Page 22 of Discord
“Just like old times.”
I wasn’t crazy enough to play with dangerous magic with her, but there were times we’d worked together. We were identical twins and had shared a womb for nine months. Ravyn and I might not like it when people confused us, but there were perks to having a twin. We could share magic, and when we did, we became unstoppable.
Unlike most of her spells, the one in the journal to remove any curse from a blood lock was complicated. Curses involving blood usually were. Ravyn and I could have done it alone, but it would have taken a lot out of us. This was the perfect time for our wonder twin powers to shine.
The lock required blood. There was no getting around that part. Professor Krauss nearly killed herself figuring that out, because the spell neededa lotof blood to remove the curses. It would have been hard for a single person to provide enough without bleeding out, but Ravyn and I could share that burden without losing too much blood thanks to our twin link.
There were other ingredients, too. Professor Krauss had practically weaponized green agate when it came to breaking curses. Sometimes it didn’t work, but she used it in nearly every curse involving blood. I bought her books as soon as they came out and studied every detail. I took meticulous notes and wrote down every little thing she said in class.
The way she explained it was that with green agate, a few other ingredients, and the correct incantation the curse would dissolve. She took one for the team and figured all this out, so we didn’t have to. We packed everything we needed for the lock.
We sliced our palms into one of my copper bowls. I wouldn't say I liked spells I had to bleed for, since I’m not a vampire, and I don’t have speed healing. This spell required a lot of blood. Ravyn and I were holding hands with one hand and bleeding into the bowl with the other.
When the bowl was full, we dropped the green agate, white sage, and sea moss. Ravyn twirled her finger above the bowl to combine the ingredients. Professor Krauss was abundantly clear about one particular detail—you absolutely could not prick your finger on the spindle on the lock. That was why all the blood was needed. You had to overwhelm it with blood, so itthoughtsomeone had pricked their finger. This would open mechanisms in the lock and allow the potion to seep in.
After that, it was just reciting the incantation. Ravyn and I decided to go twinsies for that part. We wanted to hit it with everything we had. Blood locks were generic when they were sold, they didn’t come cursed, witches did that on their own, or someone brought the lock to a witch. There were all kinds of nasties woven into this lock, considering what she was keeping inside.
We poured the entire bowl on the spindle while chanting. I’d never been dumb enough to use a blood lock that wasn’t mine. I’d never seen one in action when you weren’t supposed to be using it. Red smoke started pouring out of it. It enveloped us, and stank like rotting meat—but better nasty smoke than a fatal curse.
Reyson and Killian pulled us away from the lock. Reyson took my hand in his and healed the slash on my palm, then brought my hand to his lips and softly brushed my knuckles with a kiss.
“Will the bat get offended if I heal his witch?”
“They aren’t like Felix and me… we knew from the start we were going to go there, but Ravyn is questioning the meaning of life and won’t say a thing to him until she’s figured it out. Please, heal her… I don’t want an open wound when we get inside, because she’s going to want to touch all the bad things.”
Reyson healed Ravyn and Felix handed Bram a duffle bag.
“I grabbed your extra set of clothes from the SUV. I had a feeling it was going to be you that took out the shifter.”
“Save it. There’s only one set in there, and I might have to shift again.”
“Why am I the only boyfriend here who can keep their bloody trousers on?” Felix muttered.
“You were naked the last time we were here, you silly cat,” Balthazar said.
“Yes, but I certainly didn’t stay that way longer than I needed to.”
“Can we get in there and get Talvath out now? You all know what a naked man looks like, and shifters are common here.”
“Bram is right,” Reyson said. “We shouldn’t dally. We should get what we came for. She has cameras in the container. She pulls them up to show her hostage when she’s recruiting. We don’t want to risk her seeing us and calling in backup. Talvath is weak. I can feel him. We need to get him somewhere to recover his strength before we start this battle.”
“Excellent idea,” Bram said.
Reyson grabbed the lock, avoiding the spindle, and crushed it with his bare hands. Then he just strolled in all casual, like there wasn’t a captive demon and who knows how many cursed objects in there!
Shit. I guess we were doing this.
15
Ripley
We had to be crazy… or just a little stupid. There was no telling what we would be walking into, and still somehow everyone wanted to go first! Reyson was physically restraining Bram from charging in there, and Killian was arguing with Ravyn about it. Ravyn hadn’t gotten herself blown up by anything magical yet, but she’d caught a few curses doing this. The things in that container probably weren’t slow-moving curses like she’d caught before, it was more likely they’d be instantly fatal.
Bram was about to shift and take a bite out of a fucking god! The rest of us didn’t want to set foot in there, at least not without a plan. Bram was a bit of a hothead, and my sister had never been sane with this shit. Reyson tightened his arms around Bram’s naked chest and squeezed him, hard enough to take his breath away.
“Calm down, or I’ll put you to sleep while we deal with this,” Reyson growled.
I felt this power emanating from Reyson, but I already knew what he was doing. I’d felt it before. Reyson wouldn’t have really knocked Bram out and robbed him from helping to rescue Talvath. Bram needed this. Reyson felt exactly like this every time he healed me.
