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“Her kidney,” I realized. “It’s mine… ours. The spell that’s infecting her is inside that kidney. You have my consent to work your magic on it. Once your magic is inside of her, you can work the rest. You have to save her! Her prophecy still needs to be fulfilled.”
“Nadine has chosen a path with many possible outcomes,” Santo said gently. “Her destiny is not yet determined. I can cast this demon out, but if she survives, she’ll continue down a path lined with far worse fates than the one she faces tonight. If she lives, you must allow her to continue down that path and experience that pain.”
I hesitated. I didn’t want Nadine to suffer, but I didn’t want her to die, either. It should be her choice, and it wasn’t fair that I was asked to make it for her. I tried to think of what Nadine would want… and I knew the answer immediately. She’d choose to suffer to save the coven.
Santos could be wrong about her suffering, though. He said her destiny was not yet determined. If she lived, she could choose any path before her. She didn’t have to suffer.
“Bring her back,” I stated.
“Are you sure you’re willing to do this?” Santos asked. “You cannot shield her from what will come, for it is along this path that she will face her greatest joy, and her greatest pain.”
I nodded firmly. “I’m certain.”
Santos knelt beside Nadine and placed his hand on her stomach. Black magic emitted from his palm. It shimmered around the edges and grew brighter with each passing second. I had to shield my eyes as the light encompassed Nadine’s entire form.
Red magic blasted out of Nadine’s chest, flashing like it was fighting to leave her. Her back arched, and a high-pitched note filled the room. I threw my hands over my ears, but it didn’t stop the ringing. Glass shattered on Hattie’s shelves, and her Familiar began barking loudly. It was the sound of evil, the remnants of the dark spell screaming as it withered away.
Then all at once, it stopped. I dropped my hands, and the room was dark and silent once more. Santos knelt above Nadine and brushed her hair back, as a father would do when their child was sick.
“Did it work?” Hattie asked.
Santos didn’t answer. I dropped to my knees beside Nadine and took her hand in mine.
“Nad,” I said gently, shaking her a little.
She didn’t move, and I thought for certain the spell had failed. I shook her again, and when nothing happened, the last shreds of hope I held on to vanished. I lowered my head to her chest. To anyone else it would look like I was checking her breath and heartbeat, but to me, it was nothing more than comfort to be close to her one last time.
A single tear streaked my cheek and landed upon her chest. She stirred from beneath me, and I gasped as I sat upright. Nadine’s eyes fluttered, and relief flooded through me when her gaze landed upon me.
“Is it over?” she rasped.
Happy tears leaked from my eyes. “Yes, it’s over.”
Nadine flung her arms around my neck, and I wrapped her tight in my arms. I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled her sweet scent.
“I’m so sorry, Lucas,” she sobbed. “I never should’ve said those horrible things!”
“It’s all right,” I assured her. “It wasn’t you. You were possessed with Professor Leto’s will. You were bound to kill me in the most vicious way possible. The spell was just feeding off my insecurities.”
“No, Lucas,” she wept. “It was feeding off mine. I never wanted you to die—ever. But the spell was in my head. It knew that deep down, part of me resents the way you feel about me.”
My heart shattered. To think I’d ever hurt her was worse than anything she’d said to me in the mansion. I drew her closer in my arms, holding her as tight to my chest as I could. “I don’t feel that way anymore. I don’t want to be just some guy who follows you around worshiping the ground you walk on. I want to be a team. So we’ll get through this together.”
Nadine sniffled. “How can you say that after all the horrible things I said? You must think I hate you.”
“I don’t,” I said simply. “Because if you really believed everything you said, you wouldn’t have resisted the spell. You were right, and it was never fair of me to put my self-worth in your hands. But if you believed we were still in that place, you never would’ve trusted I was telling the truth. And I was, Nad. I don’t need you to give me purpose anymore. With or without you, I am a complete and whole human being. But if it were up to me, I’d choose a life with my best friend every single time. I may not need you to live, but I didn’t want to live without you.”
Nadine began sobbing harder, and I pulled her close to my chest. To hold her again was a great blessing, because I had almost lost her tonight. Whatever she had said to me in the manor didn’t matter, because we were a team, and as long as we both chose to stay, we’d work through it. Tears welled in my eyes. I was just happy she was alive.
When I drew away to look at her, her hair stuck to the side of my wet face. “Hattie!” I turned to her and held my hand out urgently. “Your vial.”
Hattie handed me the vial she’d poured the tears of love from. I put it up to my face and captured the tears leaking from my eyes, then handed it back to her.
“Payment for helping us,” I told her as I handed the vial back. “If it’s not enough—”
“It is plenty,” Hattie said kindly.
Nadine turned toward Santos and tilted her head. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
