I looked at Eliana, too, hoping she’d say yes. Spells weren’t something to mess with. Ever. She met my gaze for a moment and looked sad.
“No,” she said softly. “I’m not changing my mind.”
“Good. Ashlyn, you’re heavier than Eliana. Go stand against the door, so no one interrupts.”
I didn’t take offense at the heavier comment. Eliana was petite and undernourished. I was taller and lean but with enough muscle, hopefully, to fight my way free in an emergency…if I had the free will to do so.
Biting back my need to reiterate that this wasn’t a smart idea, I moved past Eliana with a warning look. She gave me a weak smile but took my spot by the paper towel dispenser.
The trio of druids positioned themselves so they were cross-legged and knee to knee within the circle. Lauv took a larger, empty metal bowl and set it in the center. Anne grabbed a handful of small twigs from outside the circle and placed it inside the empty bowl, starting a fire with a single word.
They began chanting and speaking in their nonsensical spell language. As they spoke, they added objects to the flames, and the color changed from orange to red to purple then blue.
The chanting stopped, and Lauv nodded at Eliana.
“Wait, put the ash in,” Meg said.
A tingle lit under my skin, and I straightened away from the door to tell them to stop.
“The hell? Shut up,” Anne hissed.
Meg grabbed a handful of ash and tossed it into the flames before I could say a word.
The ingredients exploded in a burst of light.
My middle gave an immediate gut-wrenching twist, and pressure squeezed my head to the point that my ears popped. I stumbled forward in slow motion. It felt like I was falling.
Then my foot came down, and the pain, pressure, and blinding light disappeared.
Staggering upright, I hugged my arms around my middle and took a few calming breaths while waiting for my vision to clear. However, even after several blinks, I saw nothing but complete darkness behind the lingering blue spots.
This was what I’d feared. There were so many fates worse than death. Blind in a world filled with monsters was one of them.
Gods, I hated druids.
Given the complete silence around me, they probably already knew they’d screwed up.
I opened my mouth to tell Eliana what had happened, but no sound emerged. Not a whisper of noise. I inhaled to try again. Nothing.
Not good. I reached for the door behind me, intending to knock on it and get their attention, but my hand merely brushed through air. Then I noticed the fishy stink of the pool was missing, too.
I swallowed hard and started putting together the pieces.
No vision. An inability to speak. And a missing door. All immediately after the druids completed arelocationspell.
Fighting not to panic, I continued to reach out, needing to be sure things weren’t as bad as I suspected. However, my hands found nothing in the immediate vicinity. No tiled bathroom wall or door. No friendly succubus or stupid druids.
I started to shake at the confirmation of what I’d suspected. Something had gone wrong with the druids’ spell, and rather than relocating Eliana’s mom outside of the barrier that warded Uttira, the three idiots had relocatedme.
Since I couldn’t leave Uttira without the Mark of Mantirum, I doubted I was outside the barrier, though. The mark and the barrier were safety features to ensure that the humans who knew of Uttira’s secrets couldn’t escape. Plus, if I were outside, I would be freezing.
Squatting, I touched the stone floor beneath my feet. Unless Girderon had a basement, the druids had sent me somewhere outside of the academy but not outdoors.
I was in some other building within Uttira.
A tremble stole through me as I considered the danger. Leaving the academy meant there was no anti-death ward to protect me from whatever might lurk nearby.
Staying crouched, I listened. Not a whisper of noise disrupted the surrounding silence. I ran my fingers over the floor and heard the faint rasp. That meant my ears were working fine even if my voice wasn’t. But what about my eyes?
