Page 58 of Jacinth

She would be safe.

We would figure out how to save her twin, and then I could go back to dealing with the fact my brothers would be nailing the same chick as me for the rest of our natural lives. Easy.

My blood ran cold at her response. Forgetting the approaching threat, I turned fully toward her.

“I’m gonna need you to repeat that.”

“I’m trying. I can’t. I feel weirdly solid.”

Shit. Plan B.

“Niko,” I ordered, turning a full circle. Turning again.

Niko was gone.

CHAPTER 40

Niko

It wasn’tsafe for her to be wandering around that cemetery. I knew Orion thought he had the perfect plan, but I was not gambling Jacinth’s existence on a one and done long shot. Sky had described her disappearing. Disintegrating into nothing to fuel the insanity that was Orion’s school mate. Not going to happen.

There was only one way to ensure her safety.

I hadn’t let the spell or the ingredients out of my possession since the visit to the coven, and I knew I was running out of time to use it. So, while Orion laid out his bright idea to save the day, I slipped away.

I didn’t know how far I should go. Mostly because I didn’t know exactly how it was going to happen. The idea of my body going unfound wasn’t something I was supremely comfortable with, so I erred on the side of caution.

I found a clearing out of sight and hopefully out of earshot. I didn’t know how loud it would get, and I really didn’t want interruption. It was along the route Sky and Orion would take to return home later, though; and I was betting on them being observant enough to find me.

As though my wish for no distraction had been a request for the opposite, Harley appeared.

“Watcha doin’?”

“Casting a spell. No, I don’t need help. No, I don’t need company. Please leave and forget you saw me.”

I didn’t want my last moments on earth tarnished by this insane ghost.

“What kind of spell?” she asked.

I grunted and continued my setup, hoping that with no fodder, she would disappear.

You’d think I would have known better.

Trying to measure the position of the sun, relative to the earth, I faced what I hoped was east. I was supposed to start in the east. I placed black candles at each of the four cardinal points and unsheathed a knife.

Harley, meanwhile, perched herself on the nearest headstone and sang an off-key version of the theme to that witch show Jace was talking about the other day. Chuffed? Charming? I couldn’t remember. Skyler was the one with the chick show fetish.

“Counter-clockwise,” I muttered and had to turn myself around a couple of times, trying to work out which way a fucking clock turned.

“Hey! I wanna be Willow if we’re playing witches. She got Tara in the end. So hot.”

I am alone. All is quiet, and I am peacefully casting this circle.

The internal mantras were doing nothing to settle my mood, but I kept going one foot after another. With the point of the blade facing out over my left shoulder, I paced the circumference of my casting area and, as I walked, I noticed a faint red glow tracing a line where the tip of the blade passed. Just before I closed the circle, Harley leaped through the gap to join me in the middle.

“You would have been pissed if you had to cut a door in the spell to let me in.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m pissed now.”

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