“It’s done,”Sahira whispered. “The spell… it’s… it is complete.”
Sahira leaned back and, with her forearm, wiped the sweat from her forehead. When she went to rise, her knees wobbled before giving out. Brokk lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground. He helped ease her down again.
“Are you okay?” Del demanded as he knelt on her other side.
“I’m fine,” Sahira muttered.
But she didn’t look fine. Her skin was paler than normal, and her amber eyes were dull. They didn’t seem to be focusing as she tipped her head back to blink at Brokk.
“I think you should sit here for a little bit,” he said.
“Ye-yes. I think you might be right.”
Her head dropped, and her chin rested against her chest. Brokk shifted his attention to the pentacle in the center of the tunnel.
Beside both of his brothers lay an identical clone. They both looked so perfectly like his brothers that Brokk couldn’t tell them apart until Orin and Varo sat up and the clones didn’t move.
Orin’s lip curled in distaste as he studied his doppelgänger. With the tip of his index finger, he poked at the clone. Brokk almost told him to stop, but he was morbidly fascinated by the clone’s chin pushing in before resuming its previous state.
It almost looked like a wax doll, but it reacted like a dead immortal’s flesh would. It was too creepy, and ithadto work.
“So weird,” Orin muttered.
“Very impressive,” Varo said as he poked his clone’s cheek. Then he turned toward Sahira. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Sahira said. “It just took more out of me than I was expecting.”
“Well, that’s because you did a fantastic job,” Orin said.
“Did somethingnicejust come out of your mouth?” Sahira asked.
“I’m not a complete dick,” Orin retorted. “I appreciate it when others help me.”
It’s always about you, Brokk thought but kept the words to himself. There was no point in bickering with his brother when Sahira had pulledthisoff.
“That’s good to know,” Sahira muttered as she rubbed at her temples.
“Thank you,” Varo said. “Even if this doesn’t work, you did all you could to help us survive. It’s very appreciated.”
“Thank you,” Sahira said.
“Now what do we do?” Del asked.
“We wait for Cole and Lexi to return,” Brokk said. “And then I’ll help him take the clones to the Lord.”
“I have to put the harrow stone somewhere safe until we can return it,” Sahira said.
When she tried to rise again, Brokk clasped her elbow. She swayed a little, but this time, she was far steadier on her feet.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she pulled her arm free of his grasp. “Some fresh air will do me good. I’m tired of these tunnels.”
“You must be starving,” Del said.
The spell had taken hours to complete, far longer than he’d anticipated. And he didn’t think Sahira was expecting the grind it became either. He didn’t know if it was her half-witch status, the fact it was for two immortals, or if Sahira had underestimated the spell’s difficulty, but he wasn't sure what time of day or evenwhatday it was anymore.
“I am,” Sahira said. When she swayed again, Del steadied her. “I have to gather my things.”
“We’ll bring them up for you,” Varo offered.
