Shadowland (The Immortals #3)

Even though Jude offered to follow me home and help set things up, I didn’t want him to know I’d gotten the book for the twins. So I made up some bogus excuse about needing plastic cups and asked him to stop by the store to get some, preferably red, white, and/or green, then I broke the speed limits all the way home where I handed over the goods.

“First—some ground rules,” I say, holding onto the book despite two sets of hands clamoring for it. “I can’t just give this to you, since it doesn’t belong to me. And you can’t take it home since Damen will freak. So the only way to get around all of that is for you to study it here.”

They glance at each other, obviously not liking it but all out of options.

“Have you read it?” Romy peers at me.

I shrug. “I tried to intuit it, but I didn’t get much. It’s more like a diary than anything else.”

Rayne rolls her eyes and reaches for it again, as her sister says, “You need to look deeper, read between the lines.”

I glance between them, not understanding.

“You’re skimming the surface. The book’s not only written in the Theban code, the words themselves are a code.”

“It’s a code within a code,” Rayne says. “Protected by a spell. Didn’t Jude tell you?”

I freeze, glancing between them, thinking he most certainly did not.

“Come, on, we’ll show you,” Romy says, her twin grabbing the book as we head up the stairs. “We’ll give you a lesson.”

I leave the twins in the den, the two of them still hunched over the book, as I head for my walk-in closet and reach for the box stashed up high on the shelf. Retrieving my assortment of crystals and candles, oils and herbs, all the stuff that’s left over from the elixirs I made just before the blue moon, and manifesting whatever’s left on the list, which turns out to be sandalwood incense, and an athame—a double-edged knife with a jewel-encrusted handle much like the dagger Damen made.

Getting it all laid out and organized before slipping out of my clothes and removing my amulet. Placing it on a shelf next to the metallic clutch purse Sabine gave me a couple months back, knowing the deep V in the dress I plan to wear offers no place to hide the assortment of stones. Besides, after the ritual I’m planning to do, I’ll no longer need it.

No longer need anything.

Thanks to Romy and Rayne I’ve been handed the key I’ve sought all along. And all it required was a password of sorts, the three of us forming a circle with the book in the center, hands clasped, eyes closed, each of us repeating a verse that went:

Within the world of magick—resides this very tome
To which we are the chosen—returning to our home
Within the realm of mystics—we shall now reside
Allowed to glimpse upon this book—and see what lies inside

The two of them beside me as I pressed my palm to its front, simultaneously frightened and fascinated when the book opened in a flurry of pages until resting on just the right one.

I knelt down before it, hardly believing my eyes. What was once a series of convoluted, hard-to-read code had become a simple recipe stating just what I need to get the job done.

I drop my dirty clothes in the hamper and reach for the white silk robe I rarely wear but that’ll be perfect for the ritual. Carrying it into the bathroom where I fill up the tub for a nice long soak, which, according to the book, is the first important step in any ritual. Not only for cleansing the body and releasing the mind of all distracting negativity and thought, but also allowing time to reflect on the spell’s intent, the outcome one wishes to see.

I lower myself in the water, sprinkling a dash of sage and mugwort and adding a clear quartz crystal stone to aid in my quest and center my vision, closing my eyes as I chant:

Cleanse and reclaim this body of mine
So that my magick may properly bind
My spirit reborn, now ready for flight
Allowing my magick to take hold tonight

All the while visualizing Roman before me, tall, tanned, and golden-haired, deep blue eyes gazing into mine as he apologizes for the terrible inconvenience he’s caused, begging forgiveness and offering aid, willingly handing over the antidote to the antidote, newly enlightened to the error of his ways.

Replaying the vision again and again until my skin’s gone all pruney and it’s time to move on. Stepping out of the bath and into my robe, cleansed and purified and ready to proceed as I assemble my tools and light the incense, passing the knife through the smoke three times, as I say:

I call upon Air to cast out any dark energies from this athame
Allowing only the light to remain
I call upon Fire to blaze away all negativity from this athame
Allowing only the good to remain

Repeating the verse for the rest of the elements, calling upon Water and Earth, to cast out all dark and leave only light, concluding the consecration by sprinkling salt over the knife and calling upon the highest of magical powers to see that it’s done.

