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“What’s happening to her!?” Mandy shouted.
I shoved at my friends. “Nadine’s been possessed! Everybody run!”
My friends and I took off running down the hall. Nadine followed in that confident way Leroy walked—like she knew we couldn’t outrun her. A spell whizzed down the hall, and we ducked to avoid it.
“How do we stop it?” Talia cried.
I sprinted around the corner. “We have to get Nadine to break through it somehow.”
“We can immobilize her—” Chloe started, but I shoved her into an open doorway, cutting her off.
“Everyone in here!” I barked.
My friends didn’t question me. They trusted me… even though they shouldn’t. Once they were all inside, I ducked back into the hall and slammed the door behind them. I spoke a quick incantation to lock the door, then cast a shield around it for good measure. The last thing I wanted was for any of them to get hurt. Nadine would listen to me. She had to. I wasn’t going to let any of my friends stop me from trying.
My friends pounded on the door, but they couldn’t escape. “Open this door right now!” Chloe screamed.
I ignored her and turned toward Nadine, who was approaching me. “I’m not scared of you. You may be possessed, but my Nadine is still in there somewhere.”
Nadine stopped, and for a second, I thought she would drop the letter opener. Instead, a smirk crossed her face. “You may want to rethink your strategy. I’m going to have fun killing you.”
A battle spell erupted from her palms, and I threw up a shield a split-second before it hit me. The spell rocked against my shield so hard, I couldn’t keep it up. My shield fell as Nadine advanced.
“This isn’t you!” I cried. Nadine loved me, and she would remember that before she ever hurt me. I created a shield around her to hold her in, but she just looked around at my shimmering spell and laughed.
“Is this a joke?” she asked, sounding amused. “You’re a very funny boy.”
Nadine pressed her hand against the side of my shield, and her powers turned the spell back on me. My magic ricocheted like a rubber band, slamming into my chest so hard it knocked me off my feet. I went flying down the hall and crashed through the door at the end. The door swung open so fast that it knocked off one of its hinges and hung there. I landed flat on my back and gasped for breath. I noticed a bed beside me. We must’ve entered a guest bedroom.
Nadine’s footsteps approached, and I jumped to my feet. “Who are you?” I demanded breathlessly. “Is that Leto in there?”
Nadine let out a chilling laugh as she circled me. “You think Professor Leto is capable of everything I am? I’m a Curse Breaker—a priestess! Your magic is no match for mine.”
“You’re not Nadine,” I accused.
“Oh, I’m Nadine,” she practically sang. “I’m the part of her that wants you dead. And you will die tonight, Lucas.”
Nadine threw herself at me, the letter opener aimed toward my gut. I caught her wrist and spun her around, pinning her body to my chest. My arm wrapped around her neck. I took no pleasure in this position, but I had to do something to stop her. I squeezed her wrist so tightly that she dropped the letter opener. I winced, because I didn’t want to hurt her.
“You’re wrong,” I growled. “There’s no part of Nadine that wants to kill me. Whatever you are, you’re no part of her.”
Nadine laughed. “You think I like listening to you whine? Oh, poor Lucas. So depressed and helpless. It’d be easier if you just hanged yourself like your brother.”
She might as well have plunged the letter opener into my gut and twisted it around. I’d never heard anyone say anything so hurtful.
But this wasn’t Nadine. I refused to believe there was any part of her that ever let that thought cross her mind.
“We’re past that,” I insisted.
“You may be, but I’m not,” she said.
“Whatever you are, you’ll let Nadine go,” I demanded, pulling my arm tighter around her neck.
“Not before you suffer a painful death,” she sneered.
I didn’t have a chance to react before she formed a battle orb in her hand and slammed it against my leg. I cried out as electricity rippled downward from my hip. I lost control of my muscles and collapsed onto my knees. Nadine leapt away from me and readied for another spell, but I threw one back just as quickly. Our battle magic collided in mid-air, and a boom sounded throughout the room—louder than the thunder outside.
Nadine gave up on the magic, because she could see we were obviously getting nowhere with it. She threw herself at me, knocking us both flat on the floor. Her hands curled around my neck, but I grabbed her and flipped her over.
