Page 64 of Ensnared
Sothatwas the problem.
Ty’s power is a thrumming, endless well of the purest yellow light. It’s right there under the surface, waiting to be let out, and I realize he’s nervous, at the brink of a shift.
“I should have touched you directly,” I murmur, mesmerized by his magic. “In our family rituals, we always held hands in a circle, but I need to touch your skin to reach you.”
I push a little harder, letting him feel me, and soothe him as best I can. I stroke my palm over the surface of his power, and it ripples in response.
“Oh, fuck,” he groans. “This is—Skye.”
The energy builds between the four of us, so strong I’m in awe. I’ve taken part in so many witch celebrations and rituals over the years, I’m used to other people’s magic rushing around me, even though I never really felt my own. This is different. Aiden and Jack join hands with Ty and me in the middle of our circle, and the hair on the back of my neck lifts at the sensation.
It’s wonderful. I’m crying for real now, unable to hold back tears, and I open myself up to them as they’ve opened up to me. I show them my deepest self, just a glimpse, so they know how much this means to me.
“Skye,” Aiden’s voice floats through my euphoria. “The spell.”
I wish I could stay here forever, floating on a sea of our magic. But we can’t hold on to it forever, we can’t sustain it. I take the smallest pinch from each of their wells, holding our mingled magic in my hands. I glance down at the phone and read the ancient incantation out loud, the words of power flowing smoothly over my tongue.
There’s a moment when I think nothing has happened, then my arm explodes in searing pain. I cry out and instinctively pull my injured arm toward my chest, breaking my connection with the guys.
“What is it?” Jack asks, alarmed. “What happened?”
I groan in pain and hunch over. Sweat breaks out on my forehead, and bile rises in my throat. I swallow thickly to keep the nausea down.Fuck, this hurts.
Ty jumps up and makes as if to leave the circle. Maybe he wants to get help, or maybe he’s finally had enough. But I reach out with my good hand and clutch at his ankle, nearly tripping him.
“You can’t,” I gasp. “The circle needs to be broken properly.”
He pauses, then sits back on the floor across from me. “Do it quick. We need to look at your arm.”
With trembling fingers, I snuff out the candle and thank the elements and the Goddess for presiding over our ritual. Then I brush a gap into the circle of salt, unsealing it.
Aiden is on me in a second. “Show me,” he demands and gingerly takes my cast in his hands.
I jerk away instinctively, expecting more pain, but the sensation is receding. There’s only a dull throb left deep inside my bones. What the hell happened? Maybe Alice had given me a bad spell. Or maybe I’m just a terrible witch.
I breathe through the roiling waves of sickness, my eyes closed. “Give me a moment.”
The guys shuffle around me, but I don’t move. Holy fuck, this is scary. If doing magic on myself will always be this uncomfortable, I’m not sure I want to try again. I don’t remember it being so painful when my parents or grandmother healed my various injuries over the course of my childhood.
Still, with every deep breath, more strength returns. I take one last deep breath and open my eyes. Facing me are the three most beautiful men I’ve ever seen, their faces showing matching expressions of concern.
“Does it hurt?” Jack asks. “Can you move your fingers?”
I wriggle them experimentally. “I think…it worked.”
Ty kneels next to me, his eyebrows drawn down. “But you yelled. You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” I mumble.
There’s no way I’m telling them how painful the process really was. They’d never help me cast another spell, and I know I’ll need their help in the future.
I tap the cast instead. “I really think it might have worked.”
Jack looks from me to Aiden. “How will we know? If we take the cast off and her bones aren’t healed, we could fuck up everything.”
Aiden takes my hand and turns it slowly from side to side, considering.
I shrug. “I don’t know. It’s difficult to describe. But before, I somehow felt the disjointed ends. Now it seems whole.”
