Chapter 70

No, the crystal can’t be damaged. I gawk at the prism in disbelief and carefully run my thumb over the jagged edge. How? It was fine when I left the leyline. How did it get damaged?

Wait.

Last night when I was knocked into the tombstone. The crack I’d heard was this.

I sit heavily on the bed, holding the prism in my hands. If it’s broken, then how can I get Ben and Kiarr out? What if the damage hurt them or worse?

Tears burn my throat, and I can’t breathe as a weight presses on my chest. Are Ben and Kiarr forever lost to me now?

I inhale and it feels like I’ve swallowed a million splinters of glass. I rock back and forth on the bed, shaking my head. This can’t be happening.

My gaze flicks over to my pillow laying diagonally on my bed.

But the dream with them last night had seemed so real. I touch my lips with trembling fingers, remembering their kisses.

I take another breath, this one shaky. Because I can’t let them go. Not like this. Not when I don’t know if they are okay or not, or suffering. Though the idea of sending them back to their ever-afters makes sorrow slam a knife into my chest as well.

Think, Brene, think. I can’t give in to despair. Not until I know I’ve exhausted every resource and tried everything I can think of.

There has to be something with the dream last night. Was it my yearning to see them that caused it?

Hang on, I haven’t had any dreams about them since they were captured in the prism. So, did that mean the crack loosened the lock and they can reach me in my dreams?

Only one way to find out.

I crawl into the middle of the bed and place the prism on my chest, holding it. Then I try to sleep. My mind flashes through a hundred scenarios about this not working or the glimmer of hope I want it to be.

After an hour of laying down and nothing happening, I sit up.

“Time for Plan B.” I put the prism on the bed and pick up my wand. Except I don’t have the grimoire. I push aside my hesitation and point my yew wand at the prism.

I can do this. I fought off a wraith and killed it. Magic was in my blood, even in my soul since every lifetime I knew about I was a witch. It is time to embrace my heritage.

“Release Benjamin and Kiarr.”

Nothing happens. No flashing lights or puffs of smoke. Nada.

“Open and reveal Ben and Kiarr.”

Damn it! I pace back and forth in front of the bed. I need the grimoire or the right spell.

I freeze.

Gwen.

She must have it because she used the prism to trap them in the first place.

Except, I can’t get caught sneaking off campus again or at my old human school. I let out a chuckle at that. Never thought I would think of my old school as the human one.

I chew on my thumbnail, trying to think of a way to get the information without breaking Decan’s rules. Next offense she might have me scrubbing toilets or bleeding pigs for the vampires. I shudder.

No. Whatever I do, it needs to be here at the Academy.

Bad enough Gwen got me in trouble, though punching her was worth it. But she also took my friends, except Jolene, and even took my boyfriend. She is just low.

I dash to my backpack, grab my phone, then dial my friend’s number.

“Hey, Brene.”

“Jolene,” I rush out, grateful that she answered. “I need a crazy favor from you.”

“What’s up?”

Will she believe me or go along with my request? “You know that new girl, Gwen, who came from here—Hollowheaven?”

“Yeah. She’s a real piece of work,” Jolene answers.

“She… um… has something that belongs to me and she gave it back, but there’s a code for it. Do you think you could get me her phone number so I can ask her for it?” I didn’t want my friends involved with Gwen any more than I had to.

“Rachel has her number. Hang on a sec.” Jolene pauses for a few minutes. “Okay, got it.”

“Great.” I grab my pen and paper and write down the phone number. “Thanks. Hey, how are you doing?”

“I’m good. Got accepted at MIT. Can you believe it?”

“Wow! Congratulations.” While my friends are finishing their senior years and going away to college, I am stuck here at Hollowheaven until I learn to control my magic. It’s more like a private school that goes into university classes, so I console myself with that knowledge.

“Thanks. And Dad says I could get a full scholarship as there are not too many women who go into the IT fields and they want more.”

“Super congrats then, but I always knew you were smart.”

“How are things with you and your magic school?”

“Oddly weird, but I'm getting used to it. Hey, we need to get together for a gab session. Maybe next week?”

“You’re on. Oh, no I’m visiting the MIT campus and seeing my grandma next week.”

I frowned but pushed the sadness out of my voice. “Just let me know when you get back and we’ll plan something.”

“Will do. Catch ya later, Brene.”

“Bye, Jolene. Let me know how your visits go.” I hang up the phone and stare at her number for a long time. I miss my friends. I miss not having to worry about powers and wraiths and everything else.

I call Gwen and sit on the edge of my bed, staring at the prism.

“Hello?”

Might as well get this over with. “Gwen, it’s Brene. I need the key to unlock the prism.”

“You found it?” Her voice is laced with astonishment.

“What’s that supposed to mean, of course I have it.” I cross an arm over my stomach. “Now how do I get my ghosts out of this thing.”

“How should I know?” she snaps. “You’re the one with magic. You figure it out.”

“Why don’t you know the unlocking spell? You’re the one who put them in here.” I grit my teeth.

“Well, I didn’t think I’d need to get them back out again. That’s all you.” She chuckles and my anger flares. “Good luck with that.”

And the line goes dead.

I throw my phone across my bed and stand, clenching my fists. She did this on purpose. She never was going to give me my men back. Jealous bitch. I hate her.

Fresh tears prick the back of my eyes, but I’m not going to give up. No matter how hopeless I feel. I sit on the edge of the bed and fiddle with the tiger-eye necklace Melanie gave me that automatically translates the magical text. The stack of library books we’d searched through lay in a corner on the floor.

I grab one and flip through it, hunting for something that might help, but already knowing there’s nothing here.

If only I could remember the spell from the Grimoire. When I first came to the academy, which is starting to feel like a lifetime ago, Gwen dared me into completing a love spell to prove I had a boyfriend. I had tried to bring Lance but messed up and instead brought Kiarr.

A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. God, I miss him so much. When I tried to send him back to Valhalla, Ben crossed over instead.

I jump up from the bed, the magic book crashing to the floor.

That’s it! When I did the spell before, I had no idea what I was doing, but my subconscious did. It brought me my past-life loves. So, it should work again.

I grab my wand and swallow down the lump of emotions pressing in the back of my throat.

Gently, I lay the prism on my pillow and point my wand at it. Please work, please, please, please.

“Tonight, I call forth time and space to return Kiarr and Benjamin to me. Bound by our love and passion through our lives long past and now, I call Benjamin and Kiarr— my loves —my boyfriend’s back to me.” I keep rambling when nothing changes, hope dying inside me. “With this wand made by my hands and witnessed by both of you, I summon Ben and Kiarr forth.”

My room is eerily quiet and empty.

I squeeze my eyes shut, focusing on both of them. How I feel when they touch me and kiss me. How alive and present they felt during my dream with them. A heat rises in my chest. How each came to me when I used my magic—even though I didn’t realize they were exactly what I needed and wanted.

I can call them again. I can do this. I can reunite us again in this life and the next. That love knows no bounds.

“Ben… Kiarr… I need each of you.”

The heat building in my chest shoots across my arm and down into the wand. A shattering sound vibrates in my room and I open my eyes.

The prism is cleaved into two pieces and I slap a hand over my mouth. Tears spilling freely down my face.

“Told ye not to fret, Brene,” Kiarr’s deep voice sounds behind me.

I spin.

Ben stands in front of my door and Kiarr is leaning against my dresser.

Laughter bubbles up inside me and I throw myself at them. “I did it. You’re really here. Both of you.”

I hug them, trembling, and I’m terrified to let go.