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I expect her to object, but instead, she nods and says, “Okay.” Then she folds her arms. “Are you going to do the spells here?”

Glancing at our surroundings, Mack nods in agreement. “I think it’s best. Out here, Kole has access to the forest if he needs it and Tanner has the lake.”

I study Tanner’s face. He still seems incredibly shaken. I want a moment alone with him almost as much as I want one with Nova. Not because I want to hold him close and tell him I love him—those mutterings will be reserved only for Nova—but because I want to thank him for putting himself at such great risk to try and find me for the second time.

“Luther, do you remember the incantation?” Mack asks.

“I remember,” Luther replies. “Had a good professor, didn’t I?”

A smile twitches on Mack’s lips, then he says, “Alright, Sam, we need you to sit in the center of our circle. We’re going to cast the incantation. If the monster in your head shows itself, we may need to restrain you, but we won’t hurt you. Right now, we’re trying to find out what’s in there. That’s all.”

I moisten my lips and try to look confident as I say, “Sure. Okay.”

Positioning myself cross-legged on the sand, I wait while the others encircle me. They’re about to join hands when Nova nudges Luther and Tanner apart and says, “No room for me?”

They look at her approvingly and move aside to let her sit down.

“You don’t need to chant,” Mack tells her. “Just join hands with Luther and Tanner. You can help us channel our energy.”

Nova nods then cocks her head from side to side.

“Ready, Sam?” Mack asks.

I tell him I am, even though I have no idea what I’m supposed to be ready for. Then the four guys start to chant. It’s a language I’ve heard before but one I’ve never been taught to understand. Their words tremble as they fill the air. My eyes widen as flickering blue symbols appear in front of me, floating, circling my entire body. One of the symbols lands on my hand. It burns and makes me flinch. The second is hotter, the third so hot I cry out.

As the others continue to chant, I try to bat the glowing symbols away, but they rain down on me like molten rain. It becomes too much to bear. I’m about to stand and run when I notice two vines snaking toward me from the forest.

Kole’s eyes are dark. He has let go of Mack and Luther’s hands and is curling his fingers to bring the vines into our midst. They loop around my ankles and hold me still as the symbols multiply and beat down onto my skin.

Then there is silence. The chanting stops, even the sound of the falls and the wind in the trees seems to have disappeared.

Mack moves into the middle of the circle and kneels in front of me, then he presses his palm to my forehead and yells something I don’t understand. He tips his head back and closes his eyes.

For a trembling moment, everyone waits, staring at Mack and me.

Finally, I tentatively ask, “Is something supposed to be happening?”

Mack’s eyes snap to mine. “Do you feel anything?” he asks, taking his hand from my head.

“I feel kind of itchy from all the sparkling symbols. But aside from that?” I shake my head. “Sorry, guys. I feel nothing.”

With a frustrated growl, Mack moves back to his place in the circle. He breathes in deeply, centers himself, then says, “Next spell. Ready? Go.”

This time, when they start chanting, the air darkens, clouds roll in, and thunder ripples through the sky. Their eyes turn black, their voices deepen. I wait for pain, but none comes. Once again, nothing happens.

The third and final spell is more dramatic still, but with the same anticlimactic conclusion. Mack holds his hands on each side of my head and screams at me. His eyes flash amber. He presses his forehead to mine and chants furiously close to my face. It starts to rain. The heavens open, and slanting stripes of water beat down on us, pummeling the lake’s surface, the beach, and our skin.

But still, nothing happens.

I feel the same as when we started.

“The moon be damned,” Mack curses, standing up and pacing away from me with his hands braced on the back of his head.

“Shit,” Tanner mutters.

Kole shakes his head and scrapes his fingers through his long, loose hair. “I was certain the last would work,” he says.

“Maybe we just need to try again?” I offer because I know what our next option is, and I truly can’t bear the thought of it.