Page 49 of Into the Void

“But what if it doesn’t work?” Jay asked.

“Well, we’ll find out when I try the spell, won’t we?” Cara said.

She sat down in the chair and tried not to feel like she was betraying her mother by using her tools to cast a spell she’d never approve of.

“How long will it take?” Nick asked, stepping closer.

“A few minutes, hopefully,” Cara said.

“And if it doesn’t work?” Jay asked. He hadn’t moved any closer. He was still standing in the doorway.

Cara rolled her eyes. “Like I said, we’ll find out soon.”

“But he could be-”

“He’s not a void!”

Jay stared at her. “Okay, okay, relax.”

She took a deep breath. “Even if he has the void ability, it’s dormant. It hasn’t been activated. Nick’s void wasn’t active until I used magic on him. Brett hasn’t been directly exposed to magic. So he’s not a void, regardless of any potential for it.”

Cara turned back to the table. “Okay, I need quiet. I haven’t done this in a while, so I need to focus.”

“I don’t know how you do this stuff,” Jay said, looking at the map and the casting tools. “I could never wrap my head around the complicated spells.”

“Jay.”

“Sorry, I’ll stop talking.”

Both of them approached, standing over her shoulders while she set up the spell and called on her power. Ancient words were whispered and she lifted a chunk of crystal on a thin silver chain. It swung gently through the air, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the magic inside her to guide the crystal’s path.

Nothing happened.

Cara frowned and repeated the spell, muttering the words again and holding the chain higher.

Nothing.

Cara glanced at Nick. “Uh, would you mind...”

“What’s wrong?”

“Could you move away from the table? I think you might be blocking the spell.”

“Oh. Oh, yeah, sure.”

He moved away, and she saw him shoving his hands into his pockets. She thought she caught a glimpse of black veins on his skin, but he didn’t meet her gaze.

Jay was watching him suspiciously. He was clearly trying to figure out what Nick’s angle was, but Cara tried to ignore him.

She tried the spell for a third time, and it finally worked. She let out a relieved breath as warmth flowed through her skin and she lifted her face towards the sun, even though it was blocked by the ceiling above her. Some instinct drove her to do it, and she followed it, letting the magic use her as a vessel.

The crystal swung suddenly and landed hard, sticking to the map.

“There,” Cara said. The pointed end of the crystal locked onto a specific street corner. “It worked.”

“You were right,” Nick said.

“Someone needs to write down the street names,” Cara said, still holding the chain with the crystal.

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