Chapter 13 Romie
“EM, STOP.”
The words were too faint to be heard over the din of power emanating from Emory and the screams of the witches and the eerie, pained cries from the demon possessing Bryony.
But Romie couldn’t manage anything louder, not as dizziness overtook her, making her fall to her knees.
She felt nauseous, lightheaded, felt as if all the blood were draining out of her though she had no wound.
She barely managed to lift a hand to her face, noting how ashen her skin was, before it fell limply at her side again, her muscles weak as unconsciousness pressed at the edges of her vision.
“Em,” she tried again.
Silver lines danced on her friend’s skin, but there was no blast. No Collapsing. Just Emory’s smile, a gash of white against the night, as she grew more powerful and Romie grew fainter, fainter, fainter…
And then, all at once, it was over.
Emory was wrenched back by Mrs. Amberyl.
The silver in her veins faded, her magic falling silent.
Romie was still on the edge of fainting, but this sensation of having all the blood drained from her veins ended, leaving her with a heavy head and a sudden thirst and a bleak, unfathomable realization.
Because now that Emory had been pulled off the ley line, now that her connection to this amplified magic was severed, Romie understood what happened. Why she’d started feeling the way she had when Emory first stepped on the ley line and called on this magic that had her veins rippling silver.
Emory had drawn power from Romie. Leeched the magic in her very blood.
Tidethief.
Emory met her gaze as if she’d heard the slur in her mind.
And then Aspen screamed as Bryony fell to the ground, eyes their normal color again, but fixed unseeing above her.