Page 308 of Castings & Curses

The glass shines at once, bright and blinding. Then it turns pitch dark.

“What the—I think it’s broken.”

Bella twirls and snatches the mirror away from me. “What do you mean? It’s... no... wait...” She allows me to watch over her shoulder as she searches the surface for a sign of malfunction. It doesn’t look broken. The glassy surface isn’t see-through as it was before the light. It shows the kind of obscurity one finds underground. “It’s not broken. She’s just in a very dark place. Maybe she’s sleeping?”

I think about this for a second. “But the sun is up. Heck, it’s past 8 o’clock. She should be on the bus or already at uni. Besides,” I scrunch my nose to pierce the shadows, “even if she was at home, it would never be that pitch black. Her shutters don’t block the light.”

“Ok, let me check if I can...” Bella whispers something to the mirror. Her breath fogs up the dark glass, and at once the image is brighter, like when one changes the gammas on a TV. Nice!

“Wait, I recognize this place.” I grab the mirror at once and focus on the details of the image. “Oh, fuck me senseless...”

“What? Where is it?”

I try fighting the swelling tears and the bile in my throat, gulping in short snags of air. “She’s at... she’s at...”

“Where? Rowan, where is she?”

“That warlock asshole, Gwideon Malevant. That’s the dungeon where...” I suck in a painful amount of air.

“Let me see.” She snatches the mirror back and scans the picture. “Oh fuck... You’re right.”

“What’s she doing there?” Tears flood my cheeks with the force of a destructive torrent. “Why’s she there?”

Bella takes me in her arms and squeezes as I sob uncontrollably on her shoulder. “I don’t know, love. But we need to get her out of there, and fast.”

I fix my eyes on hers, grateful and fearful at the same time. “But how?”

“I’m a terrible beast, remember?” She attempts a grin, but the graveness of her stare gives it a sinister twist.

“But there are armed guards by the dozen, if not more. Not to forget that evil freak. And I can’t fight for shit. I mean, I can kick and scratch all right, but they’ll laugh.” Sheer panic overtakes me at the thought of facing those monsters, and I cry even harder, convulsing and shaking so much that my muscles hurt.

Bella holds me again, even tighter. She takes my blubbering face in her hands and kisses me all over. Then she plunges her sapphire stare into mine. “We’ll find a way. I’m a witch, remember?”

“But your powers...”

“Are here, I know. But that’s a good thing.” She smiles, an earnest grin full of promises. She’s thought of something.

Bella goes back to the dressing table and opens another drawer. She carefully reveals a jewelry box, from which she extracts a smaller container, the type that encloses diamond rings. It’s not a diamond I gawk at, though. It’s a wonder of a design, a perfect rose carved in the most crimson ruby I’ve ever seen. The ring itself is fashioned after the body of a rose in pure white gold.

“Here, put it on.” She grabs my hand and slides the ring on my annular without a second thought.

Kinda fast, innit? I brush that stupid thought off and marvel at the jewel on my finger. “Why would you give this to me?” My cheeks are burning. I must be as red as the gem. All bloated, too.

“Wait a sec.” Bella takes my hand again and whispers yet another incantation on the ring before kissing it. “Here, I’ve asked it to protect you.”

How on Earth is a ring supposed to protect me? Unless it can make me invisible or give me superpowers. “How?”

“You’ll see. When you need it the most, it’ll work its magic.”

Great. I must look crestfallen—I totally feel crestfallen, for crying out loud—which makes Bella laugh. I give her my best surly glare, but her laughter is so full of confidence and strength, I can’t help but smirk a bit, too.

“Come on. Let’s get outta here. We’ve got a roommate to save.”

I wish I had even half of her energy right now. She’s so different from just a moment ago. So cocksure, emanating confidence and feistiness. This woman is full of mysteries and surprises. I follow her without a second thought. To my doom. Yep, probably. But she seems ready to die to save my best friend, so I guess all I can do is stick with her to the end. I look at the ring once more. There’s a promise there. I just hope she’ll keep it.

CHAPTER15

After I’ve puton better clothes to fight than my knickers and a Guns’n’Roses T-shirt, we head down the corridor but stop in front of the entrance’s double oak doors.

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