My lips part, but no sound comes out. Chances are the glue that was stopping the blood from oozing out of the tiny holes around each stitch came off, and if I touch it up, he’ll be back to how he was before. But I can’t keep doing that. It won’t be long until Lucas gets an infection and dies.
Suddenly, I feel like I’m going to puke. I close my eyes and wait for the room to stop spinning. We don’t have everything we need, and Felix isn’t even sure what exactly we do need.
But there might be someone who does, and I have to talk to him.
Now.
“You’re all welcome to stay here,” I say, fighting to keep my voice from shaking. No one will let me go through with my plan—including Lucas. But I don’t see any other option. We are running out of time. “I know there’s not much room.” I nervously twist my hair around my fingers. “Too bad the new house isn’t done yet. We’d have plenty of rooms.”
“Callie,” Felix starts and opens another book. It’s a Dark Grimoire, something that would be in the restricted section of the Academy library, and something I’d love to look through later. “You and the vampires should rest now. We’ll go through the books and will perfect the spell.”
I nod and quickly get up. “Okay,” I say quickly. Too quickly. “I’m going to make some tea first. My nerves are shot.”
“Want me to make some for you?” Nicole offers.
“No, you’re here. That’s already enough.” I take a step toward the kitchen only to stop and go back to Lucas. “Um, feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen,” I tell my friends and offer Lucas a hand up. He ignores it and rises to his feet in a graceful movement. “I’ll be right up,” I tell him, and he leans down, kissing me before going upstairs, Eliza following at his heels.
Hands shaking, I go into the kitchen, mentally calling Pandora to help me grab what I need before anyone catches on to what I’m doing. I shove bottles of herbs into a small saucepan and throw a towel over it as I dash up the stairs.
“Take your shirt off,” I tell Lucas as soon as I’m in our bedroom.
“I knew you couldn’t resist me.” He smirks and pushes off the mattress. “I’m injured, but I can still make you scream my name as you come for the third time.”
“We’ll have sex as soon as you’re better.” I close the door behind me. “You’re bleeding.”
“I know.”
“Let me see.” I hurry to the bed and gently push him back down. He laces his fingers through mine and pulls me to him, kissing me. My body wants to relent, to give in and let him make love to me.
But I can’t. He’s injured. Bleeding. Cursed.
“Let me see,” I moan as his deft fingers sweep between my legs.
“You can see it,” he urges, and I push back.
“Lucas,” I say sternly. “Now.” If I wasn’t afraid of hurting him, I’d use magic to push him down and hold him against the mattress. With a huff, he lifts his shirt up.
I was right. The glue came off the edges of the stitches, and I think I can put a Band-Aid or two over it for now. Before I can get out of the room, Eliza comes flying in.
“Ever heard of knocking?” I rush out.
“I can smell the blood.” She’s next to us in just a second. “He’s bleeding.”
“The glue came off,” I tell her, and my eyes flutter shut as I try to think. My thoughts are all jumbled. “There are Band-Aids in the bathroom. Somewhere in the medicine cabinet.”
“Helpful,” she quips and speeds back out.
“Are you hungry or anything?” I ask Lucas.
“I’m tired.” His brows furrow, and he reaches for me again. His touch is gentle this time, telling me the things he won’t say. He doesn’t feel well and is getting weaker by the second.
“We’ll both rest a bit, and then we’re going to transfer this curse.”
Eliza comes back in with the box of Band-Aids and insists she can do a better job putting it on Lucas than I can. Too stressed to fight her on this, I let her put six Band-Aids over the same tiny wound.
Once she’s finally out of the room, I lie in bed next to Lucas and run my nails up and down his muscular arm. He’s asleep in minutes, and I slowly get out of bed, turning on the electric blanket and tucking him in.
“I love you,” I whisper and gently kiss his forehead. Then I grab the pan full of herbs, my Book of Shadows, and go into the guest room, where Eliza is. “Hey,” I say and step in. “I need you to do something.”
I set the pan on the floor, finding a tiny bit of room to work, and telekinetically flip through my book. Pandora, whose talents lie in potion making, shadows into the room and takes over looking through the book, finding the page in seconds.
“Me?” Eliza echoes.
“Yeah.” I run my finger over the spell and then start mixing up the herbs.
“Are you going to elaborate or is part of the fun keeping me guessing?”
“Sorry.” I add valerian root to the pot. “I’m making a sleeping potion that will knock me out. In like half an hour—” Pandora growls—“fine, like fifteen minutes, I need you to wake me up.”
“The fuck is the point of this?”
