Page 157 of The Demon's Spell

Air whipped through the room, and the six of us were blasted backward as the spell backfired. I fell flat on my ass, and Nadine landed beside me.

“What happened?” Miles groaned as he sat up.

“I felt resistance,” Nadine said as she stood. “It was like our spell touched some other type of magic.”

Chloe put her necklace back on. “The contract must be protected. If we want to find it, we’re going to have to find a stronger spell.”

I drew myself upright. “Then let’s get to work.”

CHAPTER 18

NADINE

We were determined as ever to break the demon’s contract, but as the snow melted and April turned into May, we were no closer to finding the contract than before. Our research confirmed that we’d used the strongest tracking spell available. If we couldn’t overpower the magic hiding the contract from us, we had no hope of finding it.

The Waning was only getting worse. Even if we found a better tracking spell, getting all five Casts together to perform it was next to impossible. On a good day, only half of my friends had access to their magic. Even the crystal arsenal we were building wasn’t enough to track down the contract.

Worse, the cursed wand was still out there. Lucas had returned to Pinewood Manor with the intent to destroy it, but he couldn’t get inside without the ghost of Leroy Pinewood chasing him off. After Mandy was stabbed, we weren’t keen on going back and risking our lives.

Several weeks had passed, and Lucas and I figured Mandy should be up for visitors by now. We hadn’t seen her much since she’d been in the hospital, as she was taking it easy during recovery. Mandy answered her door wearing pajamas, even though it was afternoon.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

“Everything’s fine,” I told her. “We came by to see how you were doing.”

“Oh.” Mandy opened the door wider to welcome us inside. Isa and Oliver followed behind us. “I’m fine.”

“How are you healing?” Lucas asked as he took a seat on the couch. I sat beside him, and Isa jumped into my lap.

Mandy grabbed a container of beads she’d been sorting through and moved it onto her nightstand. She crossed her legs on her bed. “I’m healing well. I’m still not allowed to lift too much weight.”

“We brought you a present.” I held out a gift bag.

Mandy raised her eyebrows. “You shouldn’t have.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I said. “We just thought it might help keep you busy until you’re feeling better.”

Mandy moved the tissue paper aside and pulled out a jewelry-making kit. She glanced between it and the beads on her nightstand. “I’m all set on my jewelry-making for the next few weeks, but thank you. It really means a lot. I thought you guys had come because The Coven’s Shield had learned more about the contract.”

“Not yet,” Lucas said. “But we were wondering if you could help us.”

Mandy set the jewelry kit aside. “I’m not sure I’ll be much help.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “You found the information on Adrik Harvey. That helped us nail down the time period we were looking at. It led us to the Seer Wand.”

Mandy frowned. “And to Pinewood Manor, where you were possessed and I got stabbed. So please tell me how I’m supposed to help, because it seems like no matter what I do, people get hurt.”

“We want to prevent that,” Lucas said. “You have the power to enter people’s dreams. We were wondering if it was possible for you to enter a demon’s dream. Professor Leto has to sleep, right? If you can get in his head, maybe you’ll find a clue in his subconscious that will lead us to the contract.”

Mandy shot him an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious.”

Lucas’s brow furrowed. “I am… You can do it, can’t you?”

“I don’t know,” Mandy said. “This is a demon you’re talking about. I’ve never entered a demon’s mind before. Who knows what could be in there? If I can enter his subconscious, who’s to say he can’t enter mine? Do you have any idea of the risk you’re asking me to take?”

“We don’t really know until we try, right?” Lucas asked. “We all agreed to take risks when we joined The Coven’s Shield.”

“No,” Mandy said firmly. “This isn’t what I signed up for. I didn’t want people getting hurt. Amy’s dead. I got stabbed. You guys are protesting against the priestesses, and people are getting killed. Hector and William are both dead because they joined your cause. Have you ever stopped to consider you’re pushing things too far?”

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