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"What do you think?" he said in a low voice. "We resume."
I gripped tight to Luca's and Theo's hands, my gaze flitting between Luca's pinched expression and Julian's furrowed brow as he brushed a last handful of soil off his hands. The fire had taken on a life of its own; it writhed and twisted, seeming almost to mirror Julian’s movements.
Julian began to speak again, his voice low and melodic, the words rolling smoothly off his tongue. It was fully dark now; the only light came from the fire and the wavering candles. A shiver ran down my spine as Julian circled the fire, his voice rising.
Lilin. Could she hear him? Could she hear me? We're doing this for you, so pay attention.
Julian circled the fire one more time, the charred log with my blood gleaming black in the flickering light, his voice growing louder and louder. I tensed, forgetting to breathe.
His voice rose to a crescendo, the last words coming out in a roar—forma in qua creatus es!—and he looked almost demonic as he raised the bloody log high overhead, then in one smooth motion sent it crashing down into the flames.
There was a great burst of flame as sparks shot skyward, lighting the inside of the cave with flashes of colored light, violent slashes of blue and purple twisting within the orange flames as they spiraled higher and higher.
Julian was breathing hard as he swung around to stare at me, his dark eyes fixed on my face with tight apprehension.
I glanced between him and the fire, a sinking feeling starting in the pit of my stomach.
With another splutter, the fire dwindled back to its normal size, the colors fading.
I didn't need to say the words—it was obvious to all four of us, but they came out anyway.
"Nothing happened."
36
"What went wrong?" Theo asked. "Was it the spell?"
"No." Julian shook his head curtly. "It was working on Abigor; it should have worked on Lilin."
"Then what happened?"
I answered for Julian. "She's not there. Or not paying attention, anyway." I couldn't keep the bitterness out of my voice.
"I thought you said the spell was supposed to bring her to the surface," Theo said.
"It was," Julian growled.
Theo turned anxious eyes on me. "How do we wake her up then?"
I threw my hands in the air, ripping them from Luca and Theo's grips in the process. "I don't know! It always just happens; I can't control it. Usually she shows up when I'm asleep."
Theo turned back to Julian. "Should she be sleeping then?"
He shook his head. "No. River needs to be present as well for this to work. If not, we risk Lilin destroying her mind as she leaves."
I blanched. "Oh, that's lovely."
Julian sighed, dropping heavily to sit on the stone floor. "Perhaps we should stop. The risks are too great, and we don't know if—"
"No!" Luca and I spoke at the same time. I turned to face him and found a faint gleam of red in his irises. My breath caught. "Luca—"
I reached for him—what had Julian said? Your touch will remind Luca of his humanity. I gripped his hand, and felt another rush of something deep inside me. That crackling current again, stronger now, more intense.
I blinked, and found Julian crouched over us. When had he moved?
"That's it," Julian breathed.
I blinked. That was it. Lilin had surfaced before, when Luca had fought to keep his demon inside. And before that, when he'd revealed his nature to me the first time.
