“How about a bottle of water?”Card said.
Abbi put the pillow down and retrieved the water instead.“Do I take it to them?”
“Brogan needs to step out for it,” Card said.
I dutifully followed orders, then returned to sit with the mirror in one hand and the bottle in the other.
“How?”I asked.
“Hold in your mind’s eye exactly what you want the bottle to transform into,” Card said.“Then you need to speak the words.All of them.You don’t have to do it quickly, but you have to get through from the start to the finish.Take your time.All through in one.”
“I don’t speak that language, what if I say it wrong?”
“You won’t.Lu,” he said, “the book might be hard to keep still while he’s casting.”
“I know,” she said.
I rolled the water bottle in my hand and let my thoughts wander for a moment.I wanted to transform it into something harmless.Something I could keep focused on, something I wouldn’t forget no matter what happened during the spell.
There would be a price to pay for this, I assumed.Nothing the gods gave came without strings attached.And those strings were likely to strangle.
Something small.Something beautiful.Harmless.
Something that would make Lula smile.
“Ready,” I said.
“All through in one,” Card repeated.
I held the vision in my mind and began reciting the words.
They were strange in my mouth, musical in a way I’d never experienced, but with hard stops that had me gasping for breath before continuing on.
I held tight to the mirror and didn’t dare look away.Black pepper filled my mouth, my nose, my lungs.My eyes watered, my throat was on fire, but I spoke every syllable to the last.
The earth shook, then one hard thump echoed as if a boulder had rolled down a mountain and struck a brick wall.
The spell lifted, the air smelled of cool breezes and mint.
I coughed into my arm, hacking up the aftertaste of power.Everything in me felt raw.
“Oh, well done,” Card said.“Brogan, Lula.How are you?”
“I’m okay,” Lula said.“Brogan?”
“Fine.”It came out thin, like I’d been shouting for days.
Or breathing god power.
“Can I close the book?Did it work?”Lula asked
“Close the book,” Card said.“Brogan?”
Lula shut the cover, and I lowered the mirror in my shaking hand.
We still sat in the chairs, back-to- back.The room was still the room.Abbi and Card were still whole.And whatever the boulder collision had been, it seemed to be gone now.
But there was something in my hand that hadn’t been there just a moment before.
