Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz [84]
“How do you know I’m safe right now?”
“You’re still wearing your necklace,” Angelique said. “Remember, in your dream, you lost the medallion before the fire? It snapped off your coat and rolled away?”
“How on earth do you remember that?” I asked, incredulous. “It was my dream and I forgot all about—”
She gave me a smug look and tapped her forehead.
“Right, your amazing memory,” I grunted, still jealous. Angelique pulled out some white candles and set them in a circle on the floor, lighting them one by one. When she lit the last candle, she let loose such a powerful sneeze that she blew the candle out.
“Are you sure you feel up to this?” I eyed her critically, but she rolled her eyes at me.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, and gestured for me to join her on the floor, where we sat among the flickering flames. Then she pressed a small stone into my hand. I looked down at the glittering, tiny blue rock. It was the half the size of a Tic Tac.
“Sapphire,” she explained. “It amplifies a witch’s powers. Now hold it, and focus.”
“On what?”
“Just try to get in touch with your inner witch,” Angelique instructed. “Think about it like you’ve got this inner treasure chest that you’re trying to unlock.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to feel out whatever witchiness was in me as Angelique started chanting.
“I call upon the Goddess to free this witch’s mind
In this day and in this hour
To protect against impending evil, blessed be
Give this witch her born power.”
I opened my eyes and Angelique was handing me the notebook.
“Here, now you say it,” she told me.
I looked down at the scrawled ink in the book and expected that I would feel foolish, casting a spell—but it felt right. I clutched the stone in my hand and began the spell.
“I call upon the Goddess to free my mind
In this day and in this hour
To protect against impending evil, blessed be
Give me my born power.”
I was hoping to feel a rush of warmth, or hear a thunder-clap—something, to show me that the spell was a success. But there was nothing, just the sound of my own breathing and Angelique’s sniffles. I sat there for a moment, gripping the stone in my fist.
“Let me know this worked,” I muttered. “Come on, give me a sign!”
And then I felt it. The room was filled with a swirling breeze—it seemed to start at the floor and spiral upward. I opened my eyes and gasped. It looked like we were sitting at the bottom of a whirlwind. The dried rose petals had blown out of their bowl and were floating on the breeze, surrounding us with the heady floral scent. Some papers on Angelique’s desk blew around us in circles. Our hair whipped into our faces. And then, with one final burst of a stronger wind, the wind extinguished the candles. Lights out.
Then everything dropped to the floor with a slight rustling sound.
“Whoa.” Angelique exhaled, brushing her hair out of her face. “Your first spell.”
“There’s no way your window is open, right?” I croaked, already knowing the answer. Still, as she shook her head no, I dropped the sapphire. It hit the floor with a minute clacking sound. “Now, I’m a little scared,” I admitted, looking at the petals and papers scattered around the floor.
“Don’t be!” Angelique’s voice was filled with excitement. “You wanted a sign, hey, you got it! And that wasn’t even a proper spell—Emma, you have so much untapped potential. I’m so relieved I was right about you. I just knew it—I knew there was something about you!”
She wagged her finger in my face smugly. “I’m also going to undo the protection spell I did on you, by the way. I’ve been thinking about it and I totally gagged your brother with that. We want him to be able to warn you.”
I just stared at where the sapphire sparkled on the floor. Three weeks ago, if you asked me to cosign on these plans, I’d have laughed and told you that you were crazy. Now, I wondered where I’d house that pet unicorn.
“So, what, now I’m a witch?” I asked, bewildered and a little thrilled by the events