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Lucas grabbed my hand before I could move. “You’ve never done that before. You don’t even know if it will work.”
“I know it’s our only option,” I insisted. “If I can hold on to the ward without breaking it until we get out of here, we can escape without alerting the priestesses. We need those Wands, Lucas. You have to at least let me try.”
“How confident are you in this?” he asked.
“Enough to give it a shot,” I pressed.
Lucas stepped back. “All right. Do what you need to do.”
“We should all work together,” I suggested. “Lend me your powers, and I’ll use it to get past the ward, then take that power inside of me. The stronger our magic, the easier it will be to overpower the ward.”
We all grabbed hands, and my brows knitted in concentration. I gathered my friends’ magic together and manipulated it, directing it at the ward. The ward resisted, pushing against me. My magic recoiled, and my body shook as I fought harder. Every muscle in my body tensed, and a whirlwind swept through the hall as magic clashed together.
The doors began to glow an angry red. My dark blue magic pushed against it, and it took everything in me to keep the spell alive. My arms grew weak, and my breaths became shallow. It was like trying to push over a brick wall. The cats approached the door and began scratching at it.
“Get back!” I warned them.
“Maybe we should stop,” Lucas said nervously.
“No. I’ve got this,” I insisted.
I searched the ward for weaknesses, until my magic brushed up against an unsteady edge. Something within me snapped, and I managed to find my way inside the ward. The door began to glow a bright blue. My magic entangled with the ward, and I drew backward, dragging the magic toward me.
The magic was heavy, like a dark sludge swirling in my gut. All magic felt different to me, and I could tell the priestesses hadn’t cast this ward with the intent to protect what was inside. Their ill intentions were designed to hurt anyone who tried to get past. This spell wasn’t cast out of love, but out of hate.
A sharp pain twisted my stomach, and I gagged.
“Nadine!” Lucas cried.
I squeezed his hand tighter. “I’ve almost got it.”
I gritted my teeth. The pain in my gut spread to my extremities, feeling like tiny blades slicing into my muscles. I tried not to let it show. I couldn’t let Lucas stop me—not when we were this close. We had one shot at this, and I wasn’t leaving Octavia Falls without the Oaken Wands in hand.
I yanked harder, and the blue magic lighting up the door funneled into me, until the glow subsided completely. “I did it!”
Chloe stepped in front of the doors. “We don’t know how long Nadine can hold that magic. We need to move our asses and get out of here, because right now Nadine’s a ticking bomb.”
Chloe placed her hands on the door handles and flung the doors open. Inside, shelves were filled with all kinds of books, and potion vials shimmered around the room. On Verla’s desk next to a large cauldron stood two display cases that housed none other than the Oaken Wands.
I leaned against Lucas, and together, the five of us stepped into the room.
A high-pitched squeal assaulted my ears, so loud that it brought me to my knees. My hands clapped over my ears, and I looked to my friends to see them doing the same. Lucas’s eyes went wide, and his lips moved, though I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
The priestesses’ ward wasn’t the only thing keeping other witches out. They’d cast some sort of alarm spell over the room. Of fucking course. The priestesses wouldn’t cast just one spell over this door. They’d make multiple in case someone managed to break their ward, and I should’ve realized it sooner. The noise rattled my bones, and the whole building seemed to shake. I couldn’t get to my feet even if I wanted to.
The pain permeating my body turned to absolute horror as a darkness crept over the walls, enveloping the room. For a moment, I saw nothing but the shadows, and I felt nothing except an icy-cold chill. Ghostly moans could be heard over the alarm, and that’s when I realized this wasn’t an alarm system at all.
It was a curse.
My friends shot spells across the room, but it did no good. A window shattered and the wind from outside quickly swept in, swirling around us.
The eerie shadows closed in on us. They weren’t anything like spirits I’d seen before. These shadows crept across the walls, as if they could only stalk their prey in obscurity.
Long, spindly fingers slithered from the wall to the carpet, then slowly up my leg. I tried to scream, but my voice couldn’t be heard over the ringing in my ears. The spirit’s frigid touch turned my skin to ice. The shadowy hand inched up my body, curling around my throat.
My scream died on my tongue as my airways constricted. Darkness entered the corners of my vision, and I tilted my head to see that my friends were suffering the same fate. Each of us had been rendered immobile, and in moments, the curse would strangle us. Dark energy turned my friends’ blood black, and inky veins spider-webbed across their skin. The cats tried to fight back, clawing at the walls, but more shadowy figures emerged and held them down.
I had to stop this. The ward I held within me was dark—cast with the intention to harm. And that’s exactly what it would do.
