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Chris handed me a match and held out the box. I ran the tip against the side, and it flared to light. I mustered all the will I could, believing my will was stronger than Luciana’s, and said the words. “May God rebuke this demon, we humbly pray.” I lowered the flaming match to the top of the pot. “Our Lord and Savior, please cast out the demon that holds this child. Bind her soul to you, and let her be free of all impurities. Amen.” As soon as the fire touched the mixture it ignited with an explosion that knocked me on my back.
“Holy shit. It worked,” Adrian said.
I scrambled up and looked into the pot. Barely a teaspoon of fine white powder lay in the bottom. I scooped up the powder into my left hand, trying to make sure I got every last little bit. Then I turned to the circle of flames and blew the ash toward Meredith.
Instead of flying out of my hands, it was as if the little white grains had minds of their own. The powder glided through the air, roiling on nonexistent winds. As it hit the circle of candles, the flames lowered. The grains settled over Meredith, and she moaned.
The candles grew taller and so bright that I had to block the heat from my face as I fell back a step.
And then, as suddenly as they’d flared to life, the candles went out. All was still. Only little, barely-there circles of wax on the roof showed they’d ever existed.
Meredith moaned loader.
“Meredith?” Adrian asked as he knelt beside her. “You feeling anything?”
She slowly sat up. “Yeah. I think I feel better.”
Thank God.
Max knelt beside her. “Hey, cutie pie.”
“Max?”
“Yeah. How’s your wolf? How are you doing?”
“I’m okay. Actually…” She sat up, and my heart started racing. “I don’t know…” She gasped. “I…I—” She rolled over onto her hands and knees and threw up.
My limbs felt numb as a trail of blood hit the roof. “Oh fuck.” I stumbled back a few steps. This couldn’t be happening.
It hadn’t worked. I’d failed.
I had a second to be upset before Meredith fell on her side, convulsing.
Chris and Adrian were kneeling beside her. Max reached out to restrain her. “No,” Dr. Gonzales said as she searched for something in her bag. “Don’t! You could hurt her.”
It felt like an eternity passed as she shook.
Dr. Gonzales jabbed a shot into Meredith’s arm. She waited a second, but when the convulsions didn’t stop, Dr. Gonzales reached back into her bag. Another shot of meds slowed the convulsions, but they didn’t stop. One more shot and Dr. Gonzales waited as Meredith’s movements slowed.
Two more shots and Meredith was finally sedated again. It seemed to take forever for her twitching to stop completely as the drug worked its way through her body.
When she was finally still, the doctor picked up the discarded pile of shots with shaking hands. “I need to get more meds. I’m not sure how long this will hold her. Let’s get her back to the infirmary.”
Max gathered Meredith up in his arms again. No one said anything as they left.
I met Adrian’s gaze. “I did something wrong. I messed up.”
“No, I don’t think you did.”
No matter what the guys said, I had to have done something wrong. “I fucked it up. That’s the only answer.” I hugged myself as I shivered.
“Maybe we had it wrong from the beginning.” Adrian cursed.
“How? What did we miss?” I felt lightheaded, and swayed on my feet.
Dastien’s scent hit me before he wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned into him as I looked out over the edge of the building. The whole roof smelled like burnt candles, potion, and Meredith’s blood and puke, but I didn’t care. I stared out into the night, and wondered how I’d messed up so badly. I’d followed the spell exactly like it was written, but something had gone wrong.
The hardest part to swallow was that I’d hurt Meredith, and that made me ill. I shivered in the night.
