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I blocked the noises out and began the third reading.This time there was pain, in my body and quite obviously in theirs from the sound of the howls emerging from the mist.The wolves’ distress bit into my resolve and my knees began to shake from the strain.
The curse was pushing me down, making my spine ache and my muscles cramp.It wanted to stay; it didn’t want me to win.
I forced my gaze up, to where Leo and Mason were straining forward on the porch, their faces stricken with fear.
Those men deserved their parents back.
Their parents deserved their lives back.
Tears burned in my eyes as I gripped the edges of the book and held on tight as I finished the third reading.
There was only one more round to do.The mist had become silver and sparkling, and I could feel the curse in the air.It would need somewhere to be channeled.Somewhere solid and secure.
We hadn’t thought of that, and hadn’t brought anything for the purpose.
I let go of the book and pulled my grandmother’s gold ring off my finger.My dad’s mom.My Nanny.She’d loved me, and I’d loved her, and that bond forged the jewelry in my hand.
It was the last thing my grandmother ever made for me, and I was certain it would be strong enough to hold the curse.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I placed the ring on the book in front of me, held onto the lectern and began the final reading.
The words flowed from my tongue.My eyes were too blurred from tears to read from the pages anymore, so I recited on memory alone.
There was a large crack, and a human scream.I didn’t stop.The words were almost done, and the pain in my back was intense.I gasped out against it.
It wasn’t real.The flames on my back were only magic, designed to stop me from finishing the spell.But fuck…they hurt.Theyburned.
I cried out as I went down to my knees, clinging to the lectern.There were only two sentences left and I pushed them out.Every word.And then the spell was done.Complete.
Then everything went black.
* * *
Mason
I leapedfrom the porch the moment the spell was done.Tania was on her knees, barely conscious and I needed to get to her before…
Too late.She hit the grass just as I reached her.
I rolled her onto her back, checking for vital signs.I put my head to her chest and heard the steady and rapid thump of her heart beneath her ribs.
Her chest was rising and falling, so she was still breathing.But she seemed to be asleep.Or passed out.
Sue knelt down next to her daughter on the grass, running her hands over Tania’s face and through her hair.“She’s okay.”There was relief in her tone.“She’ll wake up soon.”
Tania’s eyelids fluttered and her head began to turn from side to side.“What happened?”
“You fainted,” I said, putting my arm around her to help as she tried to sit up.
“Seriously?”She frowned as though she didn’t believe me.
Then she squinted up into the air.“Who’s that?”
I turned to stare in the direction she was looking and saw someone I didn’t recognize.I jumped to my feet; my hands clenched into tight fists.Why was there a man, and a naked man at that, standing in our backyard?
Leo rushed over to the dirty, scraggly man, his eyes shining with tears.“Dad?”
I gulped as the man turned toward Leo and embraced him.
