AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t touch the smoke. Stay back,” I shouted to the wolves. Poppet’s spell was one I’d only read about. If anyone touched it, the magic would force its way through the mouth and nose, filling their throats until it was impossible to breathe.
I felt a wolf press into my back and teeth tugged at the leg of my shorts pulling me backward. I put a hand blindly against Jackson’s snout and cast a quick shield around us both. Jackson’s body heat shifted, burning hotter for a moment and he returned to his human form.
“We have to finish this or run,” he said, his voice rough from the transition.
I shook my head. “I can’t leave her like this. She’s my sister.”
“If we’re not running, then what do we do? The wolves can’t fight smoke.” He growled.
“I don’t know. Just…distract Esme for me, if you can. I need to get through to her.”
Jackson grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Be safe.”
“I love you,” I said, willing more energy into my shield. “I’m sorry for what I did. It wasn’t—”
“I know. I love you, too.” he said, pressing a kiss to the back of my head. “Don’t get dead. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
I laughed. “Same goes for you.”
His warmth disappeared from my back, and I heard the thud of his weight returning to his wolf form. Poppet’s smoke billowed around the edges of my shield but didn’t follow him. Her focus was entirely on me. She was under orders. She wanted me dead.
Pushing forward, I took a few steps into the smoke, spreading it around my shield. I had to get closer. She had to hear me. I had to get through to her. That single memory I had of our shared childhood burned like a flare in the center of my heart. She was my sister, and I’d let Viktor send her away. She was a prisoner and it was my fault.
“Poppy, I know you can hear me,” I said, lacing my voice with magic as it traveled through the shield in her direction. “You have to fight her.”
Poppet’s lips never stopped moving. The smoke poured from her fingers, crawling up the sides of my shield. Stepping closer, I recognized the language she was speaking as a dialect of Deep Fae, one used by orcs and trolls working in mines far from the borderlands.
The mages who spoke it were legendary, powerful, and cruel. How she’d learned their magic, I couldn’t be sure. But it was dangerous. It would hurt us both if she continued. I could already see it draining the color from her skin.
My shield parted the smoke at her feet. “I think it’s time we stop with the death spell, don’t you?”
Poppet didn’t flinch. Words were getting me nowhere. I had to try something else. I had to take a risk. Turning my palm over, I channeled my energy into a sharp point and cut a line along my palm. The blood welled, and I grabbed Poppet’s wrist.
A film of ice coated her skin. I turned her hand over, repeating the cut on her palm. I waited for the blood, then closed her hand in mine. Poppet’s entire body jerked, and she stopped chanting. Her muscles seized, and her head turned in my direction. Her right eye rolled back around, and her lips trembled.
She whimpered. “Becca?”
“I’m here.” I flashed her my best smile. “You can let go of the spell, now. Everything’s fine. Just take a breath and—”
“Kill her!” Esme screamed.
Poppet flinched, and her lips stumbled over the beginning syllables of the chant. Her tongue tripped over her teeth, and tears gathered at the corner of her right eye.
“No, no, no.” I squeezed her hand tighter. “Stay with me. It’s okay. I’m right here. You’re not alone, Pop. You can fight her control. We can do it together.”
“Becky, it hurts,” she gasped.
“I’m here.” I held her hand against the cuts on my chest. “Can you feel my heartbeat? I’m right here with you. You are not alone.”
Poppet nodded, and her left eye rolled back around as she regained control of herself. “I don’t wanna hurt you. I never meant to do any of it. But I don’t have a choice. She has Bixby.”
“I know, and I’m gonna help you get her back. I promise, but you’ve gotta drop the spell. The smoke is gonna kill someone.”
“I can’t. If I don’t kill you, she’ll kill her.” She whimpered.
“I won’t let that happen. I promise.”
Poppet’s eyebrows drew together. Crimson fire burned in her eyes. Magic vibrating into a fever pitch. “You’re lying. You don’t keep your promises. You promised we’d stay together. You promised you wouldn’t let him send me away, but he did. He sold me, like a piece of meat, and you let him.”
