AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before she can argue against what she saw with her own two eyes, Gina wakes with a jerk. When she finds Kaleb and me next to her on the bed, teenage horror crosses her face, and she screams, “Mom!”
With a pinch of her fingers, Mildred commands, “None of that. You will speak when requested to.”
Suddenly, Gina’s mouth slams shut.
“Much better,” my nan states with a businesslike smile. “Now, you were in an accident. My granddaughter healed you. You’ve been in a coma for over three months.”
Gina’s eyes bulge over the knowledge of how long she’s been unconscious, but as per the spell, she says nothing.
“Because you partook in magic you were woefully ill equipped to handle, the Campbells’ son is in grave condition.” Mildred returns to stand next to the book. “You’re going to tell us exactly what your part was in the ritual you performed with your little band of followers, so that I may save his life.”
A hint of genuine alarm crosses Gina’s face before it morphs into a petulant glare.
“I’ve already been made aware that you’ve forgotten the specifics,” she continues, tapping a finger against the open book. “Not to worry. I have experience in coercing latent memories to the surface.” She turns her attention to Kaleb and me. “How about you two go downstairs? Callie looks like she could use a drink of water and some respite.”
Untangling myself from Kaleb, I get to my feet while doing my best not to wobble. “I want to stay.”
“Not today, darling,” she replies, brushing a kiss against the top of my head before ushering me toward the door. “This spell can be difficult to witness.”
I think of the times I’ve used my magic to force my will onto another and the hollowness inside me that comes from watching free will disappear from their eyes. If it’s worse than that, I decide she’s right. Today, I don’t want to see.
As my nan pricks her thumb with the needle hidden within her watch and runs the bead of blood over Gina’s forehead, true terror washes over the girl’s face. With her eyes, she pleads for me to stay. There’s a bizarre irony that she has the gall to see me as any kind of ally.
“You’ll live,” I assure her flippantly as Kaleb helps me walk out and closes the door behind us. I’m slightly kinder to Neva when I meet her hurrying up the stairs. “She’ll be fine, I promise, but you can’t go in there.”
Some of her old fire enters her eyes. She’s clearly outraged that I had the audacity to tell her she can’t go somewhere in her own home. However, before her mouth opens, Dalia croons, “Come back. We’re not done,” from the bottom of the stairs.
The fire dies, changing to an empty glassiness. Turning on her heel, she robotically walks back downstairs.
“This way.” Dalia crooks her finger, and then walks into the sitting room that faces the backyard where the coven often takes their Sunday meetings. Neva follows stiffly behind her.
Not wanting to witness what else Dalia has in mind, Kaleb and I go in the opposite direction toward the kitchen. I’m more familiar with the layout, thanks to my witch lessons, and I find two glasses and fill them with water from the refrigerator door.
“Are you alright?” he asks while taking a seat on one of the stools that line a side of the island dividing the kitchen.
After handing him his glass, I stare down at mine as I try to articulate how I’m feeling. “Is it okay to say not fine, but I don’t know how to explain in what way?”
“Of course.” He takes a drink of his water and then places the glass on the marble countertop. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shake my head, my loose hair swooshing about my shoulders with the motion. “What I want is a hug.”
Kaleb smiles, his expression soft and comforting. Standing up, he opens his arms in invitation. “I can do that.”
Clunking my glass down on the counter, I rush into his waiting embrace. I let the warmth of his body permeate the residual cold that blankets my soul from swimming within Gina’s corrupted darkness. Without warning, I start to cry. I mourn the person she could have been and for that bit of love trapped underneath the sea of her rotting soul.
He gently rubs my back as I expel all of the feelings. It feels like too much—too much pain, too much sadness, and too much loss—but I can’t give into the despair that chokes me with its clawed fingers. I can’t stop until I save Nolan.
Eventually, I cry myself out, but we continue to stand in each other’s embrace until we hear Mildred and Carlotta come downstairs. Kaleb pulls out a stool for me, and then he sits down next to me. It doesn’t take long for my grandmothers to find us.
With desperate hope quaking within me, I ask, “Did you get what you needed? Do you know how to save Nolan?”
My nan gives me an exhausted nod. “Yes, we got what we needed.”
I leap to my feet and give her a bone-shattering hug. “Thank you. Thank you for saving him.”
“Don’t celebrate quite yet,” she replies, weariness clinging to her thin frame. “Based on what you told me, it will require all of us to save him. The entire coven will have to lend their magic, and…” She looks down at me, a mixture of worry and sadness within her eyes. “You will have to be the one who performs the spell.”
“Mildred, I know you have faith in our granddaughter, but what you’re asking of her is too much,” Carlotta pleads, appearing as equally drained as Mildred as she clutches the Volkov grimoire. “She’s untrained. Being a conduit for that amount of power is foolhardy, and she’s at risk of becoming a victim herself.”
