Page 57 of Warrior Witch
“She’s my sister!” I screamed, throwing my weight around in an attempt to break his grip.
“They’ll both die if we don’t help her stop.” Bruin shook me, turning us both toward where Harlow had collapsed to her knees.
A body knocked me from the side, and Ranto strode past me, straight into the eye of the storm. Bruin’s grip tightened for a moment before he stepped away and followed Ranto’s lead.
“As soon as you can, get Addie clear. We’ll do what we have to to get Harlow out of this,” I yelled to Lindsay, then locked eyes with Hendrix. His lips ticked up in an almost smile, which I returned immediately. We were doing this.
Passing through the electrical field was like being hit with a taser, and I gritted my teeth, willing my muscles not to seize as the simple act of walking became a challenge. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and painful jolts licked at my skin. Beside me, Hendrix wasn’t faring much better. His lip was curled in a pain-filled snarl as his hands curled into claws. After a few seconds, which seemed to stretch for decades, there was a hiccup in the howling energy. I lurched forward to find Ranto wrapped around Harlow’s body. His white hair sparked with energy while his eyes, pinched at the corners with pain, glowed neon blue.
“He’s absorbing the energy,” I muttered.
Bruin stepped up next and placed his hands on her temples. Her face rippled, a serene mask slipping over her features as her body lost some of its rigidity.
“Are you going to help us? Or just watch?” Ranto growled, his voice nothing more than a strained rasp.
I shook my head and stepped in to place a hand over Harlow’s stomach. The solar plexus was the center of emotion and was posited to be the source of a witch’s magic. With a deep breath for focus, I pulled at the jagged pieces of power I could feel in her and channeled it in through my body and out through my feet into the ground.
“Thank God,” Ranto breathed beside me, and I noticed the cyclone of energy had begun to dissipate.
“Harlow?” Bruin’s voice held a note of panic.
Her face was ashen, the lightning pulsing out of her in fits and spurts that Ranto and I fought to contain, but there was something wrong. We were losing her.
“Shit. Harlow!” I pressed my hand hard into her stomach, feeding my magic back into her in hopes it could revive her, but she only slumped further into Ranto’s hold.
“You were right. She does need us all. This is…” Hendrix trailed off, still not quite able to say the word fate.
I didn’t particularly care about his beliefs, only that as he placed a hand over her heart, a golden glow lit up at their point of connection.
“Come back to us, Treasure. We need you.”
A hard tug on my magic startled me. The trickle I’d been feeding into her became a stream, and as I looked at the men around me, I got the distinct impression we were all having the same experience.
An eerie silence hung in the air, sparking like dust motes as time ground to a halt. Beyond the circle of devastation, Lindsay kneeled with Addie unconscious in his lap, their bodies a tableau vivant of grief. Behind them stood two figures, almost transparent and unnervingly familiar. Their likeness hung in the study of Harlow’s ancestor’s house, a reminder of the original owners. I turned my attention back to Harlow, terrified the shades had come to witness the curse finish her off.
The golden light burned brighter under Hendrix’s hand until I was forced to shield my eyes.
And then it was gone.
A cool breeze swept over my heated skin, carrying the lingering scent of ozone.
My skin buzzed as the last of the power funneled into the earth, and my sight blurred with tears at the sight of still, blue lips… that opened on a heavy gasp.
Harlow
My mind swam in an ocean of peace. Drifting on lazy currents, thoughts surfaced and slipped away like debris swirling at the water’s whim. Ripples formed around me as I moved through warm eddies that kept me far from the bank and what I might find above the surface. Pressure at my temples, heart, and stomach comforted me, reminding me of something I couldn’t quite grasp.
It’s time to finish this, little lightning rod. You must go back and see it done.
The voice pierced through me like a jolt of electricity, shocking me out of my daze. My head broke the surface of the water, and as I took a gulp of air, I felt a tear at the center of my being.
Be strong, little one. It’s time to let go.
I looked up into my own face and blinked in confusion. How could I encourage myself? Levina. The name stuck in my mind a moment before Donahue stepped up beside her.
We’re here with you always. Now stop fighting and let them in.
Stop fighting who? The pressure over my heart increased, and an image of a huge lion with an eagle’s head roared through my mind’s eye. Vines crept around my waist, contracting my stomach as water continued to flow over my head. At my back, I felt loyalty and connection, and with the acknowledgement of them, my men appeared. Surrender was both the easiest and hardest thing I’d ever done as I embraced the sensations each brought out in me and felt my world click into place.