Page 65 of Spelling Disaster

Leaving him sucks and it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done for him.

I’m the worst.

I never should have gone to his room tonight.

No matter how great my body feels, no matter how my heart relaxes as I watch Theo sleep, I know I’m the worst because I put him in danger in the first place. Not only danger but then I took him back to this motel and I used him.

I shake my head to dislodge those thoughts.

No matter how guilty I feel for the first part, I refuse to let it impact the latter. What we’d done, how we’d made each other feel…

It is everything.

I’m not willing to risk him any more than I already have.

Quietly, I slip back into my pants and shirt, lacing my sneakers and grabbing my bag. Some of the bottles clink together and I tense, looking over my shoulder to see if the sound woke him.

Nope.

One final look over my shoulder when I get to the door assures me Theo is still asleep as I sneak out. Even the creaking of the hinges doesn’t wake him. I say my silent goodbyes once I’m outside.

It’s only going to be a few blocks of walking to get to the barrier.

It will be much faster on the bike but it’s one step too far.

My chest tight, I breathe in the night air, heavy and cumbersome. Something is definitely wrong and it doesn’t take a witch to understand that.

It’s a sensation in the atmosphere, a tingle along the skin warning of dark and unnatural things, as Remi said before. I grip the strap of my bag closer as though it will somehow protect me from the shadows stretching toward me. The Horned God is close.

Whatever spell he’s used to leash the coven to his side ends tonight. My footsteps echo eerily, the sound trailing me down the sidewalk. Even the night creatures have quieted this close to the border.

At least now I have a name to put to the shadows I’d seen from the corner of my eyes ever since I got to Andora. The niggling sensation of eyes on the back of my neck is real and now I’m going to face them head on.

Jaw clenching, muscles tense, my teeth rattle together and a chill takes up residence in my blood.

The determination does nothing against the ruthless swell of nerves eating at my insides. Rather than give into them, I keep my gaze ahead, each step wooden down the sidewalk until I reach the edge of the barrier.

It’s nothing you can see with the naked eye. More a feeling, a sensation warning anyone to stay the hell away from whatever this is. I close my eyes and tune into the world around me, seeing the barrier as a night-black and star-studded thickening of the air. A ripple in time and space. My mother’s signature, I realize with a start.

Whatever else might have happened to her, she had enough time to throw up this protection around the town center, to keep the coven contained. To keep the humans out.

Well, however many of them were lucky enough to get out before the spell took hold.

Tears burn the backs and corners of my eyes.

It’s time.

Glancing around, there’s no hint of the others. They should have been here by now, especially with the stop I made. It’s better, though. I’m all the more grateful for it because I don’t want Blaire involved.

I definitely don’t want Remi and Atlas to come with me for this because they’re human.

Human and breakable.

My fight, my terms. My town.

“Time to face me head on, you bastard,” I mutter out loud.

I square my shoulders and take one step through the barrier despite every sense screaming at me to turn tail and run.Run. There’s a lot of pushback those first few paces through the barrier, the magic fighting against me to keep me out. Hands in front of me, I keep going, pushing the magic out of the way to make room for me, until I’m through to the other side.

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