Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles 1)

“That sounds like something we can use to find the answer, so we can figure out how to undo the curse.”

Lena pulled the Book into her lap, staring at the page. She pointed to the other Cast above it. “That’s the same Cast in Welsh, I think.”

“But can it help us?”

“I don’t know. We don’t even really know what we’re looking for.” She frowned, suddenly less enthusiastic. “Besides, Spoken Casting isn’t as easy as it looks, and I’ve never done it before. Things can go wrong.” Was she kidding?

“Things can go wrong? Things worse than turning into a Dark Caster on your sixteenth birthday?” I grabbed the Book out of her hands, burning the daisies off the tips of the gloves. “Why did we dig up a grave to find this thing and waste weeks trying to figure out what it says, if we aren’t even going to try?” I held the Book up until one of the gloves started to smoke.

Lena shook her head. “Give me that.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll try, but I have no idea what will happen. This isn’t usually how I do it.”

“It?”

“You know, the way I use my powers, all the Natural stuff. I mean, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be natural. I don’t even know what I’m doing, half the time.”

“Okay, so this time you do, and I’ll help. What do I need to do? Draw a circle? Light some candles?”

Lena rolled her eyes. “How about sit over there.” She pointed to a spot a few feet away. “Just in case.”

I was expecting a little bit more preparation, but I was just a Mortal. What did I know? I ignored Lena’s order to put some distance between myself and her first Spoken Cast, but I did take a few steps back. Lena held the Book in one hand, which was a feat in itself because it was incredibly heavy, and took a deep breath. Her eyes ran slowly down the page as she read.

“‘Unravel the tie, twist and wind

Cast this Bind

So I may find

That which I yearn for…’”

She looked up and spoke the last line, clear and strong.

“‘That which I seek.’”

For a second, nothing happened. The clouds still lingered overhead, the air was still cold. It didn’t work. Lena shrugged her shoulders. I knew she was thinking the same thing. Until we both heard it, a sound like a rush of air echoing through a tunnel. The tree behind me caught fire. It actually ignited, from the bottom up. Flames raced up the trunk, roaring, spreading out to every branch. I had never seen anything catch fire that quickly.

The wood started to smoke immediately. I pulled Lena away from the fire, coughing. “Are you okay?” She was coughing, too. I pushed her black curls away from her face. “Well, obviously that didn’t work. Unless you were looking to toast some really big marshmallows.”

Lena smiled weakly. “I told you thi

ngs could go wrong.”

“That’s an understatement.”

We stared up at the burning cypress. That was five days and counting.

Four days and counting, the storm clouds rolled in, and Lena stayed home sick. The Santee flooded and the roads were washed out north of town. The local news chalked it up to global warming, but I knew better. As I sat in Algebra II, Lena and I argued about the Book, which wasn’t going to help my grade on the pop quiz.

Forget about the Book, Ethan. I’m sick of it. It’s not helping.

We can’t forget about it. It’s your only chance. You heard your uncle. It’s the most powerful book in the Caster world.

It’s also the Book that cursed my whole family.

Don’t give up. The answer has to be somewhere in the Book.

I was losing her, she wouldn’t listen to me, and I was about to fail my third quiz of the semester. Great.

By the way, can you simplify 7x – 2(4x – 6)?