Chapter 21.
585 Words
They bounded after her.
She ran into the woods, twisting and turning to escape them.
“Skylar,” Sapphire cried.
When Nick caught her, she struggled wildly, digging her claws and her teeth into his skin.
They managed to get her inside, bolted the windows shut, and left the room, locking it from outside.
“There must be something you can do, big brother.”
Nick shook his head. “It's too risky.” Lately, he had been researching how to break the witches' curse and had eventually come across something. But it was an ancient practice that held a high risk of death.
“It can't be tried?” asked Liam.
Nick turned around to the shelf behind him and removed a book. He opened it to a certain page and gave it to his brother.
Liam read silently, then looked up at him. “So either we hit her ninety-nine times with a whip made from a griffin's tail or she remains that way? And the person to hit her has to be you?”
“Not just a griffin's tail. The whip must be held together by strands of unicorn hair and also doused with its blood.” He sighed and said, “Maybe she might get better on her own,” but his voice lacked conviction as he said it.
Liam disagreed. “She seems to be getting worse.”
Nick sighed. “I know. I thought she would be fine on her own if we let her be.” He shook his head. “I was wrong.”
Liam shook his head. “She won't die, Nick. You both have a bond.”
“I want to count on that.” But he still wondered if the bond hadn't been broken. He remembered the first few days of her disappearance when he hadn't felt anything from her, and now this.
“This sort of magic goes past the witches, Nick.”
“I know.” He had been thinking about it. Witches could be wild and wicked, but even they had a limit. And their sudden silence scared him.
What else did they have in store? He wondered. Whatever it was, he would meet it halfway. His mate was with him now.
“Nick,”
He looked up at his brother.
“What do we do?” Liam asked.
“I can't bear to do that to her.”
“That's the only way, big brother. We can't bear to leave her like this, either. Sapphire cries herself to sleep every night and their mother is barely functioning. I know you hope she might get better on her own, but what if she doesn't? And you said it yourself: we don't know the kind of magic we're dealing with here. We need to do something.”
“Where do we get the ingredients?”
Liam thought it through for a second. “Anastasia.”
Nick glanced up sharply at his brother. “You two are still in contact with each other?”
Liam sighed and sat, “She called me when she moved back to the country.”
Nick was silent for a second. “Do you know where she stays?”
Liam nodded silently. Anastasia had been his friend and bed partner but he had gently broken things off with her when he met Sapphire.
“I'll go,” he said.
Icy blue eyes met with intense green ones.
“Not a big deal, big brother. I'll go.”
- Writer
