Aurora’s eyes widen. “Are you suggesting a circle?”
Isadora nods. “Precisely.”
“Let’s do it, then,” Rikkon says, taking a step forward, but Solomon stops him.
“A circle of witches can only be formed by females, boy.”
“That sounds sexist,” Saxon retorts.
“It’s not sexism, it’s biology,” Aurora explains. “Neither Rikkon nor Solomon would be able to align with our frequency.”
Isadora draws a pentagram inside a circle on the floor, and Aurora steps into the center of it. I step forward, joining Miranda, and Isadora around her. “I’m not sure what I need to do.”
“I’ll cast a spell to form the circle. You’ll sense the waves of magic. All you have to do is surrender to it.”
“Okay,” I say, hoping it’s as easy as she makes it sound.
“Ready?” the High Witch asks us.
We answer yes in unison.
I close my eyes because it’s easy to concentrate when I can’t see Lucca’s concerned gaze on me. The High Witch begins her chant, and immediately, I sense strands of magic wrap around my body and connect me to the others in the circle. My magic flares within my core, becoming threads as well that weave with Isadora’s and Miranda’s magic. It’s like we’re knitting a huge blanket over Aurora. I can see it covering her even though my eyes are closed.
Aurora performs the same spell she did before, but it’s much more powerful now. The energy surrounding her is bigger and brighter. This might actually work. When she releases the ball of energy, it’s like a cannonball. I open my eyes just in time to witness it hit the invisible wall. It looks for a second like it will collapse, but unfortunately, all the blast did was crack the barrier.
Aurora collapses inside the circle, missing hitting the floor thanks to Saxon, who runs to her with his supersonic vampiric speed.
“What the hell! How could it not work?” Vaughn pulls his hair back, yanking at the strands.
“It didn’t break, but there is a crack,” Solomon points out.
Saxon looks at the first familiar. “Aurora can’t cast that spell again.”
“She won’t have to.” Rikkon unsheathes his skyfire sword, which had been hidden as it always is. The sacred sword from our people that only the most skilled warriors earn the right to yield.
He raises it above his head and brings it down with all his strength, hitting the barrier right where the crack is. A bright flash of light forces me to shield my eyes from the glow, butwhen the light dims, I no longer sense the dark magic from the barrier.
“You did it, Rik. You broke the barrier!” Miranda shouts.
He looks at her. “No, we all did. Now let’s go.”
“We can’t rush down to the catacombs. Jacques most likely has more nasty surprises for us,” Solomon warns us.
“Right,” Lucca starts, then tenses. “Where’s Vaughn?”
Ahead of us, the door to the catacombs is ajar. “He’s already gone.”
Fifty-Two
SOPHIE
Ican’t walk on my own, so the two warlocks have to carry me between them to the chamber where Madeleine Boucher is trapped with her equally horrible companions. If I were the only one suffering, I wouldn’t have caved. But I couldn’t let them torture Tish.
An eerie green glow lights up the interior of the chamber, and then Madeleine’s gruesome specter rises from her coffin. “Sophie, you’ve come back for me.”
“Not by choice.”
“I see. Are you going to finally set me free?”
