My eyes bugged a little. What was it with these people and wanting blood samples?
“The retrieval spell might not be necessary. I’ve learned how to call my weapon from far away from Archangel Michael,” I told her.
She nodded. “We can try it, but just know that down there, everything is different. Trust me.” The expression in her face told me she’d been through something, and I should trust her.
I simply nodded, handing her my finger.
Lincoln was right beside me the entire time as the rest of our group fanned out to protect us. Half were ordered to focus on outside threats here in Inferno, while the other half of our team had to protect us from anything that might try to come out of the portal.
The sound of cracking bones pulled my attention but I didn’t even bother to look over, knowing it was Luke shifting back to human form.
As Nora sliced my finger, my blood dripped onto a purple crystal. “Is it true you can talk to the weapon? Like a true mental connection?” she asked. Up close, her face had fine lines around the eyes, and I thought she might be a bit older than she looked. I also wondered what had turned her hair white, or if she’d been born with that unique shade.
I nodded in response to her question, and she started to move her hands in an intricate pattern. Purple shafts of light shot out, wrapping around the crystal.
“This should restore that. You might be able to speak to her again, if she’s close by,” the Light Mage declared.
I nearly wept at her words. I knew everyone there had a soul weapon, and they were all bound to it, so they should know how I felt, but I also didn’t think anyone had a connection quite like Sera and I did.
The purple light intensified, and Nora looked at my necklace. “That thing reeks of magic. You’ll need to take it off, or it’ll interfere with my spell.”
“Sure.” I started to unclasp it, but Lincoln thrust a hand out to stop me.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he added softly.
“Why not?” I pressed him.
His hand pushed through his hair. “Because…”
“Your light energy has the upper hand right now,” Noah said what Lincoln clearly couldn’t. “If you take it off, you might allow your… dark gifts to emerge even stronger, and push the light back even further,”
“What!” I shouted.
“Guys, this spell has a time stamp!” Nora growled, holding the purple crystal out to me. It was glowing and swirling, and in that moment, I couldn’t even process what the boys had said.
My glare cut into Lincoln and he winced. “Last night, Noah scanned you and discovered that, so… I don’t know if it’s worth it, Bri.”
Screw that. Sera was family just as much as Shea or my mom was.
Reaching up, I unclipped the necklace. “She’s worth it. I’d do the same for you,” I informed him curtly.
His face fell as I set the necklace into his hand.
The moment my fingers released the chain, I felt a surge of energy buzz up along my spine and wrap around my heart, pinching it in a viselike grip. I gasped, short of breath for a moment.
Lincoln stepped closer, pressing in on me. “Oh God, what’s wrong?”
I glared at him, then slowly turned to stare at all of them. “I’m going to kill you all.” Venom dripped from my voice.
One by one, their faces dropped. Noah actually took a step back.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Laughter burst out of me and I keeled forward, holding my stomach.
“Something’s not right with her,” Nora told the room.
Lincoln’s chest fell as he sighed in relief. “That wasn’t funny.”
Shea snickered. “It kind of was.”
“Are we doing this or not?” Nora snapped, holding the glowing crystal in her hand.
I nodded. Whatever weirdness I’d felt when I took the necklace off was gone now.
I was getting Sera no matter what.
“I’m fine. I feel fine. It’s all good. Let’s do this.” I tried to push reassurance into my voice, but Lincoln’s face still held concern.
Shea started to work on the portal as Nora took two paces toward me. “This might hurt a bit,” she declared and then slammed the crystal onto my chest, right over my tattoo.
Pain flared to life where the crystal touched me, and then a massive headache rocked my world. My hands flew to my skull as I moaned.
“Why?” I grunted.
Nora released the crystal, the purple magic had left the rock, and was now dancing around my body in whirls. “It’s reconnecting your bond, which was somewhat severed when your weapon was tossed into another realm,” she informed me.