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“Nothing,” I replied softly, as the hardest lump formed in my throat. “Let’s go.” Max nodded, his gaze etched with misery, and even Zach’s expression was dark and distraught, as was Eddie’s. Even as I turned to Gretchen, her watery eyes matched my own. Yes, everyone understood what it meant not finding the spell in the Lux.
We were right back at the beginning.
Not allowing myself to tumble into that painful place of hard truths, I shut the book. Just as I was about to stand, since I fully intended to leave it there, Amelia stated, “You can’t leave the spells. We need to take the Lux home where it can be safe.”
“Ew.” I glanced over my shoulder at her and noticed she had moved off to the side. “Even after it’s been placed with bones?”
She gave a firm nod. “Once we report this crime to the authorities, it will get into their hands. Please take it.”
The urgency in her voice made me agree for that reason alone, even if it seemed ridiculous she was asking me, instead of taking it herself. But I could relate, since stepping foot into this house, I wasn’t thinking all that straight either.
I nodded in agreement and relief washed over her features, and then I turned to the Lux. I reached in, tucked my gloved fingers under the book and touched bone. “Gross.”
The moment I lifted the book out of the trunk, a low hum filled the air. It vibrated against my body and raised the hairs on my arm. I jerked my head to Kipp. “What’s that?”
He scanned the room frantic, and then he arched an eyebrow. “I don’t know.”
Max spun on the spot, clearly searching out danger, as did Zach. “What’s what?” Then it became glaringly obvious the hum I currently sensed in the air, and what Kipp did too, normal folk didn’t sense.
“We need to get out of here,” Alexander shouted.
Dane, however, didn’t move an inch and stared at me with troubled eyes. “I feel it, too. Someone cast a spell on the book.”
Time slowed.
I dropped the book into the trunk and it looked like it floated dow
n. I had assumed that Wayde would’ve cast a spell on the trunk, but no, he cast it on the Lux—something I hadn’t considered. Clearly, my touching it didn’t ignite the spell, removing the book did.
The hum grew louder and energy washed over my skin, raising not only goose bumps on my arms, but bringing forth full alarm in my soul. Heat ripped along my body, my heart hammered and the world somersaulted around me.
“Tess,” Kipp roared.
“Kipp…” I slowly turned to him as a sudden blast of scorching heat swept over my skin, causing my headache to thump painfully. I clutched my head, crying out in pain and with a loud bang echoing in my mind, darkness stole my vision.
Chapter Six
I crashed through a black bottomless pit, clinging onto any sense of stability. There, in my reach, was an icy wisp of familiarity. I yanked myself closer toward it. Closer and closer…until the frosty embrace fully engulfed me.
With a screech not sounding like my own, I opened my eyes, more than horrified at the goose bumps trailing over my skin. “Fuck.” I spun around in a tight circle, spotting a dark empty street in both directions as I stood smack dab in the center.
The long road that seemed to never end was surrounded by a starry night. But even if the eerie view around me was cause for concern, what scared me shitless were the waves of energy swiping over my skin. “No. No. No.”
“You weren’t supposed to come.”
At the low angry voice, I spun and snapped at Kipp, “No, shit! I didn’t come here on purpose. What the hell!” Glancing down the street again, I spotted nothing or no one, except the paved road with trees lining the side and streetlights casting a glow into the dark night.
When that brought no further answers for why I stood in the Netherworld now, I turned to Kipp. “What happened?”
His eyes blazed. “The spell knocked you out.”
I gasped, inhaling the warm, fresh night air around me. I tried desperately to remember what exactly had taken place, but my mind was hidden behind a hazy cloud. “Only me?”
“No, everyone, including Alexander.” At my parted lips, Kipp’s head tilted and his eyes became measured. “I have no idea why his ghost couldn’t leave her body.” He hesitated, gazing down the street to his right, and then turned to me again. “Maybe the spell took over Caley’s body, so he couldn’t control her anymore and became stuck.”
I thought that a good assumption, but I stayed quiet as Kipp sighed, even if his gaze remained hard. “As far as I could see, everyone just dropped to the ground.” He looked down the road to his left. His brow was drawn together when he focused on me again. “But then I felt you come into the Netherworld, so I joined you.”
Images of what Wayde currently did to our unconscious bodies made a slow horror creep into my soul. Instead of losing myself in panic, I got right to ruling it out. “No one is dead, right?”
