by K. C. RILEY
As I took my place in front of Mason, all eyes were on me. Honestly, I had no idea what the hell I was doing.
“I call to the book,” I said, underneath my breath so only I could hear. “Show me the way, show me the spell. Show me the words to make Mason well.”
And where the blazes did that come from?
An energy fluttered in my body, almost as though the pages of the book were flipping through me.
In my mind’s eye, I could see something. A spell.
I glanced around as everyone continued to stare.
With a deep breath, I was about to recite the incantation, when a feeling of darkness slithered to the surface from inside of me. Lilith.
The Book of the Unnamed. Clever.
“Get out of my head,” I said, quickly forgetting where I was.
“Are you okay?” Cassie asked.
“Yeah. Sorry. Just focusing.”
Mason moaned again.
“Liz. Hurry,” Josie pleaded. “Please.”
She was right. It wasn’t the most opportune time to have a conversation with my shadow. Mason needed me, Lilith or not.
I nodded and took another breath. “Notre Oturus Lehem… Itre Sonars Chekrum…Notre Oturus Bohem… Itre Sonars Olas…” Nothing was happening.
I said it louder. This time with more force. But still nothing.
You need me, Lilith said.
I ignored her and chanted louder to drown her out. She only laughed.
The spell is too powerful. You haven’t even ascended. You don’t have the power. But I do. You’ve only to say the word. Release me. And I’ll save Mason, Jake, and you. If Mason dies, you’ll lose the only friends you’ve ever had.
She was lying, trying to confuse me. I tried the spell again.
“He’s dying!” Josie yelled.
Beads of sweat ran down the back of my neck. Josie was right. Mason was on his last breath. I could feel it, but I couldn’t let the darkness out.
“Please!” Josie yelled again.
Mason seized. I couldn’t let him die. It was my fault he couldn’t transform to begin with. I owed him this, even if it cost me my own sanity.
“Alright,” I whispered. “I release you.”
Lilith chanted the spell from within my head. Her power, fierce and unafraid. The exact opposite of me. Her voice soon became my own. Letting her loose, her dark energy flowed through me. I no longer feared anyone or anything. I felt like a goddess.
“I call to the great mother and the vessel of air. Josie, stand with me. I call to the great mother and the vessel of earth. Cassie, stand by my side.”
Thunder cracked as my voice rang out with it. But there was something different about the words of the spell. Lilith twisted them, somehow rearranging them to call in more power.
I said the words again. But I wasn’t alone.
Cassie and Josie repeated the words with me as though the words chanted had taken them over. Their eyes blackened and they were soon both standing on either side of me, the wind blowing around us from Cassie, and the ground trembling below us from Josie.
We all three held our hands up and in one voice shouted. “We call to the elements of the Great Mother. Notre Oturus Lehem… Itre Sonars Chekrum…Notre Oturus Bohem… Itre Sonars Olas…”
There was something off about the spell. The spell chanted wasn’t the original words from the book. Lilith somehow manipulated the incantation. But it was too late to stop.
Mason began coughing violently, spitting up the thick black poison from the Black Mist and allowing the glowing blue venom of Anubis to move through his veins.
He screamed in agony as the bones of his mangled body cracked and untwisted. It was working. He was changing. I could see the full body of the wolf, its legs, head, and tail.
Electricity ignited through the stones around us. Pure power ensued as Alexei and Boyd held the gates of life and death open.
In another breath…everything stopped.
Mason shook off the hairs of the wolf. He then stood up from the ground tall, beautiful, and muscular in his Anubis form. All three of the boys howled in the moonlight as the magic of the night glittered through their obsidian skin. It was beautiful. Holy and sacred. But the feeling of holy didn’t last long.
“Not another step,” a familiar voice yelled. Officer Johnson. Her hands trembled as she pointed a gun at what was now a seven-foot-tall Mason.
Shit.
Mason inched toward her and growled.
“He won’t hurt you.”
