I’m just glad the Sinners understand the urgency of getting this thing out of Finnegan. It’s horrifying to think of what could have happened had Farras stayed inside me.
“He didn’t try to keep away from us,” Seth says, “like he did with Matteo.”
“And we didn’t see anything in his eyes,” Brad adds, handing Cody the bottle.
“Maybe it’s a power Matteo has,” Cody speculates. “Maybe whatever powers he has that were activated when he and Alexei performed that spell.”
He might be right. “If that’s true,” I say, “he must be able to tell. When I saw him, he knew he needed to avoid me.”
“Farras said you were like an open window,” Alexei remarks. “He clearly saw something about you that we can’t, somaybe Finnegan knows this…or if it’s something else, it must know it too.”
It’s a good point, but not something we have much time to consider, since we have work to do.
The Sinners begin preparing for the spell. Brad, Luke, and Cody get on their knees, placing candles along the lines in the pentagram, while Seth makes a bed out of blankets for Cody like he did the other night. When he’s finished, he places a thermos of water and a thermometer beside it. For the first time since I found out about the Sinners, I really feel for him. He’s pale, with a five-o’clock shadow, his hair unkempt. He looks like he’s been pulling all-nighters to finish a project for school. He must be worried sick about Cody. Probably didn’t get a moment of sleep last night. Reminds me how I was with Alexei, and we weren’t even really friends then. Wild to think that’s true given how close we’ve become.
Cody pulls sage from a plastic bag and lights it up, moving around the pentagram.
“That really necessary?” I ask.
Cody chuckles. “We don’t have a way to discern between what the original Sinners knew for fact and what was superstition. I personally don’t believe this will have an effect, but is it worth taking the chance?”
“Guess not.”
Once he’s done, Brad and Luke step away from the pentagram, and Cody puts on knee pads, then gets on his knees in the center.
Seth glances between Alexei and me. “I don’t think theyshould be here for this. They can go wait upstairs.”
The way Luke’s eyeing us, I can tell he’s suspicious too.
“We have to work together,” Cody reiterates. “For the same reason that, once we do this, we need to find a way to talk to these people Alexei was working for.”
Seth’s jaw clenches. That seems to be the way he conveys his frustrations. Makes me wonder if that’s one of the reasons he’s got that chiseled jawline.
“Now, please, everyone, back off,” Cody says. “Don’t need everyone hovering. It’s like if you were watching me masturbate.”
I can’t imagine why that would be, but how the hell does he think we’ll be able to focus on anything but him performing a spell?
Still, everyone obeys his request.
Alexei leans against the wall, folding his arms. I take a spot beside him, while Brad, Seth, and Luke head to the other side, Seth keeping closer to Cody than Brad and Luke, like if something happens, he wants to be the first to reach his friend.
Cody grips Finnegan’s water bottle in his hand with his necklace as he bows forward like he’s about to pray. He mutters to himself, and I try to make out what he’s saying, wondering if it’s in English or another language. Doesn’t seem coherent, and even more bizarre is how it keeps going for over a minute.
I inspect the other guys’ expressions, waiting for someone to at least make eye contact to acknowledge how fucking weird this is, but I guess since I’m the last one in on thissecret, everyone else is pretty used to weird shit.
“What’s he saying?” I ask Alexei.
“These are the incantations the original Sinners came up with. One of the original Sinners channeled these. It sounds like gibberish, but they’re like mantras you keep repeating throughout the spell. It helps them focus.”
Seth glares at Alexei, clearly unhappy knowing how he got that information.
As Cody continues mumbling, I’m wondering what we’ll do if this doesn’t work, when I notice Seth fidgeting. He scratches at his arms uneasily, biting his bottom lip. Is he nervous because nothing’s happening? Or nervous because he’s familiar with these spells and he can tell something is about to happen?
A breeze rushes against my right cheek. I feel it on my arm too. It’s so subtle, I wonder if it’s in my head, until it intensifies, like a gentle whirlwind around the room. The candle flames flicker, a few extinguishing before Cody quiets, his face tensing like he’s straining, his arms trembling, then his entire body. He whimpers, grunting through his teeth before his mouth opens wider and he makes a sound like he’s choking on something.
“What’s happening?” Luke asks as Cody lifts off the floor, still in the same kneeling position.
“We’re stopping this.” Seth starts for his friend, and just as he reaches the pentagram, he stops abruptly—as though there’s something in front of him—before being launched back. His back hits the wall with athud.
