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A lump formed in my throat. I swallowed thickly, but it didn’t move. My heart fluttered, as if there were a pair of wings in its place, and my legs felt as if they’d turned to gelatin. “Caught me off guard,” I said, breathless, and took his hand to help me to my feet. I steadied myself against him. Grabbing his shoulder, surprised at how hard it was, I looked down at the ring. “I was remembering when I first felt my powers. It was…” I searched for the right words. “Eventful. It usually takes some kind of traumatic or emotionally heightened thing to happen for a witch’s magic to present itself.”
“What big event was it?”
I leaned my hands against my knees, closing my eyes. “Nothing crazy,” I said slowly, then breathed deeply. “I need a minute.” I looked him up and down. “You were worse. You were screaming and crying?—”
“It was powerful. You did warn me.”
“I didn’t realize it was that powerful.” I glared at the ring. “How awful was it?”
“Like reliving hundreds of suppressed dark memories.”
“Ah.”
We both stood in silence. I wanted to ask more, but his pained gaze told me not to.
“I’ll tell Edmund we passed this one,” I said after a minute.
“I want to master it.”
I gave him an incredulous stare. “Are you serious? It almost killed you. I’ve never seen someone affected like that.” I paused. “You must have so much anguish for the curse to hurt you like that. I can’t expect you to go through it again.”
Sadness softened his gaze. He looked at me, then at the shelves behind me, shaking the emotion off. “Let’s try something else then.”
“You don’t want to rest?”
“I don’t have time.”
I parted my lips. “What do you mean?”
He glanced at me. “I mean we don’t have time. We need to be a help to the coven, with this threat.”
“Right,” I said slowly, but something felt off. I didn’t want to interrogate him over something so small, especially after what had happened, but I was surprised he was still standing and wanted to do more. The curse had even caught me off guard, and I was used to handling it. I’d been shown that memory of my sister countless times until I mastered it. It never got easier, remembering her face when it dawned on her I was a witch. I could still hear her screams as Miss Thompson hit her. The thought made my blood boil.
“What about that?” He pointed at the book of Midas. “What will you have me do?”
“Ah, that one.” I smirked. At least it wouldn’t hurt like the last one did. “It belonged to a king who was cursed to turn everything he touched to gold.”
“Midas.”
I eyed him, one eyebrow raised. “How would you know about that?”
The corner of his eye wrinkled. “I read it.”
“In the last few days?”
“Maddox gave me some materials to go through.”
“Oh, right.” I was getting way too paranoid. “Sorry, um, well then you know. This book, while holding it, will give the same curse, until you put it down at least. The challenge is to be able to hold the book without turning anything to gold. Do not let the curse leave your fingers. You’ll become the bridge that stops it from touching another object.”
“I’ll give it a go.”
“Mmhmm. I’m going to get the box and put this ring back.” My heart still hadn’t slowed from the racing I’d awoken to. “You go ahead.” I gestured toward the book, which was relatively harmless—to us anyway. “Don’t touch any of the dark objects though. Only the stack of cards next to the herbs and the glass bottles. They can be touched to practice.”
Leaning down, I hovered my hand over the ring. If I couldn’t fight it anymore, then I had grown weaker than I comprehended. Magic pulsated as I cautiously touched it. Unlike before, it didn’t snake into me or try to latch with might. Instead, as it had done when I’d mastered it years ago, it bent to my will. I placed it back in the box and closed the lid. I’d tell Edmund we passed the test. I couldn’t put Viktor through the pain again, even if it meant he wouldn’t progress faster. I knew Edmund. He’d force Viktor to keep going no matter the pain, like he had me, but I couldn’t do it.
I turned after putting the ring back in one of the safes on the wall, which locked the grade two dark objects, whereas the shelves held the grade ones. The grades evaluated their danger levels, and I shuddered, thinking about the grade ten objects locked away in the vaults below the basement. I hoped I had the courage and strength to handle them once I became keeper. If I became keeper.
I turned and looked at Viktor. He held the book in one hand. Several of the cards had turned to gold, as expected, but that was it. He touched everything around him without anything else changing. He’d done it, again. I forced a smile, but the truth slid like lead into my stomach. Maybe he really did stand a chance. If I didn’t put my name forward this year anyway, he really would. “How’s the studying of Lor coming along?” I asked.