“I mean it,” Officer Johnson said, ignoring me. “Cassie, you come on over here with me. Now.”
“But, Aunt Reba, you don’t understand.”
Mason growled.
“I will shoot you.” Officer Smith’s hand shook uncontrollably. She was terrified. I could smell it, a mix of sweat, salt, and fear.
Mason didn’t listen. He took another step when something from out of the field leaped onto Sheriff Johnson taking her down to the ground. But by then, it was too late. She had already fired.
Mason had been standing right in front of me. Clearly being friends with Cassie was becoming bad for my health. I thought it was the end as the bullet nicked Mason at the shoulder and headed straight for me.
This time, however, it wasn’t an angel that saved me. It was my own shadow. Lilith.
The bullet froze in mid-air only inches from me.
Lilith’s power surged through my body until I felt myself let the bullet drop to the ground.
Everyone stared as I walked over to Officer Johnson. She had been tackled by a gray wolf with sparkling silver eyes. I knew those eyes. Kai. He didn’t hurt her and took off running into the corn fields at my presence.
I squatted down and gazed into Officer Johnson’s horrified eyes. It wasn’t her fault. She was just scared at everything she didn’t understand. I knew the feeling.
“Sleep,” I said passing my hand over her head.
And so she did.
Lilith’s power quieted. I didn’t know what to say because she had saved me. Maybe she wasn’t the bowels of hell I had made her out to be after all. Only time would tell.
“She’ll be fine. But she won’t remember anything supernatural,” I said, glancing up at Cassie.
“How?” Cassie asked. “And your hair.”
I went to touch my hair. It had grown out like a wavy dark river past my shoulders. “It’s just another spell from the book. She’ll be fine. I promise. And I guess I’ll need another haircut,” I smiled.
Cassie nodded. There was more she wanted to say but didn’t. There was more everyone wanted to say but didn’t.
All of the guys quickly returned to their human form.
Mason, wrapped in a sheet, came over and simply hugged me. “Thanks. If you ever need me, I’ve got your back.”
I nodded and smiled aware of what everyone was thinking because I was thinking the exact thing. What the hell just happened? It had been wicked…dark and exciting. My hands and limbs were still vibrating from the adrenaline rush of power.
Boyd and Alexei gathered Officer Johnson up on the stretcher while Mason picked up the scent for the way back to the cars.
I could sense the questions that no one wanted to ask as we walked through the fields of corn that seemed to go on forever, all while cautiously reveling in the fact that I had just stopped a freaking bullet midair. Me. I couldn’t help but impishly smile at taking my power back from everyone that had stepped all over it—Cassie’s father, Zander, Aunt Norah, and even Mrs. Ellington. I felt indestructible. And yes, in truth, it was Lilith. But weren’t we one and the same? There was something fierce and badass about letting her out despite the look of concern on Cassie and Josie’s faces.
They had been right all along. The power of air and earth that had flooded through them the night at the shack with Cassie’s father—that had flooded through them just moments earlier—somehow, it was coming from me. They were just vessels, containers for something more. But what?<
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We were close to getting back when I spotted something dangling from one of the stalks of corn in the field. Yellow boxers with a smiley face on them. I snorted. A few yards farther and I picked up a black ruffled shirt like the one Kai had worn at The Black Ball. Another few yards and I picked up a black pair of pants, boots, and socks. Kai had taken off when we were at the ruins. I thought he would have changed back and at least met us at the cars.
“Kai,” I yelled out. “Where are you?” I yelled his name again when I heard someone moan.
A few steps back, and there it was again.
I stepped out of the field and into a small clearing where the moonlight washed over every inch of Kai’s nude body. A light breeze circled over him and across my face, cooling the fire that stoked at the base of my spine. He moaned and yawned as though waking up from a deep sleep. I tried not to stare at his perfect derrière. But how could I not? It was like falling into some divine portrait that had been painted and sculpted by Nature herself. The lighting and shades of shadow that rose and descended over every peak and curve of his firm arms, legs, and back were something only she could capture so perfectly.
