Felix holds out his hand and calls the spirits to the circle. My familiars shift into shadows, dark forms hovering over three of the four smaller circles drawn on the ground. Binx lets out a harrowing roar, and three gray shadows rise from the ground, moaning and wheezing. He commands them, and they obey.
Nicole and Naomi hold up their hands, whispering a protective enchantment. Evander hands me a sheet of paper with the spell written on it.
“Ready?” he mouths, and I nod. It’ll take the three of us to rip the curse out of Lucas’s body, and if the corners of the circle can hold, then we’ll be able to shove it into the undead squirrel and let it finish from there.
This nightmare is almost over.
Felix casts the first circle, invoking the spirits and peeling back the first layer of the curse. Lucas balls his fists, turning his head to the side.
“Hold steady,” Evander whispers, knowing seeing Lucas in pain is hurting me as well. I inhale and look at my paper, reading the spell over in my head.
“Now,” Felix tells us.
“Nox atra invocabo,” we all chant together. “Iubes voluntatem meam.” Dark blue smoke swirl up from Lucas’s chest, and his fangs come down. He pulls against the restraints, pain radiating through his body. “Auferte deos nocere.”
Lucas lets out a shout of pain, and the smoke rises, spinning faster and faster.
“Again,” Felix tells us.
“Nox atra invocabo. Iubes voluntatem meam.” More smoke pours from Lucas, looking like it’s ripping open his chest. My own heart races, and sweat drips down my forehead. It’s taking great force to command the spell, and I can feel it resisting, pushing against us. If one of us falters, the thing will be set free. “Auferte deos nocere!”
Lucas pulls against the roots, body twitching from the pain as the curse is ripped from him.
“Nox atra invocabo. Iubes voluntatem meam. Auferte deos nocere!”
Lucas suddenly stops moving, and the smoke rises with a fury, swirling around the confines of the circle.
“Now!” Felix shouts. Evander drops to his knees and thrusts out his hands, creating a protective shield over Lucas to keep the curse from settling back down into his chest. I take several steps to the side, holding out my hands.
“It’s strong,” Felix says through gritted teeth, wrestling against it. I throw up my hands, fighting with it as well. The curse bounds toward me, hitting the wall of the circle with a thunder-like clash. Blue light sizzles, illuminating little cracks.
“The circle is breaking!” Nicole screams, and my familiars and the spirits surge forward, fueling the walls.
“It’s too chaotic,” Felix grunts. “I…I…can’t control it!”
Gritting my teeth, I plant my foot hard against the ground. We didn’t come this far only to come this far.
You’ve got fire in you, kid. Hellfire.
I love Lucas with everything inside of me. I’m not letting him die. I will fight with everything I’ve got for the man I love.
“Burn,” I whisper, and the blue energy around my fingers starts to sizzle and smoke. Suddenly, the string of energy erupts into flames, burning red in the night. “Burn!” I shove my hands forward, sending a ball of fire into the circle. It hits the smoke, and a hundred voices hiss and scream in pain, and the smoke recedes from the edges of the circle.
I draw back the flames, and Felix starts chanting again.
“Get the hell away from my husband,” I growl and jerk my hand to the side, pulling the curse away from Lucas. Felix shouts the final incantation, and together, we shove the curse inside the squirrel, who immediately starts spasming in pain.
I drop my hands, getting hit with a wave of dizziness. Blinking to focus my vision, I stumble into the circle, ignoring Evander’s warning to wait and make sure the curse is really gone.
“Lucas,” I pant, dropping to my knees.
His dark blue eyes are open, staring straight up at the night sky.
“Lucas!”
He blinks and lifts his head up then yanks one arm free, tearing the roots from the ground.
“It worked,” he grunts, yanking another arm free. He sits up and grabs me, fangs drawn, and kisses me. I madly climb on him and pull his shirt up, looking at the wound. His skin is healing, pushing the pink thread out. I reach down and yank it, tearing through the wound, mesmerized as it heals in seconds.
“Holy shit,” Nicole says. She’s standing a few feet in front of us, face pale and eyes wide. “He’s okay?”
Lucas rips his legs free and stands, pulling me up with him. “I am.”
Not convinced, Eliza zooms forward but stops at the salt line of the circle, not able to cross it now that it’s been invoked. I turn, giving Binx a nod, and he disbands his legion of spirits. Freya and Pandora shift back into cat form, and Evander waves his hand, clearing an opening in the salt.