Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
I nod, reach for the door, and turn the knob. Then, all of us walk inside.
The energy is palpable. It pulses around us in a sick song of death and destruction.
“She’s in the bedroom,” Lucy says, and we hurry that way, then stop at the door. The view before us brings us up short.
Lorelei is tied to the bed and only wearing her underwear and bra. She’s writhing, her skin drenched in sweat.
Xander stands over her, holding a long knife.
“You won’t kill her.”
He turns at the sound of my voice. His eyes are still swirling with that horrible light we saw before, and his lips twist into a sick smile as if what I just said is the funniest thing he’s ever heard.
“All of you,” he hisses. “I will kill all of you.”
“The crystal grid is set in the sand, and the others have begun,” Giles murmurs from behind me. “Let’s do this.”
Xander raises his hand above Lorelei’s body and makes a fist. She twists, writhing in pain.
“We call on the wind,” we begin in unison and work our way through the spell. At first, Xander’s face splits back into that awful, sinister smile, but as we continue, and I feel the energy coming from the others outside, from around their cauldrons and crystal grids, with their herbs and oils and sigils, the expression falls.
He doesn’t use the knife, but with the slash of his hand, Lorelei’s body bows and then falls, seemingly lifeless.
But we don’t stop. I can see that we’re battering him. His body jerks and flails until he shifts into his crow form and flies out the window.
We follow, and as we do, Astrid and Mom hurry into the house to see to Lorelei.
The rest of the coven follows us, chanting the spell we devised over and over again. Suddenly, the crow falls out of the air and into the water with a much bigger splash than expected.
Several seconds later, Xander surfaces, back in his human form, but his eyes still swirl, though not as brightly as before. It seems to be dimming, and with that realization, we continue the spell in earnest.
I hear generations of witches around us and feel the power coming off them in waves as we batter the thing inside Xander.
It’s a delicate balance of killing the hate but saving the man. Then, suddenly, I hear Lorelei’s voice from behind us. She’s not chanting the same spell. Instead, she’s helping to move our power forward into the water, using her own words.
It’s amazing to watch the water churn with her force, to witness it bend to her will. She didn’t bother to dress, so she stands with that wild, dark red hair billowing around her, her body tight with fierce anger and pure will, throwing everything she has at it and adding her intention to ours.
“You will not torture the man I love, today or any day. You have no authority here. I call on the sea to strengthen the other half of me, to give him the courage to battle that which holds him prisoner.”
She begins to move her arms in a big circle, and the biggest wave I’ve ever seen in my life forms behind Xander, blocking out the sun. Black clouds form overhead, and Lorelei’s green eyes shine as if they’re on fire.
The force is inspiring, and the rest of us feel emboldened by her intensity. Our words grow louder, the crystals in the sand glow, and as the wave crests higher over Xander’s head, ready to take him under, thunder crashes all around us.
Xander’s eyes clear.
We hear another scream, like the one that Giles and I heard when we broke the crystal, but now it’s ten times louder and way angrier than before.
Lorelei calms the ocean, and it settles down, the waves not washing over Xander, who’s standing in the water, trying to catch his breath.
The swirls of light are out of his eyes, gone and in the ocean now, drifting on the ripples of the waves and moving away from the man we fought so hard to save.
His gaze finds Lorelei, and his expression softens.
“My love.” That’s all he says before he sways and then falls into the water.
“Hurry, he’ll drown!”
“Don’t touch the water,” Lorelei shouts. “It’s still in there. It could take over any of us.”
“He’s face-down,” I remind her, watching as her eyes search the bubbling sea.
Suddenly, Xander flips over onto his back, and I see a fin come out of the water before heading away.
“Was that a shark?” Giles asks. “Holy Poseidon, you really are a sea witch.”
But Lorelei doesn’t smile. Her gaze is firmly fixed on Xander, who still isn’t showing any signs of life.
“How do we get him out?” Percy demands. “We can’t just let him float out there.”
“The light is dissipating,” I say, pointing. “It’s almost gone.”