Page 47 of Fallen Angel

“You did not think I would have sensed the memory spell?” Spit sprayed onto Hannah’s face as Mara screamed. It smelled of rot, and Hannah itched to wipe it away. “I am surprised wee Hannah here did not disclose of our encounter.”

Hannah’s heart raced at the memory.

“And where is Beatrice, might I add? I guess you did not have the warm and fuzzy reunion I had hoped for?” Mara didn’t display any signs of grief or heartbreak when she mentioned Beatrice. She was simply a soldier to her—a casualty in her war of darkness.

Hannah’s skin heated to the point where she could feel perspiration hovering on her brow. Her face turned a feverish red as Mara circled her, sniffing the air.

Mara drew in a sharp breath, then exhaled slowly, exuberantly satisfied. Her vermilion eyes smoldered. “I can smell your fear, my dear.” She licked her lips. “How luscious.”

“Mara, prithee, do not—” Callan called from the tree, but Mara abruptly cut him off with a blow of her hand.

“You think me that foolish, Mr. Delmonte?”

Hannah knew that the charade was up, and when she looked at Callan, she could tell that he knew as well. Fear crawled over her skin, like frost invading the shadows on a cold wintery night.

They had failed.

“I had hoped.” Callan’s facade dropped, and he looked at Mara with distain.

“You know me better than that.” Mara smirked at Callan and released a brief cackle. Mara refocused on Hannah, looking over her with sour curiosity. “Now,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “I think ’tis time I see where my spell went wrong.” She raised her hands toward Hannah’s head.

Hannah felt panic in every crevice of her body. She was tempted to surrender to the hopelessness that grew with every step Mara took toward her. But she wouldn’t let her fear feed her. She needed to be brave. This couldn’t be the end of their story.

In one swift motion, Hannah tore her hands from the binding. She could feel her magic surge within her. She swung her hands at Mara, and a spark of white light burst from her fingertips.

Mara stumbled backward but used her shadows to keep her from falling. The screeching tendrils rebounded against the dry forest floor and propelled Mara back on her feet.

The white magic radiated around Hannah’s hand. She was mesmerized by its pearly sheen. It disappeared back into her body, but its energy coursed through her blood. It was a shield, protecting Hannah while she was vulnerable. Hopefully someday soon, she’d forge her magic into a sword.

Hannah snapped out of her daze. She stretched her hands in front of her, palms outward, sparked with shards of light. She hoped that Mara was ignorant to the fact that she had no idea how to truly use her magic.

Mara laughed, turning to face Hannah. A raw, pink burn bubbled upon her ashen skin. “You silly girl.” The burn peeled away. Fresh, smooth skin replaced it as ruinous clouds rolled above the trees. “Impediendum,” she hissed.

Black smoke sprouted from Mara’s back like reptilian wings. It came down upon Hannah like a dragon’s fiery breath. She was deafened by the petrified screams, paralyzed with fear. Hopelessness engulfed her. She would do anything to be free of this terror.

“Hannah!” Callan screamed.

Hannah was blind against the thick smog and could barely hear him over the mass of cries that smothered her. She remembered the freezing spell Callan put on her when they were in the cave and thought that this might be similar. But when Hannah felt her magic freeze inside herself, she knew this was so much worse. She felt as though she had been solidified—her organs were rocks beneath sheets of dry, cracking skin. She tried to move, but it was impossible; even breathing proved difficult.

The smoke cleared, and with it, the terrified screams. Mara was only inches away, her eyes burning into Hannah’s gaze. Hannah was frozen, stunned by the overwhelming fear Mara instilled within her. While she could hear Callan struggling against Nathaniel, she couldn’t move, couldn’t see him. She was trapped beneath Mara’s red glare.

“Let us see where I went wrong, shall we?” Mara burrowed her sharp fingernails into Hannah’s skull. Her magic seared into her mind, blazing the meninges of her brain. She gasped and tried to scream, but like a nightmare, no sound came out.

This wasn’t like the memory spell. Hannah felt as though she had been pushed off a cliff, plummeting into the memory of Raven’s death. Hannah was not a spectator here. She was Raven, tied to the post as Mara taunted her with her smugness.

“Take one long look at your beloved,” Mara said. “For it shall be your last.” Mara flicked her cloak and returned to Callan’s side, among the circle of her creatures and followers.

Before Mara started her spell, Raven summoned her magic. She called upon as much power as it could offer, mustering all her strength and courage. She knew that in the next few minutes, she would be dead. But she also knew that this was necessary.Pure sacrifice in the name of white magic will tip the scales away from evil, Raven thought, reassuring herself of what she must do. She pushed away any ounce of fear within herself and put complete faith in her magic. AsMaracast her spell,Ravenquietly chanted along with her, line by line.

“The life I take in the name of darkness, is that of Raven Harlowe.”|“The life I save in the name of light, is Callan Delmonte, my love.”

“May her defiance cause her death, one that is grim and slow.”|“May the sacrifice of my death, give him the strength to rise above.”

“May these eighteen years be her last—in no future lives, shall she grow.”|“Fight against this evil chant, that prohibits my rebirth…”

“Now let the fire blaze and burn, condemning her to eternal woe!”

As soon as Mara’s last word left her mouth, fire erupted around the wooden post and crawled over Raven’s body. Despite her burning flesh, Raven knew she had to finish her spell to successfully bargain with the pulsing magic in the clearing, both white and black fighting against each other.

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