“Amy?” My mom stepped closer, but I waved her off.
My grandmother turned to her. “When casting, if there is going to be pain inflicted on the victim, the caster also needs to feel it. We do not do unto others without taking it on ourselves.It’s a balance.” My mom nodded, but I could see she was worried.
I moved to Abby’s head and started. I fanned the smoke over her with the pure white feather of a barn owl. I walked around her three times. The fire burned brighter with every step. The flame was now fueled by my magic, the golden flame now a deep blue. I placed the bowl by her head and sent a steady stream of magic to the fire to keep it burning.
I grabbed the bottle of water that was in the box and poured it into a cup. I sprinkled in a few of the herbs that I used in the fire and helped Abby sit up enough to drink it. She coughed a little, but swallowed it down. I poured the rest of the water into the bowl, keeping the flame burning as the water took on a blue sheen.
I bent over and rolled up Abby’s shirt, bearing her stomach. Rick’s brow furrowed. “What are you doing?”
I dipped a cloth into the burning liquid. Then I wiped down Abby’s stomach. “I’m trying to cleanse her body. I’ll focus on her stomach, chest, and the brand. But the stomach is first.” I wiped her down, dipping into the bowl periodically. I turned back to the bowl and slid a small dagger into the bowl. To purify it.
Rick growled when he saw the knife, but Shelly took a step. “Amy?” Her voice was confused, but I quickly wiped down Abby’s chest and then turned to the brand that Vince burned into her skin.
I cleansed the brand, earning a few pained whimpers from Abby. “Are you okay?” She met my eyes and nodded. “Are you ready?”
She took a few deep breaths. “Will it hurt?”
“I won’t lie to you. It’s going to hurt like a bitch, but we need to purify your soul. The brand is the entry point. Your heart is the pathway, and the soul is settled somewhere around your center.”
“My tummy.” I nodded. She closed her eyes. “I’m ready.”
I took a steadying breath. This was the part I hated the most.
Then I slammed the dagger directly into her heart.
Her eyes flew open, but Rick and Shelly screamed. My mom and Toya grabbed Rick. Wendy wrapped her arms around Shelly’s waist to keep her back. Rick bellowed. “ABBY!” His eyes were a mix of rage and desperation. He was desperate to save his pup. I felt the phantom kick from my own pup and knew I would have done the same. “Amy, you were supposed to save her.” His voice broke. “How could you do this?” Tears poured from his eyes. “She trusted you.” He forced himself another step. “We trusted you.” He bellowed again, eyes flashing. “ABBY!” His pain was a bitter taste in my mouth.
I met his eyes. “You said you trusted me.”
That made him pause. “I did…I do. But you just killed-” His voice broke as he looked at the growing pool of blood under her. “You killed my baby.” He dropped to his knees and the sob that broke from his lips shattered my heart. “You killed my baby.”
Shelly just hung from Wendy’s arms. I expected to see hatred, to see fury, but all I saw was a broken woman. Watching me slam the knife home shattered something in her. Something that was so deep, so profound that I wasn’t sure it would ever be fixed.
“Shelly?” I called to her, but she was gone. But I needed her to snap out of it. I needed her to feel. I grabbed the cup that had held the water and I walked to her. I grabbed her face. “Shelly, I need you to look at me.” There was no response.
“Girl, you know you need to do it. You are running out of time.” My grandmother’s words were soft, but they gave me strength.
I nodded once, and then I pulled back and smacked Shelly across her face. Ternen and Alannah were crying, staring at me like I was a monster. And right this second, I felt like one. I looked at Wendy and she grimaced but nodded. I pulled the two to the side of the table, next to a crying Carly.
“Look at your daughter Shelly.” I grabbed her face and made her look at Abby. She still didn’t react.
Rick fought. His tears were streaming, but his need to protect his wife overruled him. But my mom and Toya planted themselves in front of him. “Trust her.”
“She killed my pup and is torturing my mate and you are telling me to trust her!” Rick screamed again. A gut wrenching sound that made Shelly twitch.
“You have to make her feel it.” My grandmother’s voice was soft. “She has retreated to the back of her mind, but she needs to see it, to feel it.”
I turned in to myself and Nix nodded.Get on.I jumped on her back and she ran through the forest. She ran for a few minutes when the trees changed. The trees that were lit by sunlight shifted into darkness.
“Can you see anything?” I dug my fingers deeper into her fur.
“No. But that’s fine, I don’t need to see. I can scent the trees and follow the crying.” Nix sounded confident.
“What crying?” I couldn’t hear anything.
“Shelly’s.” Nix sounded sad, but determined. We ran in the darkness for a few more minutes, but I couldn’t help the dread that was spreading through me. If we couldn’t get her to snap out of this, we were cooked.
And I had just murdered a child in front of her parents.
