Chapter 76 Luciana
LUCIANA
Crazy. This was fucking crazy.
But as Luka so nicely reminded me, Lennox is my High Queen, and what she asks I must do.
No matter how stupid I think it might be.
I didn’t need the original witch to pump her magic into me so I could temporarily stop Luka’s heart and sever the spell between him and Keziq.
We could wait for my magic to return and I could do it myself—that way there would be less risk involved in an already risky spell.
Lennox didn’t ask questions, she told Hecate to do what was needed. So Hecate spent the evening prepping me to make sure I was ready for today.
The day we’d kill Keziq.
Hecate and I would stay back at the camp with Luka to complete the spell while Lennox went in search of Keziq.
If she didn’t find her by high noon, we’d start the spell—severing the tie was more important than killing her at the same time the link was severed, was what we’d decided.
“You two are set? Are you ready to do this? Is it going to work?” Lennox’s face was determined, her hair blew lightly around her, she hadn’t braided it back today. Her hands were braced on her hips; weapons covered her body.
How she slipped into these rolls so seamlessly—
“As ready as we can be to do this reckless spell.”
Lennox’s eyes narrowed.
“We are prepared.” Hecate tisked. “Ignore her, she’s been in a mood. It will all go according to plan.”
“I’m trusting it will, trusting both of you.” She straightened her shoulders. “I’m letting you temporarily stop my mate’s heart; you’re essentially killing him.”
A shiver danced across her shoulders. “I’m trusting you not only with his life, but with my life.” Her chin wobbled. “Because I’m not sure how I could survive losing him.”
“Lennox.”
She shook her head, blinking her eyes. “Got it?”
“Got it.”
“There you are.” Lennox turned toward her mate’s voice. “Is everything set?” Lennox raised a brow at me and the original witch.
“Yes, everything is ready.”
“Then I should get going.” Lennox turned toward Luka, her hand trembling as she cupped his face, touching her forehead to his.
“Don’t you dare permanently die on me, okay?”
“I have no plans to, Sweetheart.”
I felt like I was intruding on a private moment, but I couldn’t look away. I had never seen love like theirs. I had never thought I might want to be loved, to love someone. The pain never seemed worth it, from what I had heard.
But looking at them—maybe I would change my mind someday.
Maybe.
They whispered their final goodbyes, embracing and sharing a final kiss before Lennox left, her hand lingering in Luka’s until the distance was too great and her hand slipped from his.
Only once she was no longer in view did Luka give us his attention.
“I just promised the love of my fucking life I’d see her later. If you value your own life, you better help me keep that promise.”
“We intend on it, King of Blood.”
“So how does this work? I lay here and pretend like you’re not going to stop my heart?”
“Yes.”
“It’s more than that, don’t listen to her,” Hecate scolded as she milled around the tent.
Luka lay on his and Lennox’s bed. He was still dressed in his leathers, his hair fanning over his forehead with his hands crossed over his chest.
“Will it hurt?”
“Probably.”
“Luciana!”
“Are you sure there isn’t another witch you can use? Right now I think I’d rather have anyone else but Luce do this spell. I have a feeling she’s still pissed at me and Lennox, and she might choose to take it out on me in this fragile situation.”
“Luciana will behave—”
“Relax, Luka. I promised Lennox you’d make it back alive. Even if I am in a terrible mood, that will not affect my work on this spell.” I braced my arms on the edge of the bed and looked over at him. “Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now, let’s stop your heart.”
Luka remained lying on the bed—almost like he was afraid to move as Hecate and I gathered around him. We hadn’t heard anything from Lennox—or anyone. It was past noon now, and the pendant around my neck hadn’t warmed a bit. We wouldn’t wait any longer. We’d do the spell now.
“Luciana, your hands will be on Luka, while mine will be on you, transferring my magic into you for you to do the spell.”
I flexed my fingers, attempting to call forward the magic that still wasn’t there.
My entire body felt hollow and empty. Like the very lifeblood had been sucked out of me. I felt strange and unbalanced. Unlike myself.
I’d figured by now I’d at least have a small kernel of magic refilled, but nothing. There was still a hollow pit inside me where my magic should have been.
How long would the Earth punish me?
“Luciana.”
I snapped my head back up, meeting Hecate’s unnerving red stare. “Are you listening?”
“Yes.” I pushed my shoulders back. “I’m ready.”
Hecate crossed the bed to stand behind me. She braced her hands on my shoulders in a firm hold. “You must not buckle. You must stand strong for this to work.”
“I know.” I tried to keep the sarcasm from my voice.
She dug her nails into my shoulders. “You will not sass me in this.”
I pressed my lips together. Elder fucking witches.
The room seemed to vibrate as Hecate began to murmur the spell. The hairs on the back of my neck rose and goosebumps broke out across my skin.
Her words were in a language even I couldn’t comprehend, but there was a determination to them—an intensity to each syllable.
I closed my eyes and focused, searching for any sense of her magic like she’d instructed me. I needed to let it in as she was pushing it out or this wouldn’t work.
I stretched out my fingertips, eliciting the same sensations I would if I were reaching out with my magic. It felt strange, echoing these movements without the sensations of my magic rising inside of me.
I searched within my mind—I imagined I did have my magic at my disposal, that I could see its iridescent glow—like tiny vines snaking out, reaching for Hecate’s magic.
Just a little farther—
I buckled as a crash of magic surged through my body, entering through my shoulders where Hecate and I were connected.
My body trembled at the unfamiliar magic—it bucked against it. Refusing to let it in.
You know this magic.
It’s Hecate’s blood that runs through my veins. This magic belongs to me, too. I opened myself up to it.
Slowly, Hecate’s magic started trickling in, my own barrier cracking open an inch.
The original witches’ magic slithered against my veins, not joining like my magic did, but wrapping itself around it.
I could feel it snaking down my arm. My skin prickled to the point of pain as it reached my blackened veins.
The dark magic didn’t accept the strange magic.
I could feel the magic fighting against one another.
“Now, Luciana, start the spell now.” Hecate’s voice was nothing more than a hiss in my ear as her magic seeped in.
I pressed my hands firmly against Luka’s chest, feeling the soft fabric of his shirt under my palm along with the steady beat of his heart.
I began murmuring the spell, mentally grasping Hecate’s magic in my fist as I pulled it forward and thrust it into my hands—into Luka’s chest—to his beating heart.
My hands warmed, and my fingertips tingled as the magic worked its way through my appendages.
“Now, Luciana!”
I grit out the last words of the spell, pulling all of Hecate’s magic into my mental grasp. Sweat slicked my brow and trickled down my neck. My legs wobbled, but I remembered Hecate’s warning, I had to stand tall. I could not buckle, or this would not work.
Magic burst from my palms, I opened my eyes, blinking against the blinding white light that burst into Luka’s chest.
His eyes were closed as his back arched off the bed, my hands still pressed to his chest.
The magic coursing through my veins subsided, it felt like nothing more than a dull buzz.
Luka’s heart still beat steadily under my palms.
“It didn’t work,” I muttered.
“Patience, keep your hands there,” Hecate directed.
I obeyed, blowing a stray curl out of my face with a huff of breath, only for it to land right back in my eyes.
I counted Luka’s heartbeats as they slowed. Each beat came further and further apart until finally, Luka’s heart no longer beat.