I carefully measure out the lavender and dump it in as well. “The point is I can only talk to my uncle through dreams, and I’m way too anxious to fall asleep on my own.”
I can feel Eliza’s gaze on me as Pandora crushes up the valerian roots.
“You’re talking about Lucifer, aren’t you?” The usual snark is gone from her voice. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“No, I’m not sure.” I glance back at the book to see what else I need. “But I think he can help. Dark magic is kind of his thing. And we’ve…we’ve been talking.”
“Callie.” Eliza crouches down. “He’s the devil.”
“I know. And he’s my uncle. Maybe I’m stupid, but I really believe being related means something to him.”
“Yeah, it means that he wants to manipulate you.”
I don’t know how to explain what I feel. It’s crazy, and the more I try to rationalize it to myself, the crazier it sounds. “I’ll be careful. I’m just going to ask him some questions, and then you’ll wake me up.”
“Are you sure this will even work?”
“No,” I tell her honestly. “Though if anything, I’ll have a short little power nap.” I add the final herbs to the pot and get up, brushing my hands on my shirt. “I need potion vials and candles. I’ll be right back.”
I slink into my room and grab two potion vials, a handful of votive candles, three glass jars, and the water bottle that I left on my nightstand from this afternoon. I dump half the water into the pot and arrange it on the jars. I stick the candles underneath and use magic to light them.
I hold my hand over the pot, tempted to use magic to heat the potion, but Pandora reminds me that I have to use the heat from the candles for a reason. Letting out a sigh, we start mixing up the herbs for the potion that will bring me back.
“I never realized you could make a potion like this,” Eliza says, looking at my little setup. “It’s like spellcrafting on a budget.”
I smile. “I used to do that in my dormitory at the Academy. We obviously didn’t have cauldrons in our rooms, and sometimes you’d need a potion in the middle of the night.”
“The glass never gets too hot?”
“Oh, it can. We preferred using cans of soup.”
“We meaning you and Kristy?” she asks.
I nod. “And the twins. The four of us roomed together every year since I got there.”
“You missed a few years, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I was almost eleven when I started at the Academy. Everyone else starts when they’re six.”
“Interesting.” She goes to the window and looks out at the yard. “Can witches perform magic that young?”
“Some can.” I hold my hand over the potion and move my index finger in a clockwise motion, stirring it. “I started doing magic on accident when I was three, but I’m not a full witch.”
“What about normal stuff?” She turns and looks at me. “Stuff nons learn in school.”
“We learn that, too. The first few years at the Academy aren’t much different than regular school, actually. Kindergarten there is the same as kindergarten at Thorne Hill Elementary, with a few lessons on magic thrown in there.” I sit on the edge of the bed, waiting. “I think the Academy taught us more, to be honest. Obviously, we learn magic, but we learned how to do taxes, how to manage a household, and classes on finances and budgeting were mandatory our senior year. You had to pass regular geometry before you could study sacred geometry, and if you didn’t get a B or higher in English, you couldn’t move on to Latin, which was required before advanced spellcasting.”
“Very interesting.”
I nod. “We really did learn a lot, with a mix of that regular stuff necessary to live along with the magic.”
“Sounds intense.”
“It was. That’s why it’s a boarding school. We were in class most the day.” I let my eyes fall shut, thinking back to my Academy days. Life was so much simpler then.
“Even the young children stayed overnight?”
I shake my head. “No, not until they’re older. Kindergarten through third grade keep hours like they would in public school. Then it slowly gets more intense until you turn thirteen.”
“The potion is ready,” Pandora says, voice echoing around us.
Inhaling, I get up and carefully pour the potion into the vials, keeping the corks off to let it cool. After rinsing out the pan, I add the ingredients and start the second potion.
“When the time is up, what do I do?” Eliza asks.
“Pour this in my mouth,” I say, wrinkling my nose. “Slowly, so I don’t choke. Pandora will be here helping.” I open the window and move the vials to the sill, letting the chilly, evening air help cool them. A few minutes later, the second potion is done. I set it on the windowsill and hold up the sleeping potion, which is a deep amber color.
“Somnum,” I say, holding the potions up. They glow for a brief second, and then the light fades away. Risking burning my hands, I grab the other potions, not having the time to waste waiting for them to cool.
“Surgit.” I enchant the potions, bringing the elements of the potion to life. “Okay. Here goes…” I force a smile and give Eliza the waking potion. Then I lie on the bed and down the sleeping potion like a shot. It slides warm down my throat, taking effect almost immediately.
Lucifer…I call as my eyelids start to feel heavy. If you can hear me…I…I need to talk to you.
And then everything goes black.