Feelings and sensations of heat I shouldn’t have had—didn’t want to have—continued to spark up my spine.
He moaned again and I snapped out of it. Thank God.
“Hey,” I said, dropping his clothes beside him.
Kneeling, I ran my fingers through his dark hair and massaged his temple.
Someone in the field yelled out my name.
“I’m over here,” I yelled back. “I found Kai.”
“Not so loud,” Kai groaned.
“Are you okay?”
“With you massaging my head? I am now.” Kai smiled as he tried to look up at me.
Still caught in the heat and web of his voice and body, I smiled back grateful that he was fine.
“Oh, come on. Get a room,” Boyd said as he entered the clearing only to turn right back around.
I could hear him make vomiting sounds.
“He’s just teasing,” Kai grumbled.
“Yeah. I know,” I whispered.
I gathered Kai’s clothes as he sat up.
“I think these belong to you,” I said with a grin as I held up his smiley face underwear.
Kai smiled. “So, now you know all my secrets,” he said as he put them on.
I turned my head just enough to peak out of the corner of my eye. I couldn’t help myself. And I couldn’t deny the spark in the air. The attraction between Kai and I was thick enough to cut with a knife. Maybe Boyd was right.
I mean, what happened to the guy that blushed from me changing in the back seat of his car? Ever since joining the Lycans of Anubis, Kai’s hot as hell meter had blown completely off the charts. He was bolder. Edgier. That or I was under the influence of some kind of wolf pheromone that was driving my hormones nuts.
“And I barely know any of yours,” he continued. “Well, other than the fact that you’re like Wonder Woman on steroids.”
I smiled at the thought. Me, Wonder Woman. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Still getting the hang of transforming. I’ve got the wolf part down, kind of, but still working on changing into Anubis itself.”
Kai finished dressing and leaned on me as I helped him back to the cars.
Upon arriving, Boyd was leaning against Sheriff Johnson’s police cruiser. By the van, Alexei held Cassie warmly in his arms before leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips. Wow. I had no idea they were even a thing. And poor Boyd. I was sure he had feelings for her.
Josie and Mason were locked into each other’s grip almost as if they had been superglued together. And who could blame them after everything Mason had gone through?
I cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention. “Found him.”
Alexei released his arms from Cassie’s. “Nice work. The both of you.”
“Thanks,” Kai said, still leaning on me. “I think I can walk now.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah. It’s more like a hangover than anything else.”
“Can you drive?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
“Alexei and I will take my aunt home in her car,” Cassie said.
“Boyd, Mason, and I will follow you,” Josie said.
“I’m going to head back to school,” I said.
“Alone?” Kai asked.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
“Right. I forgot. Wonder Woman.”
I glanced at Kai and smiled, again. His gray eyes were brighter, deeper than before, if that was possible.
I quickly broke our gaze. “I better get going.”
“Yeah,” Kai replied.
“Oh, and hey. That was pretty brave back there,” I finally got out.
“You were pretty badass, too.”
The wind blew, stirring and igniting a darkness inside of me that needed to stay locked away.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “About earlier, that stupid text I sent. It’s just—”
“Don’t worry about it. I get it. I would never do anything to come between you and Jake. I know you deeply care for him. I can’t say I’m not jealous, but, I’m also a big boy. I just want to help where I can.”
“Thanks,” I said before leaving. I couldn’t get Kai out of my mind.
Cassie said it was okay to like two people at the same time. But was it, really? It just didn’t seem possible, not without someone getting hurt.
The drive home was quiet. I kept glancing at the head dash waiting for Jake to speak through the radio as his warning from earlier lingered in my head. Don’t, but don’t what? It could have been any number of things.