Cleansing and consecrating the room as I walk three times around it, waving my incense as I say:

I walk this circle thrice around
To consecrate and empower this ground
Evoking the power and protection of thee
Drawing their magical powers to me

Forming a magick circle by sprinkling salt onto the floor, not unlike Rayne did with Damen just a few weeks before. Taking my place in the center and envisioning a cone of power rising around me as I arrange my crystals, light my candles, and anoint myself with oil, calling upon the elements of Fire and Air to aid in my spell, then closing my eyes until a white silk cord and a replica of Roman manifests right before me.

Where you go my spell will follow
Where you hide my spell will find
Where you rest my spell will lie
With this cord your actions cease
With my blood your knowledge released
With this spell I bind thee to me

Raising my athame and slicing it across my palm, tracing the curve of my lifeline as a rush of wind sweeps through the circle and an applause of thunder claps overhead. My hair whipping about as I squint against the swirling gale, my blood letting onto the cord until it’s soaked and red. Rushing to secure it around Roman’s neck, my gaze fixed on his, willing him to provide what I seek, before banishing him as though he never appeared.

I rise, body shaking, sweating, elated to know that it’s over and done. Just a matter of time before the antidote to the antidote is in my possession and Damen and I join as one.

The wind begins to slow as the snap crackle of electricity starts to abate, and I’m collecting the stones and snuffing the candles when Romy and Rayne burst through the door, mouths open, eyes wide, as they stand there and gape.

“What have you done?” Rayne cries, gaze darting from my magick salt circle, to my collection of tools, to my blood-covered knife.

I look at them, gaze steady and secure, as I say, “Relax. It’s over. I fixed it. And now it’s just a matter of time before everything is put right again.”

About to step out of the circle when Romy shouts, “Stop!”

Hand held before her, eyes blazing as her sister adds, “Don’t move. Please, just trust us this time and do what we say.”

I pause, glancing between them, wondering what could possibly be the big deal. The spell worked. I can feel its energy still thrumming inside me, and now it’s just a matter of time until Roman appears—

“You’ve really done it this time,” Rayne says, shaking her head. “Don’t you know that the moon is dark? You’re never supposed to do magick on the dark moon—never! It’s a time for contemplation, meditation, but you never, ever, practice unless you’re practicing the dark arts.”

I glance between them, wondering if she’s serious, and if so, what difference it could possibly make. If the spell worked, it worked. The rest is just details. Right?

Her twin chiming in to add, “Who did you call upon to aid you?”

I think back on my rhyme, the one I was pretty proud of for making up on the fly, recalling the line: Evoking the power and protection of thee, and repeating it to her.

“Great,” Rayne says, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

Romy standing beside her, frowning as she adds, “During the dark moon, the goddess is absent while the queen of the underworld takes over. So in other words, instead of calling upon the light to work your spell, you asked the dark powers to aid you.”

And to bind Roman to me! I gape, eyes wide, darting between the two of them, wondering if there’s a way to reverse it, quickly, easily, before it’s too late!

“It is too late,” they say, reading my face. “All you can do now is wait for the next moon phase and try to reverse it. If it can be reversed.”

“But—” The word dying on my lips as the enormity of my situation starts to sink in. Remembering Damen’s warning from before, how sometimes when people get involved in witchcraft they get in over their head and wind up taking a much darker path…

I gaze at the two of them, unable to speak. Watching Rayne shake her head angrily as her sister looks at me and says, “All you can do now is cleanse yourself and your tools, burn your athame, and hope for the best. And then, if you’re lucky, we’ll let you out of the circle so all the bad energy you’ve conjured can’t escape.”

“If I’m lucky?” I look at them, stomach sinking. Is she serious? Is it really that bad?

Gaze darting between them as Romy says, “Don’t push it. You’ve no idea what you’ve started.”