Page 52 of Forced By the Alpha

I felt the barrier trying to solidify and keep me at bay as I pressed into it again with my magic. Sweat dripped down my face as I struggled against the curse. If I could just find a foothold, I knew I would be able to eradicate it, but the blockade was impenetrable.

I opened my eyes and locked them with Franco’s. He was staring at me with an intense expression, and I knew it was taking everything in him not to make me stop. He couldn’t stand to see me hurt, even if it meant his own doom. For all the bad he had done, he was a good person at heart.

Of course! The heart.

My hands moved from his temples to his chest, and I pressed them forward as I spoke again.

“I bring you forth from the curse and hold you to the light. Let your future be bright. Be gone, dark of night. So mote it be.”

The pain intensified as I pushed deeper and found a small fissure in the curse’s hold on him. It was only a crack, but I condensed my magic into a thread and squeezed my way through. Agony wracked through me as I continued worming my way inside the curse and felt the evil shadow pressing me in from all sides.

“Sienna,” Franco panted. “You’re hurting yourself.”

I could feel the terror and pain in his own voice and realized my intrusion would be affecting him as well. Likecleaning out a wound, he was bound to feel the stinging and burning of the curse’s removal. But I couldn’t stop. I had gone further than I had ever gone before. If I stopped now, I might never find the courage to attempt it again.

“Please, stop,” he begged.

“Never,” I said through gritted teeth.

I thought of his light, and the suffering he and his pack had been through for years. If I didn’t finish this now, they would have to live with this darkness inside them forever.

Franco reached up to grab my hands, and I knew he was attempting to push me away and force me to break my spell. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

I focused my energy on his body. “Incinis,” I hissed, uttering a spell that would prevent him from moving.

His eyes widened with fear as he realized what I had done. His hands, now locked on top of mine, were helping me channel my magic back inside his body as I refocused on weaseling my way through the passage the curse didn’t have a hold over.

“I bring you forth from the curse and hold you to the light. Let your future be bright. Be gone, dark of night. So mote it be,” I commanded.

An even more intense wave of pain crashed into me from all around. My body began to weaken as I felt my magical energy furrow into Franco, lighting him up from within. If Franco’s hands hadn’t been on mine, I would have jumped back uncontrollably from the intensity of the torture I was experiencing.

Tears streamed from my face as I continued, channeling as much energy as I could muster into eradicating the darkness.I was making progress, but I knew I would run out before the spell was complete.

My eyes locked with Franco’s as I silently bid him goodbye. My collapse was inevitable. I only hoped that when it was over, Franco and his pack would be free.

A second later, I felt new energy flow through me as a comforting arm wrapped around my shoulders and my father’s hand went on top of Franco’s and mine. With his support, I managed not to pass out, but the pain was still excruciating.

It took me a moment to realize that my dad wasn’t just lending me his strength—he was participating in the spell. His determination to make up for the past seemed to have overridden his fear.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t help,” I said through gritted teeth. “You said the cost would be too great.”

“The cost of not helping is greater. I won’t lose you, Sienna,” he said.

Together, we refocused our energy, allowing the light of our magic to dispel the curse everywhere it touched. With each passing moment, the shadows shrank further and further away, until, finally, I felt them dispel. We dropped our hands, and I released Franco from his entrapment.

“You did it,” he said, sheer relief in his eyes.

“Wedid it,” I corrected, turning to my father.

It was then I noticed that my father wasn’t standing beside me anymore. He had collapsed to the ground and was lying prostrate with his arms crossed across his chest. His eyes were open and his face peaceful, but a strange gray pallor had come over him.

“Dad?”

I dropped to my knees beside him in fear. I hadn’t realized how much of his life-force he had been giving to the spell. I only had moments to heal him before he would be lost forever.

“Don’t worry, Dad, I’m here,” I assured him. “I just need to know what spell to use to counter this.”

“There’s no spell for this one, daughter,” he said quietly. “All magic comes at a cost. I was happy to pay this cost in your place.”

---