I nod. “Lynette left instructions for the bonding ritual where you could find them, and I think she did that because deep in her heart, she didn’t want the wolves to be cursed forever. But at the time, she would have been furious with Darien, and a curse would have been inevitable.”
“He bound her with the Dead Silk,” Neville says. “It was something she actually invented that can hold any magic worker. I’ve read his journals, and he—”
“I don’t need to know all of that,” I cut him off. “The important thing is that Lynette left a cure and we can end this curse.”
“Or, be doomed forever,” Darla says. “Maybe it’s the final blow, not our salvation.”
“We won’t know until we try,” a voice from behind me says.
I turn around to see Rhys and rush over to hug him.
“How long have you been standing there?” I ask.
“Long enough,” he replies. “Are we going to try this mojo or what?”
“Yes,” I say eagerly. “We have to go back to the hospital—I have everything I need there. Ideally, we’d do it somewhere out in nature, but it will be too hard to move all the sick people. Just get on your phone and get everyone gathered at the hall, and I’ll meet you there.”
“I’m coming with you,” Neville says, painfully pulling himself to his feet. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”
The rest of the council members organize themselves to come with us, as none of them are in any state to drive. Rhys sends out some messages to tell the pack to meet, and we drive back to the hall. I go straight out back to get my ingredients ready, and Neville watches with interest.
“I would really love to read the book,” he says. “I promise, I’ll treat it with the utmost respect.”
“I understand,” I reply. “But you’ll have to forgive me for being protective of it, especially after I found out what happened to Lynette.”
“Alright,” Neville says, nodding. “I’ll trust you, but I would like to read it someday. Maybe when the rift between wolves and witches has truly healed.”
I just nod, focusing on my ingredients and trying not to get too flustered.
I can’t let you see it. Not yet, anyway.
Tucking the book under my arm, I gather up my ingredients and go outside, Neville helping me carry a few things. I’m surprised to see Jean there with the kids, and I wave to Cassie.
Rhys called the whole pack.
I mark out a magic circle with salt and ask the others to sit around the edge. Before I go into the center, I give Cassie a quick hug and kiss.
“Are you going to do magic, Mommy?” she asks in wonder. “And make everyone better?”
“Yes, my baby,” I say, holding her against my chest. “It’s all going to be alright.”
I give Rhys a long look before I let Cassie go, then turn towards the center of the circle, prepared to meet my fate.
Take care of her, Rhys. No matter what happens, please take care of our baby girl.
I take a deep breath to gather my courage, afraid to go forward but knowing I have no choice.
The one thing I didn’t reveal, and the reason why I couldn’t let Neville see the book, is that this ritual might cost me my life.
I sit down in the center of the circle and mix the ingredients together into a dark paste. I transfer it into a stone bowl and set it alight. Thick purple smoke pours from the bowl, completely engulfing me.
It makes my eyes sting, and my throat burn, but I stay where I am and begin to chant. I don’t understand the words, and maybe they aren’t words at all, but the rhythm comes to me, playing out in a cadence that sends chills down my spine.
“It’s working!” someone screams from the hall. “People are getting up!”
Relief floods through me, and I keep chanting even as I feel my own strength leaving me. It’s as if I can feel my energy being sucked into the ground and funneled away from me, and it’s being poured into the sick members of the pack.
My heart starts to falter, and my voice thickens as my chest grows tight, but I keep chanting. The power in the circle sings through me, and I know the spell is going to work.
