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I was standing in a room that looked almost identical to the place I visited in my dreams. Along the back was a wall of iron bars. Behind them was a crumbling brick wall, blocking the view of whatever used to be on the other side. The ground was cold stone and a dripping sound echoed throughout the room.
Luka grabbed my hands. “Hey, you okay?”
My lower lip was trembling but I reminded myself we had work to do. “I think so.”
“What’s wrong?” Matt asked. “Raven?”
“It’s a dream I have sometimes,” I said. “Since I was kid. It’s a room that looks like this. And I’m alone and scared.”
Matt and Zach stood on either side of Luka and I could feel Ben behind me. All of them moved in closer to me, wrapping me in a giant group hug.
“You’re not alone, now,” Ben said.
“Thank you,” I said, breathing in my mates. Being here with them made everything better. The room that had haunted my nightmares wasn’t so bad if I could have them along with me.
They moved away from me, Luka still holding my hands. “It’s almost over.”
Zach held up the book. “We follow the plan, and we set this whole mess behind us.”
I nodded. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Zach set the book down in the center of the room and the five of us stood around it. “I’ll lead,” Zach said, looking at each of us in turn.
I had a general idea of how the spell would work from texts I’d read, but it wasn’t a spell that was recommended for mages to do. Much like everything I seemed to be doing lately.
Zach stretched his hands out, taking hold of Luka and Ben’s hands. I grabbed hold of Luka and Matt. We hoped that keeping a mage between each of the non-mages would make the spell work better. It wasn’t exactly tested on other magic users.
“Ready?” Zach asked.
“Let’s get this over with,” Ben said.
“Agree,” I said. I wanted this whole thing over with. The book, the shadow fae, everything.
Zach took a deep breath and then closed his eyes. I followed his example and blew out a breath while I waited for him to cast the spell.
A moment later, he started speaking the words. “Magic within, reveal your secret.”
I kept my eyes closed as the tingle of magic filled the air like an electric charge. Zach kept speaking, his words hardly above a whisper. I was too focused on summoning the magic into me to notice what he was saying. It called to me, coming to me easily. The magic in the room seemed to want freedom.
“We offer ourselves as your keeper,” Zach said.
I gasped as a burst of bright pain hit my chest and expanded outward. Luka and Matt squeezed my hands tighter and I heard them grunt against the influx of magic. Almost as soon as it started, it dissipated, leaving a warm tingle across my skin.
I opened my eyes and looked at my partners. All of them had a blue glow on their skin. My own skin held the same properties. As I looked around at my mates, the color faded, and we all returned to normal.
“I think it worked,” Luka said. “At least, I hope that’s what that stabbing sensation was.”
“I don’t know how you mages deal with this kind of magic all the time,” Ben said.
“It doesn’t always feel like that,” Zach said, breaking his hold on the others. He knelt down and picked up the book, then dragged his fingertips over the cover. “I don’t sense any magic in it anymore.”
“Good,” I said, reaching for it. I took the book and held it against my chest. Then with my free hand, I fished the little vial of shadows out of my pocket and held it up. “Who’s ready for part two?”
All of my mates were silent for a moment. I could feel their fear and I knew they were worried about me. I swallowed against the lump in my throat. I was worried about myself. We’d have one shot at this. As soon as the shadow fae had the book in his hands, he’d know the magic was gone.
We couldn’t make any mistakes.
“We’ll be waiting for you,” Ben said, finally, breaking the silence. “All of us.”
“Yeah,” Matt agreed. “We do this together, right?”
I smiled. “Right.”
