Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 24

Hi,

OMG. Chapter 24! Can you believe it? I'm kind of floored by how far we've come, when it feels like I just posted the first chapter three weeks ago. I'm not complaining. ;-) This one is fast paced and I can't wait to post the next one! Let me know what you're thinking.

Special thanks to all of you who keep commenting on the story. You're awsome!

Lara

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Chapter 24

I wish I could say I had it in me to laugh into Medici's face and act all cool. Things go rarely the way we like to imagine it in our heads. My nerves were on edge, mind racing like a scared rabbit. All I could do was stare at him. And stare. And stare. The perfect candidate for the next Pentagram. The word reverberated inside the walls of my mind.

"How many elements have you used so far?" He took a step closer, mustering me like I was the newest, most exotic animal his own personal circus had ever seen. "You haven't used Spirit. I would know if you had. Once it does appear, it comes rolling like an avalanche. If the user's not careful it will suck her under, just like it did all those other witches the Circle named Pentagrams. Didn't you ever wonder how they died?"

I looked away. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Impossible to say it and maintain eye contact. Impossible to recognize my own voice amidst the thundering noise in my ears – the sound of blood running wild.

How many elements have you used so far? The words plunged into me like bloodstained icicles.

Up until this point I was living in the conviction that a Pentagram was able to use all elements at once. It was the text-book definition of what a Pentagram was. It was the beginning and closing argument of my own defense, solid evidence that I was just an oddity that had a knack for more than one element. Hell, I couldn't even control what I was using. It was how I made it through each day, being sure, so sure, that I wasn't what he just called me.

Now doubt slammed into me, tore down whatever walls of comfort I'd tried to erect. The Raven suspected I was a Pentagram, or at least could turn into one, and he was asking me how many elements I used. So far.

No matter how much I tried to calm myself, the question just wouldn't go away. What if he's right? If there was even the slightest chance I could be turning into a Pentagram-

No! I slammed a metaphorical lid on my thoughts, glaring at him. If this was a game to Medici, this was his opening move. I had to stay on my feet and be alert if I wanted to remain ahead.

He laughed. "I see. You're in denial." He cocked his head. "Maybe you already figured it out on your own?"

"Figured out what?"

"That what you know about Pentagrams is farther from the truth than you think," he said. "The fairy tales the Circle likes to feed to all those magical hopefuls? The tales about Pentagrams saving the whole witch community from the big bad? Do you really think that they're true? Now, process this: The Circle's hunting everyone and everything that remotely sounds rogue. A Pentagram pools all the elements to call forth the fifth one: Spirit, or what the Circle likes to call dark magic. Put one and one together."

My eyes widened. Was he implying what I thought he was?

The problem was not that he was trying to knock me off balance with his words. I was prepared for that. The problem was that what he said made perfectly sense.