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“Aeon, don’t do this.” I cupped his face. “Don’t push me away.”
“I can’t live life without you.” He clenched his jaw, looking up as one tear ran down his cheek. “Knowing our luck, we will be damned to this life for eternity. I can’t… I can’t live for eternity without you. I’m… not strong enough.”
I wanted to lie and tell him everything was going to be ok. That I was going to break the spell and we were going to get our happily ever after. I didn’t know, and this just cemented my decision that I couldn’t tell them I was with child. It would devastate them.
“I’m leaving all my notes with my own journal for the next Belladonna, we will?—”
Aeon didn’t let me finish my sentence, when he pulled me in for a kiss. He whimpered, a noise that broke my heart. Running my hands through his hair, matching his intensity, we kissed like it was our last. It held so much emotion, so much love, that I choked up from the feeling of despair.
“I’m so sorry, Aeon.” I held back tears, kissing his cheeks and everywhere I could. “I’ll always be yours.”
He was silent, holding on to me tightly.
“Nothing will keep us apart, Katarina, not even death.” He sounded confident. “You will always be ours.”
“Today, tomorrow and in the afterlife,” I said, loving those words. They meant so much more than just I love you.
“Come on, let’s get this over with, the sooner you break this spell the sooner we can get on with our lives.” He cupped my face, kissing me softly before he grabbed my hand. We walked at a much more acceptable pace, each step making my heart feel heavy.
We walked into the library and saw Zev and Lucien standing by the circle. The room felt charged with energy. It wasn’t the perfect spell, but this was the only shot we had. This had to work.
Aeon led me to the circle, catching the attention of my other mates. They looked nervous. Our bond was a pool of many different emotions, but we were all a bundle of nervous energy.
“L… Let’s do this,” I said, wanting to get the spell over with, but also afraid of the possible failure.
“Wait,” Lucien said, bringing me in for a hug before he pulled the others towards us. “No pressure, baby. You’ve got this.”
“You’re amazing, you’ve put so much time into this spell and all you need to do is focus and let the spell guide you,” Aeon said next.
“If there is anyone who can break the spell, it’s you, Hellcat. I believe in you,” Zev said with all his confidence. “There's a reason the Goddess brought you here, this isn’t the end.”
“Ok, let's do it,” I said, as they all squeezed me one more time.
I swallowed down the rising emotions again. At this point, I was going to become dehydrated from all the crying I had been doing. I walked to the spot of the circle where I would do the spell. The magic in the circle was strong, stronger than the last circle or maybe I was more sensitive to it. I grabbed the book I had left here, turning to the page that had the spell.
This time the guys wouldn’t be in the circle with me. We designed it so that it would only be me weaving the spell. I grabbed the chalice from the circle along with a small ceremonial knife. I sliced my palm, dripping some of my blood inside.
“Blood of my ancestors guide me, give me strength and allow me to draw your power,” I said, feeling heat in my palm.
I stood up, making my way to Lucien. He sliced his palm, allowing his blood to drop into the glass whispering his words in Latin. Aeon completed the same steps, looking at me, giving me a small smile before I went to Zev. I knew giving his blood wouldn’t be an issue, but a small part of me thought, what if he says no?
He took the knife quickly, sliced his palm deeper than necessary, but the moment he said his words the chalice flared to life. He nodded at me before I went back to my spot within the circle. The moment I set the chalice down the entire circle glowed with power.
Unease unfurled in my chest making me very nervous. I looked around the room wondering if it was a possibility Caston could ruin the spell for us. A renewed sense of urgency hit me. I opened the grimoire reciting the spell, making sure that eachaction was precisely done. My Latin wasn’t perfect, but I had practiced enough times that these words felt natural.
It was a long chant and with each sentence I felt the power rising, each sentence adding more power. It was slow and steady until I felt the magic snap like a rubber band and then it was too much again. The surge of power lifted me up in the air as it went through me until it felt like every molecule in my body was going to explode. My vision was darkening, my heart was pounding too erratically, and I knew that this was it. This was the way Vivienne had died.
27
ZEV
When Katarina Belladonna walked into our castle a year ago, I had already made my assumptions about her. She wasn't going to break the spell, her presence alone would annoy me and my hate for her family would grow. Another year to get through just to survive until the next one arrived.
It was a wash and repeat cycle we had been doing for too long. Even though none of us liked to admit it, I think we had all given up hope that the curse would be broken, resigned to stay here for what I assumed might be eternity.
Katarina was not what I had planned for. I didn’t even think a woman like her existed, and I had fought her at every turn. I had denied the bond, and the feeling of right I had always felt with her. Fighting had been an easy way to cope with her being here, little did I know she would fight back, and I would love it. If I had pulled my head out of my ass earlier, we might have had more time to figure out the spell. We could have broken it sooner and we might have avoided what was happening now.
When she started the spell, Aeon, Lucien and I stood in front of her outside of the circle. I was mesmerized by her spell work, the intricacy of it and how at ease she looked with this spell. Shelooked like she had been doing magic for years, instead of being magic-less and on this occasion, I swear I felt her magic under the surface wanting to break free. As much as I wanted to hope for the best, I knew life was cruel. I would rather be surprised than disappointed, but I couldn’t help the small sliver of hope that shifted in my chest as the power grew.
