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“And Donovan?” I asked Dastien.

He shook his head.Advertisement

Great. I had never felt so afraid of anything. My best friend’s life was in my hands. The responsibility of it made it hard for me to breathe. I stared at Meredith’s prone form, barely more than skin and bones at this point.

“You’re her best shot.”

I swallowed, unable to trust my voice.

“She might be my sister, but I was fifteen when she was born. It’s almost like she’s my daughter, too. You know? Thank you for helping.”

I cleared my throat. “Let’s see what happens before throwing out any thank yous.”

He nodded and went to stand to the side with Dr. Gonzales, Dastien, and Chris.

“You can do this. Stay positive,” Adrian said.

I stepped closer to the circle, trying to believe his words. I had to do this. There weren’t any other acceptable options.

It wasn’t anything hard or complicated. The book said I had to light the candles in a specific order and say some words. I’d written them down on a piece of scratch paper, but I didn’t think I’d need it. Rosa said that it wasn’t the specific words that mattered, but the intent. That was something that was ingrained in my soul.

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After I lit the candles, all I had to do was combine the three ingredients together in a pot, in a specific order, then light the mixture on fire. When it burned out, I had to blow the ashes over Meredith. If all went well, my spell would settle over the top of Luciana’s spell and quiet the wolf again. I wasn’t sure what kind of sign we’d get if it worked, but I figured at the very least her color would improve.

Adrian stepped over to the table where he’d placed the components of the potion. “We’ve got everything here. It should work.” His gaze met mine. “This really should work.”

I didn’t know if he was trying to convince me or himself. The problem was that it didn’t seem that hard. Lighting a few candles and dumping some stuff in a pot, and that was it? It had to be harder than this. Were we missing something?

What did I know? This wasn’t exactly my area of expertise. I had no other choice but to trust the guys, the book, and myself.

If it didn’t work, we’d try something else. I had no idea what, but I’d figure something out. “What time is it?”

“Two minutes to midnight.”

All right. Game time. “I start with north, right?” I asked to buy myself a moment.

“Yep,” Dastien said.

I let out a breath. This was going to work. “Who’s got the lighter?”

“Oh, right.” Adrian searched the ground and then rushed to the side of nearest AC unit. He brought back a box of long stick matches. “Here you go.”

I took a match from the box, and ran it along the rough side. The match flared to life, and I could tell from the sudden stillness around me that I wasn’t the only one holding my breath.

“Hold this.” I handed the box to Chris as I knelt. “Holy Archangel Michael, defend us in battle,” I started saying the prayer as I pressed the match to the wick. It didn’t light right away. Instead, it was as if the candle waited for me to finish saying the words before bursting into a foot tall flame.

I nearly fell back, but caught myself and moved to the next candle. With each part of the prayer said, the candles burned higher than natural. When I got to the East candle, the flames changed color, from yellow to orange, growing another foot in height. When I got to the South candle, they turned red and grew taller still.

It was getting hotter on the roof. I kept a strong grip on the match. It should’ve started to burn down, but the flame hadn’t moved past the match head. I tried not to be freaked out. Instead, I focused on putting good energy into what I was doing. Thinking of light. Putting my love for Meredith into what I said. Following the spell instructions step-by-step, just like the book instructed. Finishing one candle, and then moving on to the next.

By the time I got to the West, sweat was rolling down my face. My hands were shaking. I pressed the match to the wick, and the flames changed to blue.

Meredith writhed and moaned on the floor. I froze. Had I done something wrong?

“Keep going,” Adrian said.

Chris muttered something, but I couldn’t make out the words.

I blew out a shaky breath. The need to finish the circle filled my mind. It had to be done. I moved faster than I had before. When I said the words for the last time and brought the match to the candle, the flames merged, forming a wall of flames that burned in a beautiful white light. Pure. I could barely see Meredith inside the ring of fire, but I knew in my soul that she was safe. I cupped my hand along the back of the match, and gently blew it out. pqdm.com