Dark Secrets - Linsey Hall Page 0,44

and pulsed with magic, giving me hope that this would work.

Finally, we were done.

I stepped back to admire my handiwork. Grey’s looked better than mine, but the designs on the ground were a bit of a disaster. Eve and Mac had been required to paint the potion over gravel and dirt, which was nearly impossible to do.

Eve tilted her head as she stared down at it. “I know it looks like hell, but I think it will get the job done. It’s just meant to provide a conduit for the spell.”

“Are you ready to cast it?” Grey asked.

Eve nodded and pulled the paper out of her pocket. The four of us lined up at the edge of the painted ground. I could feel Mac’s and Seraphia’s hopeful gazes on us as Eve began to recite the words.

I looked down at the paper she was reading. The spell was fairly long and complicated, a series of words in a language I didn’t recognize.

Eve’s voice carried at first, but soon began to trail off. I looked at her, concerned.

She frowned back at me, panic in her eyes. “My throat is tightening up when I try to read the words. Like the spell won’t let me.”

I took the paper. “Let me try.”

The words were unrecognizable, but they came easily to my tongue. As I read them, power began to flicker all around, the painted lines glowing ever brighter. The words came ever more smoothly, and anxiety tightened in my chest.

Why was this so easy for me?

What was it about this evil place that called to me so? Was it the power of Orion’s Heart that I’d absorbed? Had it made me evil, as I’d feared?

No.

I couldn’t be dragged down by fear. Not when we were so close. Not when Mac’s and Seraphia’s lives hung in the balance.

The magic in the potion pulsed more strongly, making the air vibrate. It shook my muscles, and it took everything I had to remain on my feet. Eve braced herself against Quinn, and Grey gripped my shoulders to steady me as the ground trembled.

A low roar swept through the clearing, as if the wind were waking.

“Maybe you should stop.” Eve’s voice trembled from the sheer force of the air that vibrated all around us.

No. I couldn’t.

I had to keep going. The building called to me. The spell called to me.

The roaring grew louder, the wind whipping my hair back from my face. My eyes watered, and I squinted at the words, barely able to see them through the tears.

They swam into focus, and I kept going, my voice rising.

“Stop,” Eve shouted.

“It’s too dangerous,” Quinn said.

I ignored them. Nothing could make me stop now.

It began to pour, massive waves of water coming from the sky. Thunder boomed, and lightning cracked.

“Eve, I think—”

Grey’s words were cut off by a blast of power that blew him back from me. I remained standing as the dark magic washed over me in a mushroom cloud, rolling out from the wall. As it passed by, the force of the power shriveled the words in my throat.

I staggered, my vision going blind.

The screaming wind reached a terrible crescendo, then died. The rain stopped. The wind ceased.

Gasping, I blinked.

My vision returned, and I realized that I was staring straight up at the sky.

I was lying on the ground.

Holy hell, I’d fallen over and not even noticed. My muscles ached as I dragged myself upright, the gravel biting into my palms.

Blearily, I took stock of my situation. My back was to the wall. Across the courtyard, I spotted Mac and Seraphia, both collapsed on the bench. The others lay scattered between them and me.

Panic flared. I scrambled to my feet and raced toward my friends, fear screaming inside me.

I fell to my knees beside them, anxiously searching them for signs of life.

“Mac! Seraphia!” I shook their shoulders. “Are you okay?”

Mac coughed and sat up, her face pale and her eyes shadowed. “I’m fine.”

Slowly, Seraphia joined her. She rubbed her face with a shaking hand, her gaze meeting mine. “Is it done?”

“I think so. Do you feel better?”

“Um…not really?”

Mac looked over my shoulder, her gaze widening. “Holy fates. Look at that.”

A chill raced over me as I turned.

The wall was gone.

In its place stood a ramshackle tower. The building was ancient and beautiful, though in ill repair. Large glass windows overlooked the abandoned courtyard, and the stone was a fine, pale gray.

“That’s been there all along.” Awe filled me as I stood. “Just hidden.”

“Look at Councilor Rasla.”