Don’t save Mason. Don’t save him. Don’t use The Book of the Unnamed. Don’t tap into Lilith’s power. Don’t get involved with Mrs. Ellington. Don’t get close to Kai. God, the list just seemed to go on and on. Maybe Ezra was right. Maybe I was doomed to keep making one mistake after the other, because ultimately that’s what I was from the very beginning. One big mistake. Maybe I should have never been born.
I pulled up into the school parking lot and got out of the car with my bag over my shoulder. I passed the doorway to the chapel and decided to go in. It was a peaceful place. Safe. Quiet. And I hadn’t been in weeks.
It was also pretty late. I suspected no one would be there, but someone was. I recognized the silver hair that somehow still managed to sparkle by the light of the candles in the dimly lit room. I couldn’t face her, not right now, so I tried to back my way out of the door.
“Congratulations, Miss Maverick.” Sister Clara never turned around.
It was like the devil had stolen my voice.
“I hear Mason has made a full recovery. Even transformed.”
“Yeah,” I finally got out.
“I won’t ask how you did it. But know this: you are playing a very dangerous game with yourself and the lives of your friends. I understand you wanted to save Mason, but part of wielding magic is knowing when to use it and when to let nature take her course. You may have done more damage to Mason, by saving him, than good. And know that Mrs. Ellington does not have your best interest at heart. Mark my words, Miss Maverick. She will destroy you. Not on purpose, of course.”
There was no pep talk. No Yoda-like advice on believing in myself or the force. Just an ominous warning that sent shivers down my arms because maybe she was right. I knew I had endangered everyone by casting a spell not only from the book but through Lilith.
“You’re not ready to handle such magic. You’ve barely trained. Studied.”
All true. “What other choice do I have? Let the people around me die?”
I had finally gotten the nerve to speak up. And it felt good to stop waiting for permission to do something, anything, but sit around and watch another person I cared about die.
She wouldn’t even look at me. “You would save one at the expense of the many?”
“I…I�
�I don’t know.”
“And that’s my point. You don’t have enough experience to make such reckless decisions without supervision. Guidance. Someone could have been killed tonight.”
Guilt became anger. I was so tired of defending my every move. I had already thought about everything she had said. I wasn’t reckless.
“No one was killed. We saved Mason. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“Get some rest, Miss Maverick. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
Mason was alive and my powers were unbound and poised to ascend. And yet, that’s it? That was all she had to say?
Disappointed and tired, I backed out of the chapel, sighed, and headed straight to my room. I turned off the lights, sat in the bed, and hugged my legs close to my chest. My mind fluttered back and forth between Sister Clara’s dark words, Jake’s voice—knowing he was still alive—and my insane attraction to Kai. Where was it coming from? A past life? His Lycan? What?
As if matters weren’t complicated enough, it was the first time I ever considered that in some way I may have been in love with both Jake and Kai, equally, each somehow feeling like a part of my own soul. And yet, was that really love or something else?
19
The next morning, I pulled out the Fallen venom from my nightstand but put it back. I didn’t need it.
Everything felt alive and buzzing with life. Including me. I got up and stared at myself in the mirror. I was…different. The color of my brown eyes seemed brighter, almost as though there were sparks of amber fire glowing from within them.
The color of my chestnut hair seemed richer. Darker. I was still in awe at how it had grown past my shoulders to my mid-back. The texture was still thick but smooth with loose waves. There were no fly-aways, split ends, or frizz. And all without any product. Sounds like nothing, but it was the little things that counted in the morning, like easy hair and makeup—of which I needed none.
My lashes were thicker, longer. My lips full and blushed. My eyebrows, perfectly shaped. And my skin glistened as though it had been kissed by the morning dew.
I put my hair up in a high ponytail and smiled seductively as something quite different than the Fallen venom coursed through me: my own power. With The Book of the Unnamed in hand, I was closer to ascending. And although I wasn’t afraid, I still knew I needed the amulet. I turned sideways and admired my uniform, how it clung to my petite but curvy figure.
