Witch In Charge - Celia Kyle Page 0,61
it.
The green vine snapped toward her, reaching into her chest and wrapping around her heart. She almost panicked but had no time as the power kept going, looping through her solar plexus and becoming one with her blood. It filled her, it pulsed within her and became one with her.
As all of her chakras lit with the new energy source behind them, she did scream. It was more like a primal roar, a violent sonnet of victory. Her ethereal form grew at an insane rate, and yet the power kept coming. She felt herself not just growing, but becoming more solid in the ether space. Before she had time to understand what was happening, she was a giant towering over Ronun and Owyn, their tiny life-lights glowing far away as she loomed many storeys tall.
The fortress looked pitiful to her now. A house of cards. A child's plaything. Nothing but dust. As she spoke the words and filled her heart with forgiveness, she slashed at the wall.
And thought of Ronun.
His arms. His hands. His eyes on hers and the sweetness of his lips. She opened her heart and let him in.
I love him and he is mine! She screamed into the ether.
Remnants of the curse swirled around her in dark, snagging clouds, but as her heart became full of love, they vanished. The fortress fell in a great, trembling rush.
Ronun was free!
She was high—higher than high. She was spinning near the moon somewhere, buoyed up by the incredible magics she had harnessed. She saw Ronun below her and realized that she was falling.
I don’t care. If I’m falling into him, I don’t care.
When the darkness came, it was swift and violent. The crash was shattering enough to break every bone in her body, but Kelly swiftly moved beyond the realms of pain and into something deeper, where even the consciousness of a witch could not endure.
The first thing Kelly was aware of was pain. It shot through her joints and made her muscles tremble. The cold, damp blotting on her forehead was quite annoying. She reached out to push it away and opened her eyes, blinking the real world back into focus.
“You’re awake,” Owyn said, relieved.
“Stop it with the rag, Owyn. I’m not a fish.”
“Okay, but you were running a fever for a while there.”
Kelly gasped and sat up like a shot. “Did it work?” The world spun around her and she fell back again.
“Ssh, child. But to answer your question… Yes. I don't have a clue how, but it worked.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “I don't know either. All I remember is drawing from your power—thanks for that, by the way—but it still wasn't enough to break the curse. That's when the house offered its power to me freely. Boy, did that do the trick!”
Raising her head a bit as a test, the world seemed to remain in focus. She looked around for Ronun but he was nowhere to be found.
“Where's Ronun?” she asked, raising up on one elbow.
Owyn pressed his lips together, his eyes drifting from hers.
“What? What's wrong?”
He didn't answer, which only worried her more.
“Owyn, where's Ronun?”
He finally sighed and gave her a sorrowful look. “As the power peaked, your body gave out. I thought you might have died. I was picking you up when another gargoyle came.”
He pointed over to the side of the room and only then did she realize that the window wasn't just open, it was broken. Shards of glass and debris littered the floor.
“It smashed through the window and spoke to Ronun in their language, which I'm afraid I don't understand. Then Ronun shifted into his gargoyle form and they…flew away.”
He met her eyes with deep regret. He clearly didn’t want to be the one to deliver this news, but there was no one else. Still, Kelly couldn't quite wrap her head around what he was telling her.
“Wait, so he's…”
“I’m so sorry, Kelly. He’s gone.”
Twenty-Three
Days passed, but to Kelly they felt like years. Every moment dragged by as if she were being slowly torn apart from the bones outward. By the time the days finally accumulated into a week, Kelly was lost in the timelessness of grief.
In this place, suffering extreme loss, time ceased to have meaning. She felt like she had been locked in her room for a thousand years, but at the same time, every moment only awoke new pain. This room was safe. If she never ventured from it, she would never have to endure the truth.
Ronun had