Page 58 of Wicked Warlock
He stood for long moments, his eyes darting back and forth. Then he finally he gave me a single nod. “I think… I think I need help.”
“I’m here. I know I don’t have my power, but I’m here for you.” I dropped my hands and faced the rest of the group. “He’s ready.”
They all slowly lowered their weapons and magic. Zinnia lurched to her feet, clutching her stomach. “That was disgusting. Whatever is inside of you, it’s like magical poison. I can’t siphon it into myself. I wouldn’t know where to put it.”
Soto lifted her hand. “I do. In me.”
“Are you sure? It felt like death mixed with tar, mixed with raw sewage.” She gagged and covered her mouth. “Imma need a shower and mouthwash and a toothbrush for like a month.”
“Yeah, I got this.” Soto rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes.
Niche shoved her glasses back up her nose. “We need more than a siphoning. This poison is from another world. It needs to be attracted back to its origin, to be called in some way.”
“I can probably do that, too. But you have to get it out of him. If I take it out… Well, let’s just say boooommmmm.” She made an exploding motion with her hands and her cheeks puffed out with the sound effect she made. “Yeah, bad news.”
Adrienne moved to Niche’s side. “There’s more. It has to be removed all at once. If it’s siphoned out slowly, it’ll just keep hold and replicate. And never let go.”
“So what do we do?” There had to be answer here.
Adrienne opened the book and flipped the pages. “There’s not much on this. The references contradict each other. Some say near drowning in water, others say fire. It hard to tell which.”
“Say what now? Drowning or burning?” I looked to Beckett, and he was completely unfazed. I slashed my hand through the air. “No, this can’t be the way.”
“Actually, it’s not.” Soto placed her hand on the ground and it rose up under her touch, forming a giant bowl of dark brown rock. “It’s both. He needs both fire and water.”
Adrienne flipped the pages once more and ran her finger over them as she read. “Yes, yes, that makes more sense. It’s a power of queens. Five would be better. Four will do.”
Zinnia nodded. “Right. Tell us what you need.”
She held out the book to Zinnia, Tabi, Serrina, and Ophelia. “Here.”
They all stood together, huddled over the book for long moments. Ophelia pointed to something on the page. “I have this.”
“Okay, let’s do it.” Zinnia moved to one side of the bowl while the other three took up points on the bowl as well, as though they were all points on a compass.
“Is there anything I can do?” It was a stupid question, but I wanted to help. Though I didn’t have my powers, there had to be something I could do to help my soulmate.
“You being here is enough. Let us do this for you guys, and when you get your powers back, you’ll help us do even more.” Zinnia patted the side of the bowl, and it made an odd ting sound. “Hop in, Beck.”
Beckett opened a portal under his feet and dropped from sight, landing right in the bowl on the other side. He lay down flat and put his hands behind his head. Not a single sign of concern showed on his face. He gave me a half smile. “I’ll be fine.”
I won’t. “I know.”
Ophelia reached into her infinite potion pouch. The glass vials clanked against each other as she rummaged around for whatever it was that she was looking for. She pulled out two vials, both looking exactly the same. She held them up to the sky, examining them, then she shrugged to herself and popped the corks on both. She dumped the contents of one vial into the bottle of the other and swirled it all together. “Here.”
She handed Beckett the vial. “Wait.” She yanked it back out of his hand and then rummaged in the pouch once more. She pulled a vial of something clear from her pouch then added that to the mixture. When she handed it back to Beckett, she shrugged. “Should be good.”
“O, are you sure?” I wanted to walk up and take the potion out of his hand.
“In theory, yeah.” She was so casual, as though this didn’t matter and it wasn’t Beckett lying there.
Beckett didn’t hesitate. He swallowed down the potion and the effect was instant. His body began to glow faintly white, lighting up the rocky bowl. He leaned back and lay there.
“Oh, good. Didn’t kill him.” She motioned toward Serrina. “You’re up.”
She leaned down low and whispered to Beckett, “You have to let me in. If you don’t, this is going to hurt like hell.”
“Got it.” Beckett sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
