Emma didn’t pay attention. Instead, she laid her palm on my forehead as the leshane continued to struggle.
When she touched me as the leshane possessed my body, it was incredibly painful. It felt like hot cinders were being seared against my fur, and I howled in pain.
Emma paid no attention, just kept stroking my head in soft pets. “Shh,” she said, trying to calm me down, though her voice wavered and tears streamed down her face.
At Emma’s command, the leshane began to lose power. I anchored myself to the magic of our mating bond and pulled on through. The leshane’s magic broke away— I was free. I was able to control my body again as I slumped to the floor, completely spent.
I whimpered as I looked up at Emma. Alexei, Stefan and Theo slowly rose, cautiously if I was to attack again. The world became off-kilter and slow. My energy was zapped to nothing. Fighting the leshane for control had taken all my strength. I allowed myself to sink into the depths of blackness, relieved as I felt the leshane’s power dwindle backward into my spirit.
To wait for the next opportunity to kill.
Chapter Four
Emma
“Girls, this is very powerful magic,” Professor Calliope announced. She was passing out small items to each table, poising in that dignified way of hers as she floated around the room, her wings beating as she hovered to each student. “Don’t be ashamed if you can’t get it on your first try.”
This semester in Enchanting, we were working on more advanced enchantments. The easy stuff was over, and now, we were moving on to difficult spell work.
Professor Calliope promised all of us that today’s spell wasn’t going to be easy. It was a high-level enchantment to ward off negativity. We’d done things like this before, but Calliope insisted this spell would last much longer, and therefore, would take more effort.
“Here you are, Miss Emmaline.” Calliope gave me my item. It was a small bronze key, only an inch in length. The head of the key was circular, with a decorational adornment that looked like a crown at the top. It had the tiniest tip. I wasn’t sure what such a small key could go to.
Calliope’s eyes twinkled as she laid the key down in front of me with a smile that was almost knowing. She gave an antique teapot to Kiara.
“To perform the spell, hold the object in your hand. Meditate on it. Get to know it,” Calliope began. “Once you feel you understand your item, imagine it as a shield. Put all your positive thoughts into the item. Do not allow any negative thoughts to break through. If they do, start over. One negative feeling will shatter the enchantment and ruin the spell.”
I held the key in my hand tightly and closed my eyes, trying to feel my way through the object. The key had a slight magical buzz. I wasn’t sure what it was from. Other than that, it felt rather empty. I tried to infuse positive thoughts into the key, but the object instantly rebelled. I felt it push away my magic like it was turning away from a steady breeze.
I frowned. I was much better at Unseelie magic than Seelie. Working with and taking energy from objects was a lot easier than trying to infuse them with your own powers.
Kiara’s teapot was already glowing yellow with griffin magic. Her eyebrows knitted together as she watched me struggle. “You have to be positive, Emma.”
“It’s pretty damn hard to be positive when your mate tried to kill you twice in one year,” I growled.
Ethan’s attack still weighed heavily on my mind. I was still trying to process that he’d gone completely rogue. It wasn’t scary, it wasterrifying. Looking into the demon’s red eyes and not seeing Ethan looking back had been something out of my worst nightmares.
As I laid my hand on Ethan’s head, I could feel the demon yanking at the other end of our bond. I’d had to play magical tug-of-war with the freak, in order to get Ethan back. The demon had a strong will, but I was a stubborn bitch, so I was able to win— at the cost of my health. I’d been in bed the next day, because warring with the demon took all my strength.
But I knew the leshane was getting stronger. If we didn’t get him out soon, he’d overpower me, and Ethan and I’s bond. There’d be no bringing him back.
After Ethan had regained control, we’d carried him to his dorm to rest. The demon hadn’t taken over again, as far as I knew, and I hadn’t seen Ethan since.
He was hiding from me. Maybe that was a good thing. Since the attack, I’d been in the library every day reading about demon possession and trying to find out everything I could. I learned a lot about demons, but unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of options for getting them out. They had to be exorcised by powerful magic casters to avoid the demon repossessing someone else, and as students, none of us were there yet.
Kiara dropped her voice. “You can’t blame Ethan for attacking you the second time. The demon’s taking over.”
I sighed. I moved the key to another hand and said, “I know. Are you any further along in figuring out a way to save him?”
“Yes, but it’s going to take a couple of weeks. Exorcisms aren’t something to screw up,” Kiara whispered under her breath. “They should only be done by priestesses, and we’re playing with fire by doing it ourselves. I’m taking every precaution by making sure I know the spell through and through, and by only using thebestingredients for the exorcism. Learning a complicated spell like this, and having the advanced magic and confidence to pull it off, is really tough. I needtime, Emma.”
Things never seemed to go right with us, but that was a negative thought that was going to ruin my spell, so I set the key down on the table and sighed. “I just don’t know what to do about Ethan. Every time I look into his eyes, it’s like there’s a little less of him there than there was before.”
“You can’t give up on him. Your bond is the only reason he’s still alive,” Kiara said.
I didn’t respond, but resentment festered within me. I wanted to give up. Watching Ethan suffer like this was worse than anything I could go through, and I only had so much power to stop it. I just wanted it to be over with, so Ethan could be put out of his misery.
I knew he was suffering. It was like watching a sick dog limp around, begging for mercy. I couldn’t let it continue.
