The power in the room was unbearable now, crushing down on me even as Nebula’s voice reached my ears, his words barely audible over the storm of magic. “Breathe, Pandora. We’re here. Your mates, your dad, Jenni, and me. You’re not alone.”
With a final incantation, Grimsworn hurled the orb directly at me. It collided with what was left of the curse, detonating into a deafening explosion of light and sound.
Pain, like fire and ice, tore through me as Dex and Bram clasped my hands tightly.
I couldn’t hear their words of comfort, though.
The curse was relentless.
Grimsworn extended his hands again, and streams of light burst forth, wrapping around the curse’s lasting presence and ripping it away again, inch by agonizing inch.
The last piece of the curse clung stubbornly, writhing around my heart.
I gasped for a breath, desperately needing to fill my lungs.
Grimsworn snarled, slamming his hands together with a magical clap. The runes on the floor flared brightly, and a beam of searing light lanced through the curse, incinerating the final fragment.
The brutal force of the purge pinned me against the bed, breathless and shaking.
My soulached.There was no other word that could describe the feeling within me.
Nebula shouted something as the last of the dead dark magic from the curse finally purged from my body and slammed against Grimsworn. The magical impact sent him hurtling into the wall, but instead of falling, he stayed on his feet shakily, brushing off the debris with a wild grin.
Grimsworn’s laugh filled the room, manic and echoing. “What a challenge!” he exclaimed, his eyes alight with the thrill of conquest. “I’ve never broken such a thorough curse. That was…well, that was the strongest curse I’ve ever witnessed. Other than my own, of course.”
The room fell silent, the magic dissipating into a dull hum as Grimsworn’s magic faded into the ether.
Nebula grunted. “This wizard is insane.”
“True,” Hunter rasped, rubbing his chest as he came to sit on the bed with Skel and Reed following suit.
“Get out, Grimsworn.” Dad rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “But I owe you a thank you for saving my daughter.”
“No need for thanks.” Grimsworn’s eyes met mine, twinkling with knowing. “Take matters into your own hands now, Pandora Gravesend. Sybil is strong, but so are you. You can be strong. Stronger than both myself and Sybil combined. Do it.” He fluttered his fingers as he waved and stepped forward into nothing, teleporting out of the room.
The weakness from the curse ebbed away with each beat of my heart.
Chaos lifted his head off my lap and jumped off the bed, snarling at the corner behind Dad and Jenni.
My chaos manifestation swirled into existence. The little wolf pup stood beside Chaos and started barking at the corner of the room with him.
“What has them so excited?” Dad asked, frowning.
“Well, they are a part of Bram,” Skel snickered teasingly. “I guess he’s just excited he bonded with Pandora.”
Bram huffed. “There’s nothing wrong with being excited about that.”
“He’s right,” Dex agreed.
My manifestation became a tornado of chaos and started jumping around and knocking everything in the room over.
“Well, he’s destructive,” Dad muttered.
“She,” I corrected with a weak smile. “I think I'm going to name her Demo.”
“Short for what? Demolition?” Reed gaped at her as she destroyed a piece of paper from the desk.
“Exactly that,” I rasped.
