Her eyes darted to Kell with an injured arm, which was likely hurt from one of Julius’s or Kai’s enchantments.

Confusion and anger picked at her.

Picked.

Picked away.

Her fists relaxed. She needed a distraction. She directed her arm to point at the unconscious Tharin.

She felt violent.

She felt power.

She twisted her wrist, and bubbling came from Tharin’s body. Tharin moved more violently; blood spurted from his mouth. She knew the blood was curdling inside him. His whole body convulsed.

She walked closer to him and hoped Kellan would catch onto her plan to grab the grimoire.

She didn’t feel weak anymore.

‘Blood Witch,’ Elnora gasped.

‘I doubt that is all she can do,’ Kai murmured.

A tall presence crept behind her, and she whirled around but was too late.

Julius seized her arm, and her magic stopped its work on Tharin. She tried to nudge him away and cursed herself for not taking Kellan up on his offer to train her.

Julius used a small knife from his cloak to slit her wrist. Blood spilt from her. He clicked open the amulet, and drops of her blood fell in. She seethed at the stinging air blowing into her wrist, and tears spilt from her eyes.

‘Don’t fucking touch her,’ Kellan yelled with a feral snarl.

Kai and Sunni were the ones to finally incapacitate him with the binding enchantment, which attached him to the panelling on the wall.

‘Only the blood of the Kore witch can open the grimoire,’ he said, clicking the amulet shut. Bethan gulped. ‘Let’s see if the theory is correct.’

The grimoire’s lock was the perfect size for the amulet to fit into.

Julius slid the amulet into place with delicate and precise movements. The lock turned, and the grimoire splayed open with its secret pages.

Bethan wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but she had assumed the grimoire would glow once opened or magic pooling out of it. But alas, it was simply an ordinary book, one with secrets that had not been read in years.

‘He will be pleased by this,’ Julius said while caressing the spine of the grimoire. The Unseen, their cowardly master.

Bethan let out a cry, but Kellan screaming for her masked her. Her heart ached for him; he broke free from the enchantment and rushed toward her. Kai and Sunni charged at him. It was then she realised that Elnora was nowhere in sight. She silently escaped somewhere. With Julius distracted by the grimoire, Bethan stepped away from the cabinet where she was stuck for the entire fight.

She heard Kellan’s yells and groans of pain, but Sunni and Kai had blurred her vision, throwing every bit of enchantment or hex at him. Small magic engulfed the room like smoke. She squinted, waving her hand to remove the grey mist.