Page 181 of Serpent and Shadow

Arcturus gave him an exasperated look.

“No. I can’t. Don’t you think I’d tell you, if I could?”

Caelum didn’t trust himself to answer that, so he didn’t.

The wave of anxiety and fear that rose in him, and he fought to control it.

He needed to control it well enough that he could think.

“What’s the problem, do you think?” Caelum asked next, addressing his question to both Alaric and Nyx. “Not enough magic? That’s the problem, right? You need more magic to break through the blood element of the curse, which is making the collar stronger.”

He looked at each of them, and they nodded simultaneously.

Caelum bit his tongue, but only nodded back.

“Right,” he said. “Well, what if we chuck the shielding, then, and create a kind of ring of magic, with all of us? Alec, you said you don’t think your magic is enough on its own to break through the collar and the blood spell. What if you used all of theirs? And mine, too?” He swallowed. “…And maybe Leda’s?”

He looked around at all of them, but they only stared back.

He exhaled in frustration at their silence.

“I can’t actually feel her right now,” he admitted. “But in theory, we’re always connected. Maybe if all of us focus on her, it’ll be enough to strengthen that connection, and even activate one or both of our primals. Might that be enough to boost the spell?”

“Ritual,” Alaric corrected distractedly. “And maybe. Yes. I would think so. Even one of you being connected should be enough. And your marriage connection likely trumps even the blood spell with your father.”

Joran scoffed quietly, but Bones ignored him.

“Try it,” Bones urged.

Alaric looked doubtfully at Bones’s neck.

“That thing will hurt you… a lot… if you do what you’re suggesting,” he said, even more doubtfully. “Won’t it?”

Caelum shook his head, but not in disagreement.

“Doesn’t matter. We need to get there, Alec. Now.”

Alaric looked even more wary, but he nodded reluctantly.

“Right,” he said. “Okay.”

Caelum ignored Alaric’s worried expression, and held out his free hand, the one that wasn’t already holding Jolie. Arcturus clasped it in his, then took Nyx’s on his other side. Nyx took Alaric’s, Alaric took Miranda’s, who took Joran’s, who took Darragh’s, who took Jolie’s.

Caelum looked at Alaric, and nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll channel as much to the circle as I can. I likely can’t aim it, though, so the rest of you will have to feed it to Alaric when he starts the spell.”

“Ritual.” Alaric looked around at everyone else, as if waiting for someone else to argue. When no one did, reluctantly, he nodded. “Do what he says,” he added.

Caelum didn’t wait, but immediately tried to open his magic. He tried to remain on that edge he’d been surfing for months now, but the anxiety made it almost impossible to be cautious. When he widened that gap the most infinitesimal amount, the collar began to heat up around his neck almost immediately, then to grow uncomfortable… then to hurt.

“All right.” Caelum nodded to Alaric, his teeth gritted. “Try it now. You’ll need to work fast, in case I pass out.”

Alaric’s hazel eyes widened, but at Caelum’s hard stare, he only nodded.

His wide, hazel eyes focused on the collar as he began to murmur words in a guttural voice in Sanskrit.

Immediately, the pain around Caelum’s throat jumped exponentially.