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If they wanted magic. They could have it.
I placed my hand on the ground and imagined the witches falling like dominos as I shook it. I imagined them screaming and crying when they realized they had been ruined again.
Please. Please work. I need to save them.
But nothing happened, and with every second, it got harder to think, harder to breathe. The pain was like being a stone hit by a tidal wave again and again, and each time it got smaller, parts of its exterior were chipped off and dragged away. Only this was pulling from the inside out.
In my tear-blurred vision, I saw Charlie pass out, his face smashing into my chest. A little light appeared above him, just like Savida's fire had appeared above him.
I tried to scream but couldn't open my mouth. I couldn't move. My breaths were short and sharp, and my eyelids felt like lead weights.
When Zaide fell, passing out, I tumbled back with him, my head resting on his chest, and stared up at a purple light above his prone body.
They are going to die.
We are going to die.
I wouldn't get to kiss Zaide again. I wouldn't get to explore our new relationship. I wouldn't get to learn how to use my own magic properly with Baelen. I wouldn't get to see Charlie learn to be a witch. Or tease him. We were all going to die together.
I couldn't believe that for the third time in my life, I was on death's door.
Hysteria hit, and I giggled at the thought of knocking on a door and Death answering and being like, “Not now,” and sending me back on my way.
"A little more. She is almost empty. And then we'll use their blood as an extra boost. Sigurd will rise tonight!" Debs shouted. Cheers from the witches echoed through the darkness around me.
Her words enraged me.She isn’t going to take our magic and take our blood too.
As though I’d found an extra pocket of energy, my eyes flicked open, dry from tears and no longer heavy. My head was empty and clear, as if I'd been reset and refocused. I imagined my magic sat inside of me in that pool in my center. I covered it. Padlocked it. It was being pulled from my skin, and so I protected it with as much willpower as I could, praying it was enough to slow them from taking it.
I felt them tugging, their chanting increasing, and their voices and energy straining to stop me. But I controlled the magic now. I would use it all to save us. Even if we lost it forever.
Focusing on the threads that danced in front of me, I pushed my will into them. Pushed and pushed and pushed.
I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing. The threads turned from oranges and reds to blues and greens. I didn’t know what it meant. But the witches gasped and backed away, suddenly overwhelmed with something. They lost their connection, and their chanting stopped. Our cage dissolved.
I couldn’t do anymore. I couldn’t move or speak or protect us. Spent and beaten, I sagged. With tears in my eyes, I stared at the beautiful balls of light from Zaide and Charlie.
No!my heart cried out.Please, I can’t pass out now.
The ground beneath me shook, then everything turned black.
CHAPTER9
CHARLIE
With a groan and a hand pressed to my face, I woke up. My ears rang, and my breathing was deep and heaving. It must have been a few seconds that I lay there, taking stock of my state, before I became aware of the shitstorm happening around me. Shoes blurred as people ran past me in a panicked stampede, kicking up salt, dust, and leaves. Screams were shrill and loud in my ears. The ground shook.
Does Sweden get many earthquakes?
My foggy brain tried to make sense of everything while adrenaline and fear pumped through my body. I scrambled up before my brain had time to acknowledge the situation. Blinking, I remembered then. Clawdia had tried to use magic to save us. But I’d passed out when they started to drain us.
I’m not drained and dead.
I looked down to find Clawdia and Zaide lying at an uncomfortable angle in a tangled mess. Tears stained her cheeks. The shaking continued making me unsteady on my knees as I crawled to check on them.
Momentary panic overwhelmed me at the thought of being the only one who survived. I had no interest in going back to my boring, empty life without them.
“Clawdicat? Zaide?” I shook them, my heart in my throat. Neither responded. I put my finger under her nose.
