Page 31 of Broken Shadows

Lorcan’s lips curve into a smirk and Ezra just grimaces. I’m just glad that smile is wiped off his face, even if it does mean I gave Lorcan a reason to smile.

Rosa lets go of my hand and takes ahold of the grimoire, opening it to the bookmarked page. I’ve already memorized the incantation a hundred times, but her speaking it with me helps. She’s a witch too, just one with earth magic that is classed a light magic and is the opposite of mine. Having her near calms my magic.

I close my eyes, focusing on the darkness, and allow my magic to surface as easily as my next breath. The tendrils of energy move within me, pulsing through my core and bringing with it a sense of power that pulls me higher, better than any drug.

I’ve spent so many years suppressing my magic out of fear of killing someone else I love that I hesitate for a moment. In some ways, it’s similar to anxiety, so I remind myself that I control it and not the other way around. I can do this. I won’t let myself sink into the shadows ever again but instead wield them to my will.

I place my palm outwards as the chill of the shadows seep into my hands with an icy caress. Then, all at once, my magic tears from my body like black ribbons, forming intricate patterns as my shadows creates a spiderweb over the long, ornate mirror hanging on the wall.

The deadly hum of death magic glitters like stars, lining the darkness of my shadows. They cover the obsidian frame, blanketing the mirror until the contours of Lorcan’s determined expression disappear entirely. Seeing him is the last thing I want and the sooner we get this over with, the better.

The force of my ancestors’ powers whooshes through me with an icy gust. I plant my legs apart and suck in a gasp of air, steadying myself. I clamp my eyes shut even tighter, gritting my teeth as I start the incantation along with Rosa, but my power only heightens with each word.

A tremor starts in my fingers, then convulses up my arms and to my chest.

I focus on my breathing and repeat the memorized words. “In sanguine creato, terrae ac ventorum rima inter nostrates mundos aperite.”

My heart hammers desperately against its cage of bones, every beat a shockwave of pain as my ancestors’ magic works against me. My fingers curl into fists and I open my eyes.

Shadows cloud us like a thick fog, and the shadowy ribbons on the mirror has turned into a tarry substance that hangs over the glass like a sticky black web.

Rosa and I whisper in unison, “Perde sanguinis nexum cum virtute quae per me currit. Solve cavea, sint liberi.”

The tarry-looking substance melds with the glass, and the glass cracks into two. A tremor rumbles through the walls, and I wince when Gomez’s claws scratch into my skin as he scrambles to hide in my hair.

I hold steady, but fatigue runs through me with fervor. My breaths slow and my legs feel as if they’ve turned into jelly.

When I glance up, I notice the tarry shadow attached to the mirror all the way to the center of my chest. Pulses are pulled from me through the bridge between the portal and me, stealing every last reserve of energy.

Rosa’s hand lands on mine as I hear her drop the book. Her fingers curl around my wrist as my legs buckle. The tarry, sticky thread remains attached to me, shooting icy stabs of pain through my chest until each breath becomes so agonizing, as if I am breathing in shards of glass.

Rosa’s magic blooms into me, as if she’s the lifeforce keeping me alive as the portal depletes me.

“We need to stop!” I hear her yell.

“Don’t,” I croak, knowing what will happen if we stop midway. “I’ll die if you stop it.”

Stars fill my vision and my jaws slacks as shadows escape through my mouth like vipers of darkness. I choke on them, just as Samuel had, and I try to scream but nothing comes out.

Crimson veins over the glass and I realize it’s not just energy that the sticky thread of magic linking me to the mirror is taking from me, but also my blood.

Just before I feel like I’m about to take my last breath, the pain and tremors ease as quickly as they had come.

Rosa’s panicked cries reach me through the ringing in my ears. My vision clears and I raise my hand to my throat as the shadows curl back into me like ink into a pen.

“I’m okay,” I promise, but struggle to stand. I glance up, staring at the newly made portal. The mirror is shiny and new, the glass rippling as if it’s water and someone has thrown a rock into it.

A hand appears, then an arm. Lorcan slowly steps through, and my heart skips a beat. Rosa sighs in relief, Gomez flies over toward Aiden who jumps up from his chair.

I press my fingers into my temples and clamp my eyes shut. Fuck, I’m so dizzy. The room spins around me, and I grip the edge of the doorway as I stumble into the next room.

As soon as I am alone in the adjoining room, I grasp the window ledge, gasping. I stare out of the window at the bleak, snowy wonderland beyond the glass, when I hear footsteps shuffle behind me. My vision steadies and I take an extra few seconds to keep my eyes closed and enjoy the silence before turning to face him.

His brows knit together when he scans my face, the skin of his nose creasing between them. I’m certain I can withhold from him, to leave here once we’ve worked together to destroy his brothers, then never think about him again.

“I knew you could do it, My Little Witch,” he praises and my chest heaves.

I swallow thickly. “You’re free now. You don’t need to keep up the game of pretend.”

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