Page 14 of A Snowed in Valentine's

“A potion?”

“I’m a witch hunter.”

“Of course. It comes with the territory.”

He handed it to her. “Drink. It will help you sleep. You should probably lie down first.”

“You say it like it’ll knock me out immediately if I drink it.”

He said nothing.

She took the potion from him, tipped the bowl and drank. She swallowed and handed the bowl back to him.

“Are you sure this is going to knock me out?” she asked with another scoff. “It doesn’t feel like—”

***

She blinked.

The television screen was still blank and dark. She still sat on the floor as she’d been moments ago. Was it minutes? Seconds? Barely any time had passed, it seemed. She was right. By the time she opened her eyes on Frost Mountain again, another week might have passed.

I can’t believe you, Daphne,she told herself, rising to her feet.Now you’ve got not one world but two to worry about.

From what she’d garnered so far, Earth was slowly descending into a cesspool of chaos. A plane suddenly disappearing was no small matter, and the reactions were nothing short of foreboding. This wasn’t the first time the United States had faced a security problem so dire. The chaos that had ensued when the Twin Towers were hit in 2001…

What if this turned out to be worse?

She needed answers and more information. Right now, there was something she needed to do.

Making a beeline for her bed, Daphne sat down and picked up the Book of Nyx from the nightstand, prying the grimoire open in her lap. It was the same copy she’d had with her on the plane. How it was still here, she had no idea, but that was one answer she didn’t particularly care about.

“Where is it?” she asked herself as she flipped through the pages with trembling fingers, pausing once she reached a spell that looked familiar. “There you are.” She traced the page with her finger until she found the spell she was looking for.

Svassissimo nepo diovina.Open the void. The portal spell.

It was the spell she’d used. Or, at least, the one she was supposed to have used. Done correctly, it should have taken her through a portal to Frost Mountain. Shehadreached the mountain, but her presence here on Earth made no sense. She was in two worlds at the same time. That wasn’t how portalsworked, which could only mean one thing: She’d performed the wrong spell.

Her eyes followed her finger up the page, and she sucked in a breath. Just above the spell for the portal was another:Svassissimo nepo divana.

Make partial,she translated automatically.

If she hadn’t been sitting, the grimoire would have fallen to the floor. She held her breath as she continued to read. It was a spell that enabled one to split oneself into two halves, allowing for one to exist in two places at once. The consciousness of whoever cast the spell traveled back and forth between bodies.

What seemed like a pretty useful spell, in Daphne’s case, was a nightmare.

Svassissimo nepo divana.

She’d inadvertently split herself in two. If she was guessing correctly, the split had already occurred by the time the plane breached the portal. And the part of her that was on the plane had gone through it, along with everyone else aboard Flight 18.

Damnit,she thought. She’d never created that portal. It had been purely coincidental.

She drew a breath and let it out slowly.

“There has to be a way to fix this,” she muttered to herself. “There’s got to be instructions on reversing the spell here—”

She was interrupted by the wail of sirens. Fear slammed into her, and she shot to her feet, the Book of Nyx falling to the floor.

Were those ambulances?

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