Page 34 of Incoronate
“Don’t you get it? There isn’t one!” Caleb’s voice cracked, the word breaking clean in half between his teeth. “I’ve been through every grimoire my family has. We’re talking centuries of spellwork. Divine magic. Celestial binding. You name it, I’ve looked through it. It’s not the kind of thing that has a counterspell tucked away into some dusty, old-ass book. It’s just…it’s out of my realm.”
I knew he was telling the truth. I could hear it in the hollow sound of his voice. See it in the way he looked at me like failing this had broken something in him that he would never be able to repair.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Jemma.” His gaze held mine, wrecked and hopeless. “I wish I could fix this. I wish I was enough.” He shook his head once, slowly. “But I’m not.”
And just like that, whatever hope we’d been clinging to was gone.
11. THEY ALL FALL DOWN
The acrid tang of Caleb’s failed spell hung in the air, curling through the living room like a testament to everything that had gone wrong and just how completely out of options we were. The candles had burned down to little more than stubs in the few minutes the spell had been alive, their flames flagging weakly across the coffee table as though spent from the magic that had ripped through them. No one moved a muscle. No one spoke. The only sound was my own breathing rattling in my ears, too shallow and too fast against the faint crackle of dying wicks.
And then Dominic pounced.
One minute he was standing near the fireplace, and the next, he was in front of Caleb, closing the distance with that preternatural speed that still caught me off guard no matter how many times I’d seen it. His hand shot out, fisting into the front of Caleb’s shirt and hauling him upright with enough force to knock him off balance.
“Do. The. Spell. Again,” he ordered, his voice cold enough to frost the air between them.
Caleb’s jaw locked, but he didn’t pull away. “There’s no point. It won’t work.”
“I’ll be the one to decide that.”
“The spell rot is too advanced. The more we keep trying to force the healing spell into her, the faster the toxicity is going to spread. I don’t know how to get around that—”
“Then find me someone who does.”
“There isn’t anyone! That’s the whole point!” Caleb’s frustration finally snapped loose, his voice rising as exhaustion and panic bled through. “Do you honestly thinkI haven’t been looking? That I haven’t already called every Caster I know and searched every grimoire I have access to?”
“Then perhaps you need a stronger incentive to get more creative.” Dominic’s grip tightened as he jerked him closer, hard enough to make Caleb flinch.
“Hey!” Morgan scrambled to her feet and shoved herself between them. “Back off! He’s doing everything he can.”
Carly rushed up to join her, sandwiching Caleb between them. “Let my brother go. He’s exhausted. We all are,” she pleaded, her hands trembling as she grabbed Caleb’s arm.
“Oh, he’s exhausted?” Dominic’s lips twisted into a snarl. “In case you haven’t noticed, she’sdyingright before our eyes,” he bit out, painstakingly slow. “Exhaustion is a luxury we no longer have.”
“Come on, man. Don’t you think I know that?” croaked Caleb as he finally tore himself free, staggering back a step. “I’ve been working on this nonstop since we found out. I’ve barely slept an hour. I called in every favor I had. I tried everything I could think of, and it wasn’t enough.” He dragged a shaky hand down his face, his eyes bloodshot and rimmed red. “We need a miracle at this point, and I don’t know how to give you that.”
“Then I suggest you learn quickly,” warned Dominic as he took a small, controlled step toward him again, “because I promise you with every fiber of my being, if she dies, so will you.”
Caleb went completely still, the last of the color draining from his face as Morgan made a sound of pure outrage and stepped forward, hands curling into fists like she was seconds from swinging at Dominic, vampire be damned.
I wanted to scream at them to stop. To tell them this wasn’t what I wanted. That I didn’t want blood or threats or anyone tearing each other apart on my behalf. That I didn’twant to be the reason this house and everyone I loved inside it burned to the ground. But I barely had the energy to lift my head from Trace’s shoulder then, let alone find the words to calm the room. I was utterly and completely useless.
Now more than ever.
“Alright, you’ve made your point,” said Trace, his arm curling more firmly around me. “This isn’t helping.Noneof this is helping her.”
“Is that right?” Dominic turned to face him. “And what would you have me do instead, hm? Sit beside her and play nursemaid while she withers away from the inside out?”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” snapped Trace, his voice dropping into something I didn’t recognize. “You don’t want to go there, Goldilocks. Trust me.”
“Don’t I?” Dominic laughed, but it was a cold, broken thing. “Oh, how very little you know of me.”
“I know enough to know we want the same fucking thing, so do us all a favor and stop acting like you’re the only one in this room who gives a damn about her.”
“Then prove it,” spat Dominic, his expression darkening until he barely resembled the man I knew. “She’s slipping away right before our eyes, and you’re behaving as though your presence alone is going to save her.”
Trace’s body went rigid beneath me as every muscle coiled tight. “I’m keeping her calm so that her heart rate doesn’t spike again and trigger another episode. What the hell areyoudoing besides terrorizing the one person who’s actually trying to help her?”
