know how to stop this.”
He turns his attention to me, his hand grabbing mine, squeezing. “Well, do it already.”
Adrenaline pumping, all my senses are on high alert, so taut they are going to burst.
“Everything here is an illusion. It can hurt you and even kill you, but you will never destroy the bears. They are energy, nothing more.”
He’s shaking his head. “That’s fucking great. So use your magic then.”
I swallow hard, feeling the pressure to perform. “This isn’t about me,” I explain, thinking of how badly my attempts went. “You need to counteract the spell. It’s an illusion, a lie, so only you can stop this. You need to reveal the truth of what you truly fear.”
The opposite of their bravery.
He stares at me, bewildered, then scans the area, and a flash of worry wrinkling the bridge of his nose. “That makes no sense.”
“Yes, it does,” I insist, my shoulders tense.
Without missing a beat, a roar bellows from behind Stone, and we both glance at the gigantic bear steamrolling toward us from across the open land. My mouth goes dry, and my hope dwindles.
Stone drops to the ground, his hands flat on the soil. My skin pricks instantly at his power as a blue energy zips down his arms and into the soil.
“How long will you keep doing this? Until you collapse from exhaustion and the bear kills you?” I say as frustration digs into my chest.
“I don’t understand what you want me to do, Narah,” he barks, his attention never leaving the bear.
The earth quivers beneath my feet from the oncoming animal charging at us. I can’t help but recoil at the intimidating sight.
“The spell is a phantom. How do you combat a lie? You tell the truth of something you’ve been hiding. Of what scares you. Magic is about positive and negative energy, about balancing the power. It’s not that hard to understand.” Irritation laces my words, as I just want him to do it already.
An explosive cracking sound shudders through the air, and I jump in my skin. I glance up just as the attacking animal is swallowed by the earth. I look away, not wanting to see it suffer, even if it’s not real. Its whimpering sounds are bad enough.
Stone is on his feet in moments and looking at me strangely. “So I just tell you the truth? That’s it? About what?”
My pulse spikes, as this is theory only, but it’s all I’ve got right now.
“Say something you’ve been lying to yourself about, something you fear. Then tell it to the energy encasing you. A secret you haven’t told a soul. Like, I contemplated for a few seconds leaving you four here to die as I escaped.” My cheeks are on fire at admitting that directly to his face, but I don’t have the patience for tact at the moment.
His expression falls, then he shrugs. “Yeah, I’d probably do the same.”
When I look over to Crius, he’s bleeding severely from his side, and I keep thinking about Father’s words about how letting fear in will lead to failure, and maybe my strategy of getting them to admit their fear is wrong, but then what else can it be? The element of fear has to be what holds them back, what applies here.
“Each of you are fighting your own war. Maybe the bears represent each of your fears, so you need to confront them with the truth of what scares you.”
Despite his brow furrowing, he closes his eyes for a moment, saying, “This is ridiculous, but I’ll play along.” He growls under his breath, then his voice comes out soft. “I tell everyone I’m fine when really I’m terrified that I’ll never be taken seriously and remain the joke to every Alpha.” He pauses, and I’m hanging off his words, my heart drumming louder to hear him admit something I’d never expect from him. Then he opens his eyes. “Something like that?” His voice darkens, his expression twisting like he suddenly wants to take back what he’s said.
I reach for his arm, but he pulls away from me, and my stomach twists that I’ve hurt him. “Stone, it’s not—”
Suddenly, his eyes widen with surprise, and his legs give out from under him in a heartbeat. He collapses to the ground. Eyes shut, he lays half on his side, an arm across his stomach. He’s passed out.
A coldness strikes me in the chest, and panic has me falling to my knees by his side.
“Stone!”
Hastily, I check his pulse.