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Ground me and make sure I can find my way back to myself are practically the same thing.
She raises a challenging brow. “By all means, proceed then. I’m always interested in new healing techniques. It’s commonly believed that it’s best to let a healing sleep run its course or risk destabilizing the patient. Does your spell account for this?”
Fortunately, Mildred speaks before I can fumble through an answer that sounds better than the verbal equivalent of a shrug. “The girl is already fully healed and is continuing to be nourished by Callie’s spell.” She motions toward Gina’s sleeping form. “No feeding tube, no IV. She’s being fully sustained by Callie’s magic. Therefore, the most equipped witch to wake her is Callie.”
“Not to be rude, but Callie needs silence to focus,” Kaleb interjects, cutting off any further bickering between the two women.
I smile up at him gratefully, while my grandmothers gather at the foot of the bed. Anxiety twists in my belly as sweat gathers on the nape of my neck. Performing this spell in front of the two most powerful witches I know is nerve racking. I feel like I’m taking a final I didn’t study for.
“You can do this,” Kaleb murmurs only loud enough for me to hear. “I’ve got you.”
Stealing some of his confidence, I announce, “I’ll go limp for a bit while doing the spell. Nothing to worry about.”
“You never mentioned that,” Mildred states, concern creeping into her voice. “Is this safe?”
“Yup,” I lie, glad my back is facing her.
Bile churns in my stomach over the thought of once again entering Gina’s body, but I’ll do anything to save Nolan.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and focus on the feeling of her hand in mine. It’s surprisingly warm, which I take as a good sign. Calling on my magic, I let it flood my body as I reach into her with mental fingers. As if I’m pulling on a golden rope, my spirit flows from my body into hers.
I’m relieved not to feel pain. I do, however, worry about the distant sounds of my grandmothers’ tandem gasps as they watch my body fall forward like a marionette with cut strings. At least I face-plant into a soft pillow.
Leaving Kaleb to reassure them I’m fine, I take in my surroundings. The sickly tar of her bitter soul crushes any light that tries to thrive within her. Fortunately, it’s not reaching for me, at least for now. Just like her endless sleep, everything inside her seems frozen. She’s healed but lacking the spark that perpetuates life—the will to come back.
“Fuck me,” I grumble, unsure how I’m supposed to give the person who’s in the top five on my hate forever list the will to live.
Normally, I’d just provide the seed from my own soul, but that requires a love I just don’t have for her. My will for her to live starts and stops with the information to save Nolan, which isn’t really enough to live off of. This leaves me with only one option. I need to go hunting within her soul for something that I can strengthen her with to find the will on her own.
After casting several lines of pure magic toward Kaleb, anchoring us more firmly together, I take the mental equivalent of a yoga breath, and then dive into the sea of black that tried to hold me captive that terrifying night. In the sticky depths, I’m bombarded by the hateful things that fester inside her. There’s so much rage and contempt perpetuated by mountains of obsession over how her life should be, all of it shrouded in the iciness of loneliness.
There is no peace or kindness, but within the deepest recesses of her being is a twisted sapling of love. It’s frail under the swirling masses of the darkness that consumes her. A pang of pity wells within me for the person she could have been had this small sapling been properly nurtured. Brushing invisible fingers against tender leaves, I sense the warm blush of what used to be an innocent love. In her bizarre way, she loved Nolan, but it was consumed by greed. She demanded every part of him and lost all of him in the process.
Giving more than she deserves for the sake of saving Nolan, I trickle magic into the sad, withered sapling fueled by the love I’ve found since coming to this strange little town. I comfort it with the warmth of friendship and feed it all that I have learned about love. It comes from giving. It’s born from humility and kindness. It begins to bloom under my gentle care, and I seal it under a protective dome made of magic harvested from the depths of creation.
Immediately, the tar-like darkness covers the little dome, desperate to taste its light—a spark of life and the promise of true love.
Before the evil inside her can once again try to consume me, I follow my magic back to Kaleb, comforted by the steadfast love that lives within him. When I open my eyes, I find myself cuddled within Kaleb’s arms, and two very panicked grandmothers staring at me.
“You’re never doing that spell ever again,” my nan insists, her brown eyes round with worry.
“I’m going to have to do it at least one more time,” I croak, feeling a little lightheaded.
“Explain,” Carlotta demands, looking especially fierce. It’s a bit shocking to be confronted with the fact that despite who she spawned, this woman genuinely cares deeply for me.
“The curse,” I explain, closing my eyes and taking strength from Kaleb’s arms around me. “It’s feeding on his soul.”
“How do you know?” my paternal grandmother asks, her eyes widening with surprise.
“I can see souls,” I answer, frowning as I look up at Kaleb. “I thought you told her everything.”
“We did,” he answers, reaching over to push some of my wild tresses out of my face.
“As she implied earlier, she’s unconvinced spirit witches are real,” Mildred elaborates, glaring at the other woman.
“And as I said earlier, that’s not how magic works,” Carlotta insists, glaring right back. “If it did, I would know about it.”
“Surprise,” I comment weakly, more mentally drained than anything. “You just saw it in action.”
