Page 143 of Change
Gloria’s clenched fist was pressed into the ground by my side, her tension mounting as she continued to argue with the other two shifters. It was slow, but I was finally able to brush my fingers across her hand.
The older woman gasped, turning to look at me so quickly that her hair fanned around her. “Bianca?”
Please shift.
I dropped my hand back to the floor.
“You’re okay!” She was whispering. “I’m so sorry.”
Well, that was an assessment up for debate. But whether I was or not, we couldn’t stay here and there was no time to muster up the ability to fight anytime soon. The others were right, therewasonly one way out of this current situation.
She was shaking, and quite frankly, it was disturbing to see an adult—at least one older and more responsible than you—panicking. That didn’t tend to instill much confidence about our odds.
But we had no other options. She had to shift.
And Gloriahadto know that. She was a smart woman. She knew there was no other choice.
So why wasn’t she willing?
Because she can’t.
The realization caused my breath to catch.
Mu—so faint that I could barely even make him out in the distant recesses of my own thoughts. But at least, with this answer, came understanding. The looming darkness vanished.
The room spun and the ground pulsated under me. My fingers burned where they’d become coated with Gloria’s clotting blood.
It was a familiar feeling, one that brought up memories better off forgotten. But there was no denying it, I’d felt this once before.
This was the Cole family’s signature magic. It smelled of burning flesh and left an iron taste in my mouth. The edges of it prickled at my skin like a low humming current.
She’d been cursed, andthatfamily had something to do with it.
It made sense. When we’d spoken about her sister—and Lily—it was obvious that she held a particular disinclination toward them.
Could I break the spell?
Gloria gasped as I rolled onto my side and grabbed her left wrist, but it took only a second for me to realize that even without running severely low on energy, this magic was immune to anything I’d ever be able to do, even at my fullest strength.
“Bianca, it’s useless.” She sighed, placing her right hand over mine. “Gregory and Kathleen have already tried, and so have my own quintet. There’s nothing that can be done to break the curse. It’s blood magic. I’m never going to be able to shift.”
Her words sounded thick into the air, ringing through the room like a spell in itself, and her wrist felt small and fragile underneath my grip. Her tone was hopeless and her slumped posture and sad eyes defeated. Even Maria and Ada’s arguments faded at Gloria’s statement.
Blood magic.
My attention was pulled to the place where our skin touched. My fingers were stained and sticky with dark crimson.
“That’s why we need another plan.” Gloria looked back to the others. “Because I can’t help. I might be able to do something before they’re shifted, but once they’re changed it’s useless. I won’t be able to respond to their challenge.”
Fae were supposed to be able to break a witch’s spell, but I couldn’t do anything right now.
We need a necromancer.
Notmepersonally—even though technically, I did—but Gloria.
‘That’s right.’Mu sounded so faint. ‘Do you remember?’
My eyes widened as the memory slammed into me. My grip must have tightened around Gloria’s wrist, because she made a sound, but I couldn’t focus on that right now.
