Page 83 of Rewitched

“I had a hot chocolate before bed, actually,” Belle said indignantly, rubbing her fingers against her bruised throat as she swallowed. “Artorius had me reading auras all evening. I needed little marshmallows. And then…”

Rune eyed her. “And then?”

“I added the last dregs of the flourish potion.”

Rune’s eyes pinched. “May I take a look?” He stood to take a step closer, then hesitated for a second, wondering whether their proximity was okay.

“It’s fine. You’re fine.” Belle gestured him closer. For the first time, she was truly grateful for their protective arrangement. He picked up the drink from her bedside table, holding it towards the lamp for a better look. He brought it to his nose and instantly recoiled.

“Well, that explains the night terror. Belle, what the hell is this?” He sounded baffled. “Are you for real? You could have killed yourself.”

“What?” She snatched it from him. A faint smell, but once she’d noticed it, it sent her reeling. Overbearingly sweet, turned thickly rotten, a putrid, carrion combination. “Oh my…What is that?”

“Poison, sitting pretty on your nightstand. Enough to make you hallucinate to hell and back, to literally scare the life out of you.”

Belle’s eyes widened. “Poison?”

“Solanaceae, if I’m not mistaken. Deadly nightshade. Ironically, commonly known as belladonna…You seriously drank this? No wonder it took hold of you so deeply,” he said incredulously.

“Yes, but…Rune, I swear, that wasn’t the potion I brewed. It can’t have been. I took most of it this morning and it was good. It worked. Even the grimoire said so.”

“Then it’s Subfuror Incantare. Interference with your magic from a distance again. This is worse than I thought. Count your lucky stars that you drank most of it before it had been tampered with.” He sounded entirely disbelieving, as though it couldn’t be real. “Your own brew tampered with extra ingredients added by transference. It’s highly illegal, against every Selcouth rule imaginable, it’s…Who did this?”

“Well, I don’t know, do I? Maybe it was Christopher.” She offered a watery smile.

“Will you stop turning everything into a joke to try and distract me from seeing that you’re scared? As if that buffoon could have anything to do with this.” Rune was growing visibly more frantic, beginning to pace the length of her bed as he tried to think.

“Oh, please don’t start pushing your hair back angrily now.”

“You’ve been poisoned, Belle! By your own magic, no less. Manipulated by someone else!”

A momentary silence hung between them. Once the quiet allowed her mind to form its own real thoughts, she knew what she needed to say. “I don’t think I can do this,” Belle said in a small voice. Her shoulders were slumped, exhausted. “I thought I could, but I can’t.”

Rune sighed. “Sorry. Sorry. I just…I should be able to see exactly what this force is. Exactly who is hurting you. It’s driving me insane that I can’t stop it. I’m trying so hard to protect you. I’m not sleeping, I’m working around the clock, and nothing’s working.”

“It doesn’t matter. Whoever it is, whatever it is, they can have what they so clearly want. It’s done. I quit.”

“Belle, you’re so close.”

“I’m not, though, am I? Arty and Mum keep saying things like that to try and make me feel better, but I’m not. I still have four challenges unlit in the grimoire. Four in four days. Even I’m not delusional enough to think that sounds doable. But that doesn’t matter now. I can’t keep putting myself through this.”

“But your magic…”

“I love being a witch, I love my magic. The past few weeks have brought some of the greatest joys, seeing it come back to life. I thought things had changed today, I thought I’d turned a corner but…this isn’t worth it. I’m losing it. Every day, something else seems to disappear from me.”

“May I?” Rune gestured to the bed and took a seat on the mattress when she nodded.

“If Ariadne had been here tonight,” she continued. “Imagine what could have happened. It’s probably putting you in danger, it’s probably putting Artorius in danger, my mum, even the coven itself…” She felt her bottom lip quiver; it made her feel like a child.

“The coven is not your responsibility.”

“But it is, if I’m the one bringing danger to its doorstep.” Belle pushed her hair out of her face, still clinging from the sweat that had beaded at her temples.

Rune reached out to gently tuck it behind her ear. She sighed, eyes closed.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

Rune was thoughtful for a moment, searching her face. “The watchman side of me wants to tell you that, honestly, maybe it is the best decision. The most sensible one, at least.” His dark eyes were locked on hers, trying to read her. “But as your…friend, who’s been witnessing your magic bloom, despite all of this, I can’t support you giving up. You’re meant for this.”