Sapphire Spells

Chapter 41

Luna runs into my leg, nudging me to move.

All I can do is stare as Drew's lips move, his voice too low for me to hear. His fingers unfold and something falls from his hand. A golem. It grows, unraveling from the figurine and re-raveling into something life-like. The brown fur rustles as it transforms into a life-size grizzly bear. Its roar shakes the forest floor.

Amber stumbles back in sheer surprise.

The bear swipes its claws against the tree and vines, freeing Drew, who releases another golem from his hand. It grows into a second massive bear in the blink of an eye.

Vines come for them, twisting across the ground. But there is little they can do against the beasts. The golem bears make the vines look like they are made from soft string cheese as they easily break, claw, and bite through them.

Drew uses the momentum to fling some sort of fluid from a flask at Amber. Magic-infused liquid douses her and nearly instantaneously her vines lose their coordination. It is as if they are moving spastically, with no guidance. Only then does Drew's gaze cut to me, stealing my attention.

"GO!" he barks.

I don't want to leave him. However, he seems in complete control of the situation. Amber is backing off, her eyes wide with what appears to be actual fear as she views the Golems.

"NOW!" Drew snaps.

Finally, my legs move, following the order.

Luna sprints ahead for me to follow. My heart is pounding so hard that my ears feel full with the drum of each beat.

It seems like we rush just a few yards forward before meeting with the tidy row of trees marking the perimeter. On the other side stands Phiona, shrouded in a dark hooded cape. I would have missed her if her eyes did not seem to sparkle brightly in the moonlight, as if nearly glowing.

Never did I think I would feel such relief at the sight of her. Phiona stands just beyond the house's territory.

I rush to her, coming to a sudden stop when she raises a hand, instructing me to halt. "Do not cross this boundary," she says.

"Alaric? Charley? The wolves?" I ask, my chest tightens with fear. I know time is not a luxury we have, but I need to know.

"They are fine." She states before in the same breath, asking, "What did the Fairy King want with you?" It appears as if both of us are wasting no time to gain whatever information we need.

I asked her about the others because if they fail in freeing me, then I need to know Preston held up his end of the bargain. The fact that she also asked me a question lets me know that she, too, is uncertain whether they can actually free me.

I feel him, goosebumps shooting across my skin just before movement catches my attention.

Alaric steps into a beam of moonlight, eyes burning an unnatural gray. He is suspended in two states, part human, part more.

Breath catches in my throat and for a single moment, my racing heart seems to go still. I take a single step towards him.

"Do not move." Phiona hisses at me before twisting her head to the right. "I told you to stay away," she snaps at him.

Wolf eyes trail over me, taking in every detail before fastening onto mine.

"You ok?" He asks. The certainty in his gaze has me wishing I could throw myself into his arms, to be shielded from all of this. But he can not shield me. That is just a girl's fantasy.

I nod in response.

"We are all ok too," he states, letting me know what Phiona already informed me of, but it feels more real coming from him.

To the eye, Alaric appears alert yet calm. Though he is anything but. Tension vibrates through the air, stemming from him. It is wrapped around him so tight that his entire body is stiff, muscles strained. 

"You are going to be leaving with us tonight." He informs me. 

That statement tugs at my lips. "Still the bossy alpha." 

My comment cuts away a sliver of the tension that is wound around him. His presence and words bring me relief, for I trust him. 

"We do not have time for this," Phiona snaps. "What did they want from you?" She asks me again.

"To know where the Quartz spell book is," I state, finally peeling my eyes away from Alaric.

"Did you tell them?" Her expression is unreadable.

My eyes narrow. I guess she suspects I finally connected with the spirit realm. Not that she is wrong in her assumption. "Didn't have much of a choice," I respond.

Annoyance briefly filters through her cold features. "Where?"

I explain what the dead Fairy King told me, and that I left off the little detail that it is where the cliffs meet the ocean when I relayed that information.

"At least that will give us a small edge," she states. Her stony gaze slides to Alaric. "Go, you will not want to hear or see this." She turns back to me and continues, not allowing Alaric a chance to respond. "Brace yourself," she warns.

"For what?" I manage to just get the words out before she raises her hand towards me. Magic shoots out of her fingertips, aimed at the collar at my throat.

Everything goes dark.

I am cut off from the world around me. All that exists is within. 

I see nothing.

I hear nothing.

I feel... too much.

Pain shoots through my veins like liquid made of blades, stemming from my throat. I am cut from within. Sliced into pieces. It is all-consuming.

I could have several lifetimes to prepare for this, and would still not be ready. This is an unimaginable torture.

A never-ending fire is lit, and magic holds me there, keeping me from passing out. I burn from the inside. My bones grind to powder by the tightening of my muscles, constricting involuntarily from the magic fighting within. Death is not an escape I am given the privilege of.

I can't think.

The collar turns my insides to dust, sets everything ablaze, and somehow I remain whole. The cycle is never-ending.

Sounds surround me as my scream raddles my eardrums.

Just as suddenly as it starts, the pain ends.

Wind moves around me unnaturally.

I gasp at the relief, my eyes opening to find me on the ground, my body still withering.

"Are you trying to kill her?" Preston screams. It is the loudest he has ever raised his voice around me.

My head jerks in his direction, neck protesting the movement. Whatever just happened to me has my muscles all feeling like jelly.

Preston approaches from behind, rage burning in his gaze, eyes trained on Phiona.

With the flick of his wrist, wind cuts through the forest. An invisible wall slams Phiona, taking her right off of her feet, and throwing her into a tree with so much force I am not sure if she will survive such a blow. 

Her body falls to the ground.

No.

My trembling fingers reach for my neck, meeting smooth skin, and underneath remains a magical collar.

No.