Powerful magic is dangerous—especially in the wrong hands. Yet somehow, my ancestors had entrusted me with theirs. I felt it coiling around my spirit like living fire, seductive and restless, urging me to use it…to unleash it. My fingers grazed my nails again and again, trying to ground myself as the power whispered for attention.
The Book of Magic wasn’t just in my possession anymore it was embedded in my very core. Kalidah’s memories had settled in my mind as if they were my own. Her grief, her triumphs, her rage…all of it pulsed through me.
I was the bearer of her magic hers and mine intertwined.
And it was almost unbearable. My body fought to stabilize the surge inside me, trembling beneath the weight of something too ancient and too immense.
My grandmother’s riddle echoed through my mind, haunting me. And I now understood why Agatha had joined us why she had helped. She wanted this power for herself. She had expected to be the chosen one. But she wasn’t. I was.
And because of that, something in her had shifted. Not anger not quite. But she wasn’t okay. She wasn’t herself.
Cynthia and Clara hovered close, worried. Everyone was worried. I tried to reassure them that I could handle the power…but my words barely convinced even me.
Aaron was the worst of them all his worry carved deeply into his face. No matter how many times I told him I was fine, the fear in his eyes didn’t fade.
“What happens if she doesn’t restore the book’s magic?” Aaron asked Annabelle, his voice strained.
Annabelle’s expression darkened. “She’ll be lost forever in Kalidah’s memories. Or…the magic will burn its way out of her until nothing of Everlina remains.”
Aaron froze. Panic overtook him in an instant.
I lifted my hands gently. “Relax, all of you. The magic is borrowed. I have to return it within two days at the witching hour.”
Agatha, who had been silently watching me, finally spoke. “You enjoy the power within you. I see it in your eyes. But remember this magic isn’t yours to keep. It will destroy you if you try.”
Sia crossed her arms. “You’re upset because you weren’t chosen. You should be questioning why. You’re a powerful Oracle, Agatha. But the magic still found you unworthy.”
The words struck like lightning. Agatha’s face twisted.
“Unworthy?” she snapped. “You are all here because of me. Do not think for one second you’d have managed any of this without my guidance. My blood is purer than yours, Sia.”
Her anger was sharp enough to scorch the air.
Daniel stepped between them. “Enough. The real issue is this how do we know Rodger is coming? Everlina can’t sense him anymore.”
The truth tightened my stomach. The bond that once tied me to Rodger had broken…but that didn’t mean he wasn’t watching.
“He is coming,” Cynthia murmured, eyes distant. A vision had taken her.
Aaron squeezed my hand. “Whether he comes here or not Everlina, in two days you must release that magic.”
I didn’t answer. A part of me liked the power. Too much.
“When Rodger arrives,” Annabelle said quietly, “don’t kill him, Everlina. Capture him. Curse him. If you take his life with Kalidah’s magic, you will never be able to bring life into this world. Magic always balances itself—you take a life, you lose the right to create one.”
The weight of her words hit me hard. Kalidah had killed Arthur. She had never carried children after that.
Aaron’s jaw clenched. “I’ll kill him. I don’t care about curses. He dies by my hands.”
“It won’t matter who kills him,” Clara said softly. “As long as Everlina’s magic binds him, she will bear the consequence.”
Silence fell.
Then Sia asked quietly, “Agatha…what did you do to earn the curse of aging?”
Agatha’s eyes went glassy. For the first time, she looked truly fragile.
“A man cursed me,” she whispered. “He was handsome…kind. He could have had any woman, but he chose me. Promised me marriage. Promised me love.”
She looked down, voice trembling.
“But he only wanted my visions. When I heard rumors he planned to marry another, I cursed him. Turned him into a young boy so no woman would ever want him.”
Shock rippled through us.
“But he did love me,” she continued softly. “Truly. And my magic…turned on me. Punished me. I became old. And worse…he cursed me in return. To forget him completelyto forget everything about him.”
Lyra whispered, “I’m so sorry.”
Agatha nodded. “All I know is what I did. I don’t remember his face. His voice. Not even his name.”
Clara stepped closer. “You wanted Kalidah’s magic to break your curse?”
Agatha nodded once. A small, bitter movement.
“I cast the curse,” Sia said gently. “Can’t you break it yourself?”
Agatha’s lips parted, but no answer cameonly pain.
Annabelle reached out to stop the questions, but Agatha raised a hand.
“The curse will break,” she whispered, “the day I recognize him. The day I look at a stranger and remember I once loved him.”
Her voice cracked.
The forest felt suddenly colder.
YOU ARE READING
WITCHE'S BEAST *(needs editing )
Hombres LoboEvelina is a young witch who has just been learning her witch powers and believes that werewolves never existed before and they were killed by her kind. What happens when she finds out that they actually do exist and the moon has twisted her fate to...
