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.I’ll give u tonight, but this is not over.I laughed harshly, drawing a curious look from Matt.“Conor thinks there’s some way he’s still in the picture.” I held up my phone with a smirk.Matt raised a shoulder.“Maybe there is an explanation?”“So you’re over this already?” What was it with guys and beating things, and then they felt all better? Damn.Wish that worked for me.“I’m just saying.It looks bad now, but we don’t know the whole story.”“You really don’t want to be the one to bite me, do you?”Matt’s face drained of all color, blue eyes widening, full of pain and want.“I do.I really do.But I know it would be worse for me.So no, I really don’t want to have to.Does that make any sense?”I nodded, the lump in my throat making it impossible to say anything.He knew I didn’t feel the same way about him as he did for me.Biting me would be a kind of torture for him.So close to what he wanted, yet not able to grasp it.Yet, I knew he would do it.For me, he would suffer.He really was my knight in shining armor—or sharp fangs, anyway.Why couldn’t I love this boy as more than a brother? I returned my attention to the window as he pulled into my driveway.“Maybe the rest of the week will go by super fast.Or the Council will forget all about you and not force you into this,” he offered hopefully.“Yeah, right,” I muttered, opening the door.“Not holding my breath.” I leaned over and gave him a hug, drinking in his familiar scent.“Thanks, Matty,” I whispered.“Anytime.”Chapter ElevenI didn’t want to go to school the next day.I didn’t want to face Conor, or Tre, or Matt, or answer Cora’s questions.So I stayed home and hid with my Book of Shadows, looking for a spell to aid me with my dilemma.The Book was leather bound and old, having been passed down through my mom’s family for generations.It was a grimoire, containing mostly spells and instructions for rituals.The handwriting in the front was small and hard to read.As I flipped through the yellowed pages, it got easier to read, as the more recent generations had bigger handwriting and better spelling.I scanned each page, reading the titles of spells, looking for something, anything to help.For a Bountiful Harvest.To Ward off the Pox.To Bind Someone.To Turn Someone into a Frog.Whoa! Was that even possible?I scanned the cramped writing.The spell only made someone act like a frog.Hmm.Maybe I could save that one for later.I shook my head, chuckling, and continued my search.Wait a tick.A Cloaking Spell.Cloaking, like hiding.That might be useful.I gathered up my book and made my way to the attic.The attic room was a large, open space.The ceiling comprised of wooden rafters, the floor wooden floorboards.There was one small window facing east and beneath it was my parents’ altar.They had made this room our sacred working space.I immediately felt at ease as I entered the room.I could feel both my mom’s and dad’s energies in here, lingering, positive and comforting.A large chest of drawers sat on the north wall.It contained spell ingredients and was covered by candles of various colors and sizes.Bunches of dried herbs hung from the rafters near the west end of the room.Bookshelves filled with books lined the southern wall.Making magick wasn’t second nature to me yet.I should have been up here the first time I’d heard of my predicament, meditating and searching for an answer.Searching for a solution even through magick wasn’t natural, yet.The more I used it, though, the more it would be.I didn’t need any boy to protect me.I did not want to be a pawn of the Vampire Council.I was going to take care of this myself.If I was so damn powerful, why shouldn’t I be able to take care of myself?Determined, I set my Book of Shadows on the purple cloth-covered altar and set about gathering ingredients.In the chest, I found my athame, a birthday gift from my parents when I turned thirteen.The knife had a dark wooden hilt set with red stones, not what I would have chosen for myself, though, and that was important when using magickal tools.It wasn’t really me, and I decided I needed to do some shopping for magickal tools that felt more natural.After I’d gathered everything I needed, I called the four elements and cast a circle in front of the altar.The incense represented air, the lit candles were fire, a small bowl of salt acted as earth, and a small bowl of water rounded out the elements.I closed my eyes to center and ground myself.Being so high in the house, one would think it would be hard to ground.The house, though, was built into the earth, and it wasn’t hard to follow the house down into the earth and ground myself there.I lit some more candles, burned some herbs, chanted, and it was done.“So mote it be,” I finished.The energy rebounded like a snapped rubber band and I knew the spell had taken root.Power left my body, expanded outward, and then came back and filled me.My mouth opened on a gasp as the power raced through my blood, every cell suddenly alive and buzzing with potential.I could feel it.I could sense what the vampires must sense.In that moment, I felt like the powerful, goddess-like witch Conor said I was.Okay, he had never called me a goddess, but it really was what I felt like, standing there in my circle of power, relishing in the magick I had just worked.I thanked the elements, banished the circle, then extinguished the candles and cleaned up the remnants of my spell.I knew something important had happened [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]