Page 15 of Mending Mayhem
“Here.” Ash set a grimoire on the floor beside her. “Cast this one. It doesn’t require a potion.”
Her vision swam, tears blurring her eyes. She blinked them away, bringing the page into focus. “May the light of the goddess lift my pain. My headache will ease like a cleansing rain.”
She sat back on her heels and rolled her neck as the pressure eased into a dull ache. “I seriously thought my skull was going to split.”
The fury, which her essence had eased in me, returned with a vengeance at her words. “You dare mock me with talk of your skull after you destroyed mine? I should burn through you right now and take Salem as my own.”
She rose to her feet, gulping down the rest of the water as Miles whisked the trash can out of the room. “You need to calm your hysterics, buddy. If you make my headache come back, there will be hell to pay.”
“How dare you tell me to be calm? I demand you release me immediately.”
She sucked in a breath through her teeth. “First of all, I’ll release you when I’m damn well ready and not a moment before. And second… It doesn’t feel good to have your emotions dismissed, does it?”
“The witches have a plan to help you reform without killing a host,” Chaos said. “But you must remain inside Ember until it is complete.”
“Treacherous witch. You destroyed my skull.”
“I told you that was an accident. Now, hush so I can think.” She paced the length of the room.
“You speak with a forked tongue. It was no accident.”
She sighed heavily. “Chaos, will you tell your brother we didn’t do it on purpose? The vanquishing, yes. I meant to do that, but I planned to bring you right back.”
“It’s true.” My brother looked into her eyes, squinting as if trying to see me in her irises. “We were called away to battle a fae. When we returned, your skull had been pulverized.”
“And burned to ash. Only magic could have destroyed it by fire, and you are the only fire witches in Salem.”
“He’s saying only we could have burned it.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “We don’t have time for this.”
“We did burn it,” Ash said, “but I promise it was an accident.”
“We were trying to glue it back together,” Miles said as he returned to the room. “We didn’t know Cinder had enchanted the glue.”
“Come on. We’ve got research to do.” Ember strode out of the studio, stopping in the library by Ash’s desk.
“What kind of enchantment?”
“It dissolved the bonds holding the bone together. After your skull turned to powder, it started smoking. We rushed to summon you before it burned out, but we were too late.”
I remained silent, contemplating her story as the others joined her in the library. A large part of me desperately wanted to believe her, but hope belonged to the inexperienced youth. History had proven, time and again, that witches could never be trusted.
“A phoenix spell.” She stood facing the desk, drumming her fingers on the surface. “Do we have one?”
Ash screwed her mouth to one side and sank into the chair. “There could have been one in the dark grimoire Mom and Dad gave to the demon.”
“A lot of good that does us now.” Ember strode to a bookcase and ran her finger through the dust on a shelf. “What about in the ones we took from Chrys or the teens who summoned the shedim?”
“It’s worth a shot. Let me grab them.” Ash rose and strode to the back of the library.
“Tell me about this phoenix spell. What is your plan?”
“It’s dark magic, a type of necromancy…and it’s forbidden.”
“We know that,” Shade said.
“I’m talking to Mayhem.” Ember tapped her temple. “If we can find one, we can use it to resurrect your skull and bring you back to the land of the living.”
“And face the wrath of the Higher Power if they find out.” Shade picked up a book from a stack on the floor and flipped through the pages before tossing it onto a shelf. “I’m not a fan of this idea.”