Sapphire Spells

Chapter 31

Golem.

That word rattles around my brain, bouncing against my skull in a never-ending echo. Breath after panting breath, I stare at Drew, the man who raised me, realizing that he isn't exactly a man at all.

Everything is overwhelming. I don't have time to think, to even contemplate the rush of questions bubbling within, because danger surrounds us, leaving no room for the mess of emotions growing within. Thoughts flood my mind in such a rush that I can not make sense of anything. They are drowning me.

I am stunned into complete stillness, not sure if I am even breathing.

When Drew tries to make a single step in my direction, the wind rushes around me and hits him full force. With his magic, Preston throws Drew back several yards into a massive tree that shakes with the impact before Drew falls to the ground with a groan.

Preston's action is enough to snap me out of my trance. Thoughts leave me with just one focus, Drew's life. My stomach drops, and nausea coils through my insides.

"NO!" I lunge for Drew, but get nowhere as a hand grips my wrist in an iron hold. Preston yanks me into his solid chest, hand remaining on my arm.

"It will take much more than that to kill someone like him." Preston's breath nearly burns my ear, feeling like poison.

Are his words supposed to relieve me? I hate that they do. I also hate how desperate I am to believe him.

"Remove your hand from me," I growl, trying to yank myself free. I twist around, to no avail. Preston holds on, yet allows me to take a single step away. Only when I turn to him and still does he finally release me. As if to show that it was his choice to let me go and not something I acquired myself.

Those eyes of his view me with a certain calm that I recognize, for it used to soothe me. I liked how collected Preston always appeared. But now, I can not stand it. A look that can only come from someone unbothered and untouchable. As if none of what is happening has any effect on him. 

I hate him.

He is a monster. One I welcomed into my life.

Smoothly, Preston reaches for something in his jacket's breast pocket, pulling out a golden and thin object. In his palm, it expands into a golden ring that appears to hinge open, though there are no visible hinges. A subtle sensation of energy encases it, magic. But nothing I have ever sensed before. It feels void, if that is how it can be described. Goosebumps run along my skin.

My attention shifts to Drew, who is moving but clearly hurt as he tries to shift onto his knees. Around us, chaos is unleashed, wolves entangle with fairies, and blood soaking into the earth. The forest is vibrating with sinister energy. It seems to have seeped into all. Even the air I breathe is heavy with pungent darkness.

Everything is alive with a tinge of bitterness, except for the object exuding a cold void. The one area where there is nothing but emptiness. It pulls at my attention.

"What is it?" I ask, eyeing the golden ring as Preston holds it out for me to take. 

I refuse to lift a single finger toward it.

"A necklace for you." His head tilts, and the way he searches my face, I can tell he is looking for something. Though what? I have no clue.

Despite the distance, Drew's voice booms through the woods. "Don't touch it!" He is trying to rise to his feet. 

Preston frowns and flings his free hand as though he is swatting a fly. With the motion, wind cuts across the land, slamming into Drew and throwing him hard into another tree farther away. His skull cracks against wood with a disturbing thump.