Once more, Zoey handed me the items I needed to complete the spell, wholly adamant that she was only there to instruct. I slid the knife into the stem of the dark candle, whittling away the wax to reveal sigils of healing and peace. I carved Lauren's name into the base, wondering if she felt the knife on her skin at home. And when I was finally done, I reopened the cut on my palm that had only just closed, allowing my blood to trickle over the candle.
I knew that Dimitri was holding himself still - knew that he was denying himself the action of walking towards me simply to press himself against me and make sure that I was okay. That knowledge was so embedded in me it was akin to knowing myself.
"I hate blood Magick." Brenna's voice broke the tension slightly, but it didn't last - it couldn’t, not when I had damned a pregnant woman to her death.
In the quiet of the room, the hiss of the match as it struck the lint on the box seemed louder somehow.
As I brought the match towards the candle, I watched the wicked ignite in a fury, only to fizzle out almost immediately.
I tried again, and this time I had to hold the match over the wick for a full minute before it lit up, only to fade to darkness a moment later.
There was a collective intake of breath as I repeated the exercise, as if the very room refused to exhale out of fear the candle would snuff out.
Three attempts was an omen - one that I refused to examine too closely, and when the flame finally took on the third attempt, I couldn’t even find it within myself to feel relieved.
I exhaled the words, allowing them to flow through me as I channeled that small spark of hope that this may just work into it, inflicting my voice in the same way a priest might do during his service.
Aset. Aset.
Hear my call.
Aset. Aset.
I plead my case.
Aset. Aset.
Erase my sins.
Undo what had been done
By my blood and by her hair
May we no longer break
But rather repair
Aset. Aset.
Heed my call.
A friend pleading for assistance
Not a servant, not a lord.
In the airtight room, a wind rustled through the leaves of the plants that stood nearby, but I paid them no heed as I dropped the dark wax over the doll, coating her from head to toe. When there wasn't an inch of material visible to the eye, I released the candle and began removing the pins, one by one, undoing the hurt I had inflicted.