“I was out with Finlay.” Emma shrugged casually. “I made it in time.”
So she’d been on a date. Just perfect. Emma’s eyes flashed to me. She narrowed them slightly before she asked, “What do you need me to do?”
“Kneel at the head of the circle in the north,” Kiara said. “Ethan, I need you to light the candle from Vesna, the goddess of wisdom, in the center of the circle. Then lie down with the candle and knife at your feet and your head at Emma’s knees, still within the salt circle.”
I did as Kiara asked, then laid down. I was looking up into Emma’s eyes as she hovered above me, waiting.
Kiara chewed on her lip. “Emma, whatever happens, no matter how much Ethan begs, you have to stick with the exorcism. If you break it, Ethan will remain trapped.”
“I won’t beg,” I swore.
“You will,” Kiara said, and it made my stomach plummet. “Trust me.”
“Just tell me what you need me to do.” Emma’s voice was determined. She wanted this demon out just as badly as I did.
Kiara looked to Delmare and Odette. “I need the two of you on the east and west side. I’ll be taking the south. You’ll be chanting with me.”
“What do you want us to do?” Stefan asked, thumbing at Alexei and Theo.
“Be ready to fight. This demon isn’t going to like this.” Kiara stood at my feet. She held a hand over me as she read from the tome in her other hand. “We ask the goddess of wisdom, Vesna, the Blue Doe of Knowledge, to sanctify this area and keep it pure. No darkness may escape this circle. We call upon Vesna’s magic to cleanse this fae soul, to save it from all impurity. We ask Vesna to compel all lesser spirits, ordering them to flee away from her healing power.”
As Kiara spoke, the demon within me wiggled uncomfortably. I could feel it tearing up my organs, scratching as if it was a rat trying to get out of a trap. I winced with pain, and Emma’s attention went directly to my features.
“We call upon the Seven Gods to banish this dark entity.” Kiara began waving an incense burner above me. It swung on thin chains, creating a haunting glowing trail as the scent of sage overpowered the room. She moved the burner in a particular fashion, creating the sigil of the Seven Gods in smoke over my body. When she put the burner down, her illusion magic kept the smoke in place, so the sigil remained intact.
I cried out in pain, each part of my skin burning with fever as the demon lashed out. It was like the coals of hell were pressing against my back as I lay against the stone floor, and it took all I had in me to remain still. It felt like bugs were crawling under my skin, beetles the size of golf balls gnawing away at my sinew and bone. I scratched maniacally at my arms, drawing blood, doing anything to drive the itching away.
Emma’s expression increased in worry as her gaze flickered from me to Kiara. Kiara remained steady, unaffected by my torture.
“My sisters, chant with me in this calling to send away all darkness,” Kiara boomed. “Wei e imevos ze bogrum, wybis vos.”
“Wei e imevos ze bogrum, wybis vos. Wei e imevos ze bogrum, wybis vos.” Odette, Kiara, Delmare and Emma all began chanting Malovian in unison.In the name of the gods, we banish you.
The moment those words left their lips, I couldn’t take it anymore. My back arched on the ground as I let out a scream of horrible agony. The leshane’s magic began infiltrating all my cells, pulling on my veins and separating the cords of my muscle as he struggled to hold onto my body. The sensation was akin to being dipped in acid. Tears ran from my eyes as my cries got more primal with every chant.
“We have to stop!” Emma shouted over the chanting. “The demon’s killing him!”
“This is going to hurt him until we get this demon out!” Kiara responded. “The faster we do this, the faster we can help Ethan!”
Their words were hard to comprehend. I was in so much pain all I could fathom was the hurt. My vision swam out of focus. When the demon’s hooks latched onto my ribcage and pulled, it nearly passed out. It felt like the leshane had its teeth in my intestines, and was gnashing them to bits. Whispers emitted from my lips, begging them to stop— begging them to just kill me and get it over with. Emma went stark pale, like she wanted to gag.
“Emma, step into the salt circle and take the knife. With the blade, make the sigil of the gods in the air,” Kiara said. A beat of sweat had appeared along her brow. Odette and Delmare’s faces were twisted in anguish as they struggled to pry away the demon’s hold.
Emma carefully stepped inside the salt circle. When she entered, I felt a slight bit of peace. Her presence eased some of the pain and made it slightly bearable. I searched out for her bond and held onto it for dear life. She must’ve felt it, because her gaze grew wide, and through our connection I felt her reach back.
The demon didn’t like that. The leshane took a gnarled finger and pressed it against my heart, branding it like a hot iron. I twisted on the ground and wept. The way I clung to Emma’s shoes like she was my only hope, a beggar condemned by the world, was pitiful. She was my goddess now, and my only way out of this terrible pain. I felt teardrops on the back of my head that sprang from her eyes.
“Emma, the knife.” Kiara’s words were short. I screamed as Emma pried her legs out of my arms, and barely saw her crouch down to grab the knife. She began making the sigil of the gods over me, the blade sweeping through the smoke.
That’s when I let out a gasp of relief. It was only for a few moments— a black specter levitated out of my body, taking the shape of a man. The man had no legs, its lower end still attached to me in a twisting tendril. Emma’s face grew with horror as the smoke specter turned on her.
As it lashed out a hand, the knife Emma was holding was yanked away. The knife hung in mid-air before the leshane cast his arm out. The knife moved forward, and without warning, began carving into my chest, making deep marks into my skin. I gave a panged cry as the blade cut through my shirt, soaking blood onto the cobblestone.
“Emma, you have to fight it! Kill it so we can get it out of Ethan!” Kiara shouted.
The leshane caused a whirlwind to pick up in the room. Odette and Delmare were chanting madly as their hair swept around their faces. The boys darted forward, to hold the girls down so they wouldn’t be knocked off their feet by the powerful wind.
Emma was the only one that wasn’t affected, as she was within the salt circle. She began casting illusions like no tomorrow. Blue balls of magic flung from her fingers, sailing at the leshane. They connected, but each time they did, I screamed aloud. The demon’s pain was my pain, too. She couldn’t kill him without me feeling every blow.
