He settled as he had before, and Antonia held out her hands. He took them, and a peace settled inside and around her like a comforting blanket and any tension she held melted away. Her mind cleared further as she closed her eyes, and she concentrated on seeing what was written and on what was missing. Willing the words forward.
When she opened her eyes again, Philip was staring at her.
“Once I reveal the words, and then reverse the curse, I need to understand this bond. This link.”
He squeezed her fingers. “My mother thinks that it may be because we are connected by a spell.”
“If it is broken then what binds us may be severed too?” she asked.
“It is possible.”
Antonia hadn’t considered that the spell could be the cause.
“Are you ready, Lady Antonia?” his mother asked as she stepped into the circle.
She and Philip quickly dropped hands and luckily, the others hadn’t joined them.
“Yes,” Antonia answered.
“Are you certain?” Philip asked, his eyes boring into hers.
“Yes.” Though she wasn’t certain that she would ever truly be ready.
Lady St. Alban came forward with the glass box and held it out to Antonia just as Petra entered the garden carrying her satchel. The others followed and formed a circle.
Antonia took the glass box and placed it on the book, then set her crystals and candles about her before lighting them.
She then turned toward the book and stared into the bejeweled eye while trying to clear her heart of any selfish purpose. She was doing this for Philip and only Philip.
But what if the spell was seen as selfish? She wanted to know what was written, but she was also trying to find a way to break the curse Chedworth was under. But then she would be free of guilt if he was cured. What was considered selfish by the bejeweled eye?
Philip’s predicament was the reason they were here. She would not do this simply for her own benefit, ever. Magic was too precious and a gift to be shared, not for the betterment of the person who possessed it.
She was doing this for Philip and only Philip, even though she would gain something as well.
Regardless of her intentions. Antonia stared at Chedworth and memorized his face. It may be all she had when this was over. A memory for unseeing eyes.
With a deep breath, Antonia opened the glass box, lifted the necklace, and placed it around her neck and hoped the goddess understood.
Chapter Seventeen
Philip watched quietly and with concern as Antonia put that necklace around her neck. She then set the box aside and placed her original spell on top of the missing words.
When she held out her hands, he took them. His heart pounded and he wanted to pull back.
She shouldn’t be doing this for him. How could he live with himself if she was blinded? He would rather be a werewolf than let anything happen to her.
His mother, aunts, cousins, and Samantha stood in a circle, surrounding them, hands clasped. The wind swirled but did not lift the parchment or the pages of the book.
Antonia opened her eyes and stared down at the book.
Bring back the words once written beneath this page.
From ancient times to modern days.
Lift them forward, reveal them to me.
Another breeze swept around them and the parchment the spell was written on fluttered away. Philip looked at the page in the book and his heart sank to see the blank space where words had once been written. Antonia had risked blindness for nothing.
