“Take a breath,” I said, my voice coming out raspy. It was difficult not to mask my worry. I cleared my throat and forced myself to try again. “This is the easy part.”
She nodded and moved back on the bed so she could lie down. Tension eased out of her once her body became horizontal, as though it was too much for her to be upright anymore.
Courtney and I exchanged a glance as we waited for the second wave to hit.
Bella gasped and both of her hands went to her belly, where I knew the third of our tattoos was being burned into her skin. She cried, writhing in pain.
I winced. My hand twitched as magic pushed against my fingers, begging to be let out. It wanted to offer my sister comfort and relief. I clenched my jaw and stopped myself from giving in.
As much as I wanted to help, I couldn’t. It was easy enough to do. All I needed was to cast another spell over her. But I didn’t know if that would interfere with the protection spell. I didn’t know if it would stop the barrier from forming. And I couldn’t chance it. It wasn’t worth risking for the sake of a couple of minutes of pain.
“Let go, Bella. Just pass out,” Courtney said.
Bella groaned, and then the room went silent as her eyes closed, her head lolling.
Courtney grabbed my arm. “Thank god for that.”
I nodded.
Bella’s chest moved up and down in a slow rhythm as she fell into a deep sleep.
Courtney tugged me from the bed. I followed her into the kitchen where she poured herself our version of a stiff drink, a home-made wine mother had liked on occasion. Courtney and I would sneak it when Mother was sleeping, something Bella admonished us for time and time again.
Her hands shook as she poured two glasses.
“You okay, Court?”
She nodded and downed her glass of wine. “Yeah, it was just...Watching it happen to you, experiencing it myself, then Bella. Crap...”
I picked up my wine and took a sip, my nerves strangely settled despite what I had just inflicted on Bella.
“Well, as we know, the hard part’s done now,” I said. “All we have to do is wait.”
A smile finally lifted Courtney’s lips. “And when she wakes up, we’ll all have tattoos,” she said. “Who would have thought?”
I laughed. “Yep.”
I kept the rest of my thoughts to myself. The tattoos were just the beginning.
Now, the fight for our birthright could truly begin.
Chapter 12.
“When do you think she’ll wake up?” Courtney asked from her seat at the kitchen table, as she chomped on her second bowel of cereal for lunch. My stomach rumbled, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat.
I glanced at the clock on the wall, arms crossed loosely over my chest. Yesterday, I’d noted what time Bella had gone down, knowing that twenty-four hours was the amount of time she’s said that we had slept for. As such, she was expected to be out for at least twenty-four hours, to ensure that she was well-rested and that the spell could take effect.
“In about half an hour, I’d say.” I sighed and glanced at the kitchen. “I wish I knew what to make for her to drink, like she made for us yesterday. That helped so much, with the headache. I know it’s chamomile, but I wonder if she gave that to me because she knew I liked it and added something to it to make me feel better.”
Courtney nodded towards the fridge. “There’s a potion in the fridge,” she said. “I saw it there yesterday. Do you think she made it for herself?”
I grinned. “Yeah, sounds like something Bella would do,” I said. “She wouldn’t trust us to make it. Not when we could completely botch it up. And knowing you, you would.”
“Hey,” Courtney said playfully as I walked to the fridge. “That’s offensive.”
“It’s also true.”
I took out a jug of something that smelled very similar to what we’d drank yesterday. Honey. Sweet. It was the perfect fit for tea.