Page 48 of Cursed
That still left an angry host that descended on Vernon before the witch even had a chance to fire a salvo in self-defense. Thefurious hiss of hundreds of voices echoed in the old factory that had been a killing ground for so long.
Then Vernon began to scream.
Seth barely registered the sounds, still caught in the magic’s trance, feeling its power and the taint of its dark origin. He heard the babble of distant voices as the ghosts swept around him, and much farther away he thought he heard people shouting, but he struggled to remember why it mattered.
“We will end this,” a disembodied voice said aloud.
Seth recognized the faces of two ghosts who appeared in front of him: Henry and Paul, Pax’s father and grandfather. “Save Pax,” Henry told him, making eye contact for a split second before his ghostly visage faded and he swept off with the rest of the undead horde.
Far away, music reached a crescendo, storm winds howled, and voices entreated Seth to abandon the spelled knife before it was too late.
Not until it’s done,he promised himself.
As Seth stared into the area Vernon had prepared for the ritual, he saw the air stir. A sparkling red light appeared, changing from a pinprick to an orb and then to a disk that grew until it became the portal to a rift in time and space that allowed the witch-disciple to reach his trapped master and steal a portion of his sustaining energy.
Seth had seen the portal before, but during those attacks, the rituals were closer to completion. This time, Vernon’s coven was out of the fight, and Vernon himself was struggling to stay alive.
Seth had never fought a disciple without Evan beside him, even that first time when Evan was the sacrifice. Now, Seth hoped that the support of friends and Evan’s participation in the music magic would be enough.
Seth knew he couldn’t last much longer using the dark magic and the spelled knife. He barely seemed tethered to his body,and all that he felt was aching, bone-deep cold, but when it came to closing the rift, timing mattered. He had to get it right.
He felt the battle between light and dark magic like fire in his blood. Rowan and Teag sent salvos against the portal, while Tristan made sure the ghosts kept up their attack, forcing Vernon to draw on all his power to keep the connection open. All that helped Seth focus on killing the witch-disciple.
Seth surged forward, burying the bespelled knife in Vernon’s chest.
The portal’s light flared, and its diameter fluctuated wildly.
“No!” Vernon’s full-throated scream echoed in the abandoned factory. His coven was dead, his sacrifice rescued, and now, with his revenge against Evan foiled, Vernon screamed his anger and frustration.
Seth had weakened Vernon’s magic and life force, and now he felt a pull from the rift and fought against it with all his strength. The portal’s light engulfed Vernon, dragging him inside before it blinked and vanished.
“It is done,” a spectral voice said aloud
As quickly as they came, the ghosts faded.
Seth fell to his knees and barely caught himself on his hands to keep from landing face-forward on the concrete.
He heard footsteps and voices he recognized as Teag, Rowan, and Caden, but Seth felt too spent to figure out what they were saying.
“…still alive.”
“…have to save him.”
“…Vernon’s dead.”
“…not too late…”
When Seth came back to himself, he lay on the factory floor, face up. Rowan chanted as she dripped a vile-tasting mixture into his mouth, and Teag’s incantation made the cords the weaver-witch had wrapped around Seth’s body glow a faintshade of violet. Tristan hunched next to him with a hand on Seth’s chest, leaving the ghosts to maintain a perimeter.
“His eyes are open.” Caden sounded relieved enough for Seth to guess it had been a near thing.
Seth managed to groan, although at the moment, words eluded him. He wondered if the last things he heard the ghosts say before he passed out were right.
“You did it,” Teag said, guessing Seth’s unspoken question. “You, Tristan, and the ghosts. Vernon vanished, I presume dead. It was a near thing pulling you back. You were too close to the edge yourself.”
“Did it…break the curse?” Seth would only feel relieved to be alive if he knew Evan also survived.
“We’ve been a little busy bringing you back from the brink,” Rowan said in a tart tone. “Tristan kept your soul in your body for a few minutes there. One resuscitation at a time.”
