Chapter 95 - The Circle
The battle had shifted farther from the gate.
Athena could feel it in the way the wolves moved now-pushing outward instead of defending inward.
She took a single step back to breathe.
Just one.
And that's when she felt it.
A strange, sharp pull in her chest.
Not physical.
Magical.
Her breath caught as the hairs along her arms stood on end.
She looked down.
The stone beneath her feet was glowing.
Faint lines etched into the ground she hadn't noticed before began to burn with white light, forming a circle around her boots.
Her stomach dropped.
"No..."
The air around her thickened instantly, pressing against her skin like invisible hands trying to hold her in place.
She tried to step out of it.
Her foot wouldn't move.
Panic surged.
"Silas!" she shouted.
He turned immediately at the sound of her voice.
His eyes widened when he saw the light beneath her.
The circle flared brighter.
Athena's chest felt like it was being pulled forward, like something was trying to drag her through the air itself.
She reached for him desperately.
Her fingers stretching toward him across the distance.
"Silas!"
He started running toward her.
Rowan and Kael shouting behind him.
But the air between them felt like glass.
Like an invisible wall was forming.
Athena's heart pounded wildly.
She could feel the magic locking onto her.
Recognizing her.
Claiming her.
Her hand trembled as she stretched it farther toward him.
"Please!" she cried.
The light surged upward around her legs, wrapping like bands of energy.
Silas lunged for her just as the glow exploded upward.
Their fingers brushed.
Almost.
And then-