Her hands shook even harder. Her heart pounded so loudly she couldn’t breathe.
Focus, Mona,she told herself.You are not a coward. You can do this. Prue trusts you.
Mona only wished she trusted herself as much as Prue did.
Clearing her throat, Mona waved her hand over Prue’s blood and whispered, “Excito.”
The air hummed, but the sound was stilted and strained. A mere whisper of the power she was accustomed to. Unease swirled in her chest, but she shoved it down deep. She knew this would be different. She had to push through and trust the magic.
Closing her eyes, Mona murmured the incantation. “Muros finire. Et magicae gratis.” She flexed both hands over the blood, her fingers curling into a shape that resembled elongated claws.
Magic hissed around her, but when she opened her eyes, the pool of blood remained unchanged.
“Shit,” she whispered. The energy in this place was so stagnant that even her ordinary witch magic couldn’t get through without a struggle.
As if this spell weren’t complicated enough.
Mona cupped the broken lantern between her palms and screwed her eyes shut once more. Digging deep into the power source of her entire being, she said the words in a low, ethereal voice. “Muros finire. Et magicae gratis!”
Her voice rose with each syllable, the words ringing around her. The glass in her hand heated, making her skin hot. She chanted the words over and over, pushing through the pain as the heat of Prue’s blood scorched her skin.
From downstairs, Prue’s shriek echoed. Mona’s voice faltered, and the cup of blood cooled.
Dammit. She closed her eyes and refocused, then repeated the words of the spell once more. Despite every ounce of fear within her, every facet of terror at the thought of what Prue was doing to buy her time, Mona homed in on the singular task of spell-casting.
Say the words.
Offer the blood.
Let the Triple Goddess do the rest.
“Muros finire. Et magicae gratis.”
The words poured from her lips. The air buzzed and crackled with electricity. The walls began to shake.
Someone shouted from downstairs. It wasn’t Prue.
Prue’s voice followed, a shrill shout.
Something shattered. Heavy thumps followed.
Sweat dripped down Mona’s brow. She spoke the words faster, more urgently. A violent churning encircled the small room, whipping at her hair and tickling her skin. Her third eye opened, and Goddess above, it was the most peculiar sensation. What had once been second nature to her now was foreign and unfamiliar. She had relied so much on her goddess powers that she had forgotten how it felt to sense magic with her third eye.
With a gasp, Mona’s back arched, magic coursing through her. Something cracked in the air, and a burst ofenergy whooshed around her like a tornado. She inhaled a rattling breath, and for the first time since she’d arrived here, she finally felt as if she could breathe normally.
There was magic here once more.Truemagic.
A slow smile spread across her face. She set down the broken lantern, which was now empty, and lifted one hand in front of her face. A tendril of thorny vines appeared, wrapping around her palm and encircling her fingers like an embrace. It was as easy as breathing.
More crashing from downstairs instantly sobered her. Mona stumbled over to the open window, then used a broken shard from the lantern to slice into her palm. With blood running down her hand, she whispered, “Accendo.” She flexed her fingers toward the sky, and a coil of flame sliced through the air like an arrow. When it reached the clouds, it exploded like fireworks, shooting in different directions.
Pop.
Pop.
Bang!
One by one, the sparks burst in the air, growing louder in succession.
