Chapter 6
Hazel stood there in the silent kitchen for a long moment, finally looking at Nika with her wide violet eyes.
“What do I do?”
He just shook his head slowly. “I think you’ve done enough, little witch.”
“No, you don’t understand. There is no way in hell I would be able to cast a spell that powerful, I’m telling you the truth.”
Nika tilted his head to the side, staring down at her with piercing silver eyes, before shaking his head again. “Only an incredibly powerful witch could break us free from the curse that imprisoned us, Hazel. I can see…in your mind, in your heart, that you mean what you say, but…”
“Wait a minute, you can read my heart now, too? What does that even mean!”
“Honestly, I don’t know. We are…connected somehow. Jayce and I can sense each other because of the centuries we spent trapped together in the Neverworld but you, I just don’t know.”
“This doesn’t make any sense, Nika. I don’t under–.” Hazel’s words were cut off as a tremendous roar cut through the night, coming from the front of the house where Jayce had just disappeared to.
They shared one tense look before they both dashed out of the kitchen, through the front door, and into utter chaos. There were spouts of flame firing into the night, illuminating the odd scene.
An older woman stood, her hands outstretched toward the sky, was the source of the flame and as she fired again, Hazel could see it was the Mother Guardian of all people, standing on her front lawn in her nightgown. Elizabeth lived just a few houses down, every member of the coven lived close by each other, but Hazel had certainly never expected this. And then she saw it. The reason the Mother was out there in the middle of the night shooting fireballs into the sky.
There was a massive creature, its head just reaching the windows on the second floor of her house. It towered above them all, lashing out at the singing fire that kept coming its way. Hazel froze for a moment, thinking that this beast must be the dreaded Eidolon they had spoken of, at least until she saw the eyes. Bright, burning gold in a chiseled, albeit snouted, face.
It was him! It was Jayce! Somehow, some way, this roaring creature, so much like the animals drawn in the spell book was standing before them. A giant dragon. In the middle of her front lawn.
Hazel saw Elizabeth raise her hands to fire again, and she moved without thought, rushing to stand in between the enraged Jayce and the equally enraged Mother Guardian.
“Stop! Please, Elizabeth, you have to stop!”
“Hazel, get back! Get away from that thing!” She shouted, still not taking her eyes off of the still raging dragon. His roar cut through the night like the sharpest knife, piercing and trembling all at once.
“No, you don’t understand, just…let me explain.”
“Oh, you certainly will, child. But first, I need to deal with this monster.”
“Listen, Elizabeth, he’s not a monster!” But Hazel could see that she was already raising her arms again. Desperate, and without a thought of what to do, Hazel followed her instinct, running up to the dragon. Its tail lashed out, and she didn’t duck away quite quick enough. The hard, scaled tip scraped along her cheekbone. But she didn’t even feel it. Only one thought was on her mind, and that was to save Jayce.
Hazel finally reached him, and without hesitation, held out a hand, palm up, and laid it against his side. The beast instantly calmed, his eyes more focused as he searched for her in the dark.
“Jayce, please, listen to me. Please, you have to calm down. Come back to yourself. Please, Jayce. I need you to be human again,” She paused, risking a glance back at the Mother Guardian who was now watching with a fierce gaze. “Come back, so I don’t have to face her alone.” She finished softly, barely a whisper against the dark red scales that looked almost black in the night.
Hazel finally noticed Nika standing there, still on the front porch, taking in the scene with wide, shocked eyes as Jayce seemed to shift before her. She couldn’t make herself follow the movements but he seemed to blur, or like the air around him blurred and rippled, shrinking until finally a man stood before her. A very naked man. A very naked, extremely handsome man.