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“I don’t want to hurt you—” I started to say, but Nadine grabbed tight to my wrists and created a battle spell that burned me. I leapt away from her on instinct.
“You should want to hurt me,” she snarled. “I’ve taken everything from you—even your kidney.”
“You’re wrong!” I shouted. I jumped on top of her again, pinning her hands above her head so she couldn’t burn me again.
Nadine smirked, and her gaze filled with desire. “I’m up for a little S&M before your reaper comes for you. On second thought, maybe he can join us.”
“Whatever you are, you’re sick,” I snapped. “Nadine would never believe she’s taken anything from me. She saved me. I’m nothing without her.”
“You need me!” she shouted. “You rely on me so damn much to give you purpose. What about my purpose? How can I be my own person when you’re holding me back?”
“I don’t know where you’re getting these ideas, but Nadine would never say something like that,” I said.
“Doesn’t mean I’m not thinking them,” she replied curtly.
My guts twisted into an impossible knot. She had said things like that before, but she’d said those things to help me, not hurt us. Could she really still feel this way?
“Nadine, please stop this,” I begged. “Break through the spell. You can do it. It’s me, Lucas. I’m here for you.”
“That’s the problem,” she said. “You shouldn’t be here at all.”
Nadine twisted her hand, and a spell shot out at me. I didn’t think she’d been aiming, just trying to catch me off guard. The spell slammed against my nose, knocking me backward like I’d just been kicked in the face. I landed on my back and felt blood trickle down my face. For a moment, the whole room spun. I couldn’t get upright before Nadine was over top of me. She slammed her palm into my chest, and every muscle in my body seized. I couldn’t move—couldn’t breathe. Magic drained from my chest, and her arm lit up with purple magic as she used her Curse Breaker powers to draw my magic out of me. A look of satisfaction filled her features. She was going to drain me of every bit of energy I had left. There was no spell I could cast and nothing I could do to get out of this.
“N—Nad,” I rasped past the sharp pain in my chest.
She didn’t seem to hear me, just stared down at the magic with wide, satisfied eyes. Nadine was still in there somewhere. If this was the end, I had to tell her how I truly felt.
“You’re right,” I forced out. “I needed you to pull me out of the dark place I was in. I relied on you because I didn’t know how to function otherwise. It’s not fair to let you keep carrying my burden, so if you want me to go, I’ll go. But know this. You took nothing from me. All I want is for you to be happy. If you can’t be happy with me, then leave me. I’ll learn to be happy on my own. I don’t need you to save me anymore, but I still love you, and that’s enough for me.”
Nadine’s gaze flickered to mine, then back to the magic, and the satisfaction disappeared off her face, replaced by confusion. Then came a look of determination.
“I. Love. You. Too,” she strained.
Nadine ripped her arm away from me. Magic came flooding back into my chest, and I finally gained control of my limbs. Nadine collapsed onto the floor, and her eyes rolled back into her skull as she convulsed.
“Nad!” I cried as I pulled her shaking body into my lap. I was vaguely aware of the sound of a door slamming from down the hall, then footsteps racing toward me. The spell I’d cast to keep my friends safe must’ve broken when Nadine took my magic.
My friends rushed into the room, but they came to an abrupt halt when they saw Nadine seizing in my arms. My voice broke when I spoke. “She tried to resist the spell, and it backfired on her! There has to be some sort of counter-spell!”
“We have to exorcize her,” Grant said.
“We don’t have the supplies to pull it off!” Talia cried.
Nadine went limp in my arms.
Pain rippled through my gut, and I quickly checked if she was breathing. Thank the Goddess. “She’s still breathing, but she may not be for long.”
“I know someone who can help,” Mandy said. “We have to get Nadine to her as quickly as possible. Come on, we found a broken window we can get out of. As long as our ward holds against Leroy, we can escape.”
Mandy gestured us toward the hall. I cradled Nadine in my arms and followed behind my friends. Mandy turned the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. A scream tore from her lungs the same time I spotted Leroy’s ghost materialize in front of her. My stomach plummeted from my abdomen. I couldn’t even blink before Leroy’s ghost swept forward and plunged his knife into Mandy’s stomach.
“No!” I screamed as Mandy’s cries turned into whimpers. She stumbled backward, and Miles and Grant caught her, lowering her to the floor. Blood oozed from an open wound, and tears streaked her cheeks. I feared she wasn’t going to make it. We just might lose two people we loved tonight…
Chloe began shouting the warding spell, hoping we’d all join in, but she wasn’t fast enough. Leroy lifted his knife the same time Talia shoved her way to the front of the group. She grabbed the end of her drawstring bag filled with salt and swung it at him as hard as she could. Leroy’s ghost vanished in a wisp of air.
“He won’t be gone long!” Talia cried. “We have to get out. Now!”
Mandy reached upward, and Miles took her hand. “Hattie,” she rasped. “Take Nadine to Hattie. She can help.”
