Spellbound

Original Edition: Forty-Seven

"Gemma, no!" Soren shouted, but my mind was made up.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and said as strongly as I could through the pain of the burns on my neck, "Archer, I set you free. Consider your debt paid."

When I opened my eyes, Archer was gone—the golden chains discarded on the floor and his clothes draped over the chair. A deep purple ball of light zipped across the room, charging for Raven's head. She swatted at Archer in his true form, dropping the lighter.

I felt instantaneous physical relief, but my heart was breaking. Raven threw me to the floor at Soren's feet. "In His name, I send you back to the depths of hell you came from. Be gone, demon," she screamed.

I clung to his legs, looking up at him. "I'm so sorry, Soren. I've doomed you, kept you spellbound. Please, forgive me."

"No. You have liberated me along with my brother. This is what I've wanted since the day Hazel told me that she found a way to set one of us free. I meant it; I would rather burn in this world than live thousands of years in a realm without you in it."

I pulled myself to my knees and pushed his hair off his forehead. "I love you, Soren. I love you so much."

"I love you with every—"

A thump sounded against the floor, and I spun around to find Raven on her stomach with her lighter in hand. She twirled the flint and brought the flame to the fringed edge of the Persian rug. "Your will be done," she mumbled over and over again.

I jumped to my feet and frantically began unknotting the gold at Soren's wrists. Archer flew to my side and buzzed around—a perfect depiction of my racing heart. My hands shook as I fought the tangled metal; the delicate chains impossible to untwine.

"Go, Gemma, get out of here, now!" Soren ordered, the plea in his voice raw and desperate.

"No, I won't leave you!"

A blood curdling scream came from behind me. "What did that witch do? Why won't it burn?" Raven's face was beet red as she rushed to the curtains and tried to light them on fire. But nothing happened.

Relief washed over me; she couldn't do it. As long as Soren was bound to the Reynard, it could never be demolished. It was no doubt Hazel's way of taking care of the brother who remained behind.

I rushed to the antique desk in the corner of the room and yanked open the drawers, looking for something that could break Soren's chains. Crayons, a pad of paper, pens, but nothing that would sever through the layers of gold holding him down. I snorted when I opened the last drawer and found another of Hazel's wooden statues—an abstract man with a very large penis in his hand.

"Gemma!"

I whipped around to catch Raven slithering toward Soren, holding out the lighter. Without a second thought, I grabbed the sculpture of questionable taste and sprinted across the room. My cousin brought the flame to the collar of Soren's shirt, swatting at Archer as he tried to stop her. I lifted my weapon in the air and swung it at her head. The lighter fell from her hand as she crashed to the floor.

I stood stunned, panting for breath, my heartbeat so wild that it sounded like pounding of feet against the wooden floor.

"Gemma," Larry cooed, taking the statue from my hand. "Are you okay?"

I ripped my gaze from the unconscious body on the floor and looked to Soren. Lloyd knelt behind him, working free the gold with some sort of small tool.

"I'm fine," I whispered, squeezing Larry's arm but not taking my eyes off Soren. "Thank you for coming up here. How did you know what was going on?"

"Well, when we didn't see Raven or the boys outside before the fireworks, we figured something was going on. We didn't even know you were here." He jerked his chin in her direction. "Did you kill her, or what?"

I laughed despite myself. "I don't think so. She'll just be out until the cops get here." I looked at my phone and found it was dead. "Can you call?"

"Of course," Larry said just as Lloyd pulled the last chain off Soren's ankles and helped him to his feet.

I rushed to Soren and threw my arms around his waist, burying my face in his shirt.

Lloyd cleared his throat. "Come on, Lare, let's go call the police. Um, Gemma, Soren, if you want to just step across the hall into the library, we can lock her in here until the police come."

"Actually, I'd rather step outside, if that's okay. I need some fresh air," I mumbled against Soren's chest.

"We'll be out front, if you need us. Thank you both," Soren said as he led me down the corridor.

It was too much—my cousin's atrocious acts, the force I used to stop her, and the decision I made to trap Soren here for the rest of his life. The weight of it all was crushing.

"Gemma?"

"I'm fine," I sniffled, looking up at him. "I am just so glad you're okay. I was terrified for a second there that she had won."

He leaned in and kissed the top of my head. "It would have taken more than that for her to win."

I wasn't so sure about that as I watched Archer flit around our heads. What the hell had I even accomplished? I forced a smile but couldn't disguise the disappointment in my voice. "You're still here. Looks like the spell didn't do anything but put you in your true form, Archer."

"A new way for you to be constantly annoying," Soren added with a playful wiggle of his eyebrows.

We walked out into the frigid night where everyone was still dancing and gawking at the grand finale of the fireworks show. I took several deep breaths, basking in the burn of the cold air in my lungs. I was still alive and so were the Hyde brothers. It all may not have ended up exactly how I would have wished, but this was better than the alternative.

"Oh, Mommy, look at the bell tower," said a little girl, pulling on her mother's dress. The sequins of her little mask sparkled with every imaginable color in neon hues.

A remarkable sight surrounded the pinnacle of the Reynard. Hundreds, if not thousands, of orbs floated around the bell tower. They flitted in and out, some zipping through the air and others drifting like they were enjoying their view. Together they were breathtaking.

"It's the ghosts coming out to play," the girl's mother said.

"No, it's your people coming to take you home," Soren quietly said to the ball of light on his shoulder. "I hope you find the happiness there that I have found here, brother."

The violet orb moved to the center of Soren's forehead, tapped it, and hurried to join the others.

Archer had already flown away when I whispered, "Thank you for letting me keep him."

Soren looked down at me and pushed my hair away from my face. "What'd you say?"

I intertwined our fingers and brought the back of his hand to my lips. "Just that I'm glad I don't have to say goodbye to you again." I glanced up at the orbs dancing against the dark, snowy sky. "Are you okay? I know you're going to miss him."

"I will, but he now has what he wants, and I have what I want."

"And what would that be?"

"Come on, Gemma. You know the answer to that."

I did, but I still longed to hear him say it. These were the words we never dared to speak before tonight. I puckered my lips to the side, lifted a brow, and waited.

"You. I have you."