic brought her to Maya, until their faces were inches apart.

"You're so pathetic, Matthews. You barely use your powers. You are your powers, Matthews! Weak!" she screamed in her face, then threw her against the wall.

Poor Lucas; stuck in a booth watching the girl he was so madly in love with get beaten up by her ex best friend.

Just as Riley lifted her head from the ground, she got an idea.

Maya had said that she is her powers. Does that mean, that without out powers, she would die? There was only one way to find out. But Maya had dark magic in her. How would Riley be able to absorb her dark magic powers, when Riley was all happy and sunshine?

But Riley had remembered. She was both. Which meant that she could contain both.

Now how would she do this? Just touching Maya wouldn't do it. But maybe touching her dark magic would. When Maya had touched Riley's shot, Maya had grown three times stronger. Riley wondered if the same thing would happen with dark magic.

So, basically, Riley needed Maya to shoot her black magic at her so Riley could touch it and absorb it, thus taking Maya's powers away, and defeating her for good.

Riley pulled herself up with the help of a broken board that was sticking out of the wall. Riley took a deep breath, and looked at Maya, who was smirking at her own success.

"I-Is that all you got?" Riley managed to stutter out. Maya roared with laughter. She out-stretched her arms and dark magic poured onto the floor, spilling in every which way, slowly inching towards Riley. Riley tensed, but hid it quickly.

"I've been waiting to do this for a long time, Matthews. I've wanted to watch you die a slow and painful death for years." Maya was too busy ranted that she hadn't noticed Riley slowly inching towards her. "I watched as you excelled in everything; you were perfect! But then, you started falling slowly. Then you just kept falling faster and faster." Maya's attention focused back on Riley, who had stopped moving. "And now, I get the honor of tipping you over the edge, and watching you break." Maya cackled.

Maya's arms stretched, and shot outwards like a rubber band, towards Riley. A spiral of dark magic hurdled towards Riley, yet Riley didn't move.

"Riley!" Lucas screamed, struggling to break free from the dark magic that was keeping him away from his fiance.

No matter how much Lucas screamed, Riley did not dare move. She stood her ground as the dark magic came hurdling towards her. When it was finally close enough, Riley reached out and grabbed it, making it stop mid-air.

It is an understatement to say that Maya was taken back.

Riley immediately felt the power of the dark magic soar throughout her veins. It was an over whelming feeling, so over whelming that Riley was forced to let go as she fell back. She stumbled back, but caught herself on the wall.

Maya was confused. She didn't know what Riley was trying to do by grabbing her magic. Was she trying to prove herself? I didn't mater because she had failed anyway.

Riley brought herself back up to her feet, and gave Lucas a reassuring smile. He tried to smile back, but he couldn't. He was too sacred that he would loose Riley.

Maya's eyes were shooting daggers at Riley. Her hatred had grown within that one second. All she wanted, was to kill Riley Matthews.

Riley could see it in her eyes. The eyes that were once so kind and gentle towards her; they now showed their true colors. Evil and hate. She looked at the person that she once considered her best friend. A single tear fell from her eye, and Maya smiled evilly, ready to pounce.

Her arms flew behind her, and thrusted outward, sending more dark magic hurdling towards Riley. Riley once again stood her ground, not letting herself move an inch. Once the magic was close enough to her, she reached out and grabbed it, now prepared for the impact that was going to reach her.

Riley struggled to keep it in her hands at first, but she managed to keep it in her grasp. She held on like her life depended on it, which it really did. The magic threw her and whipped her around, but Riley kept growing stronger and stronger as she held on for longer. Maya's powers were transferring into Riley, causing Riley to strengthen and Maya to weaken.

The dark power surged through Riley with an over-whelming sense of power and pain. Riley winced and tried to fight through the pain.

Maya soon realized what Riley was doing, and tried to pull her magic back towards her, yet she had had too much drained from her. Riley tugged on the dark magic some more, taunting Maya. An enraged Maya pulled back with all her might, causing Riley to stumble forwards.

Riley manages to keep her balance and keep her grip on the magic. Riley yanked her arms back, pain surging through her body. Maya falls forward into a chair, but her grip on the magic only tightens.

Soon, it turned into a 1 on 1 game of tug-a-war. Riley fought for the magic and Maya tried to take it back. They pulled and pulled, but nothing happened.

But Riley wan't trying to get the magic; she was just trying to distract Maya for long enough. The longer she held on, the faster Maya's powers were drained from her.

Maya was becoming weaker and weaker with each of Riley's tugs, but she did not give up. She tried and tried, but soon she felt herself getting light-headed. Her face turned an unsettling shade of grey, and she started to stumble every time either her or Riley tugged at the magic.

Riley saw that Maya was weakened, and she took her chance. She gave the dark magic one last tug, pain soaring through her arms, and yanking Maya off of the ground. The magic stopped flowing from Maya's hands, and she fell face-first onto a table, with her stomach jabbing the corner. She cried out in pain and fell onto the ground.

The dark magic flew into Riley's hands, slowly being absorbed. Riley then felt a slight nudge at her hands, and saw that the dark magic had disappeared. She felt invincible for a moment.

A light appeared from behind the table that Maya had fallen on. The light shone in a circle, much like a sunset. It was first a blinding gold that lit up the darkened cafe, but soon faded into a dark blue that faded away slowly.

Riley slowly approached the light as it died down. When she reached the table, she saw that there was nothing there. Maya had disappeared.

Footsteps come stomping towards Riley and stop as she is embraced in a hug. Riley grabbed onto Lucas' arms, relieved that he was there with her. She softly smiled.

"You did it, Riles." he whispered in her ear. She smiled.

"You ready to go home now?" Lucas asked, breaking away from their hug. Riley nodded quickly, obviously very eager to get away from everything.

"I want a pop tart." she said as they headed for the door of the cafe.

Lucas laughed. "Coming right up, Your Royal Pop-Tartness." he joked. Riley laughed.

As they walked through the door, Riley looked back at the cafe. She sighed and rubbed her forearm.

"I love you, Peaches. Thank you for the memories." she said.

A/N

So, this is the last chapter, minus the epilogue! I really hope that you guys have liked this story, even if I had major writer's block and didn't update for months - but it's finished now! Thank you all for the support and feedback that I've gotten for these two books. I love you all!

XOXO <3