frustration; there wasn’t much time. She couldn’t be wasting it like this. She couldn’t possibly be distracting him now.
Kate pushed forward, ignoring their looks of annoyance. “You were wrong Donovan,” she said bravely. “The soul isn’t hidden behind your eyes; it’s nestled somewhere in your heart.” Kate pressed her hand against her own heart for emphasis. “You aren’t supposed to place your hands on your victim’s temples; you need to place them on his heart. Please, believe me. I’m telling you the truth, Donovan. Please.”
Donovan shook his head disbelievingly. “That is how it’s always been done, Kate. I’m sorry but you are wrong.”
“No,” she said strongly. “It has always been done wrong. It’s why humans have had the opportunity to fight you. It is why we still stand here today. We were able to fight because you weren’t entering at the right point,” she said.
Donovan stood there motionless, unsure of what to do. He stared at Kate for a moment, and Kate could tell he was struggling with his instincts. He still didn’t know if he should believe her. By the looks on Rico’s and Adriana’s faces, she knew they weren’t sure of it either.
Underneath, Donovan’s grip, Erik stirred. The dark magic stirring too, its foggy tendrils tightening around Donovan’s legs and biceps.
“Donovan, please trust me,” Kate called. She stepped forward, pushing her point. “I know that this is true. When I was pulled out of my body I saw the dark magic pulling the warmth from my heart. Think about it, Donovan. What demons crave for most is the ability to love. You love with your heart, not your head. I swear to you that this is right. You have to trust me, Donovan. Please, just trust me on this.”
Donovan just looked at Kate, seemingly perplexed. She wished he would stop staring at her like that. He needed to get a move on.
“Donovan, trust me. And if you don’t trust me, trust Light. He has been helping me figure this entire mess out. He was the one sending the visions. He was the one that convinced me to come back here, to keep living. Believe me, Donovan. I’m telling you the truth. I would never lie to you.”
Donovan nodded once, finally understanding. Kate didn’t know what caused him to trust her, to trust Light, but he was trusting them both, putting his faith in Light. Light would love him greatly for this. But he always had loved Donovan, even before this moment, and he would love him afterwards, until eternity ended.
Donovan turned to face Erik and placed his hand over Aaron’s heart. He began reciting the incantation and when he was finished nothing happened immediately. Kate watched as the dark magic began to curl around Donovan’s stomach and throat. Donovan began sweating; his breath came in gasps as he fought against Erik and his dark magic. Adriana stepped forward and Rico dashed to her side, half-protecting and half-restraining her. She fought against his steely grip, trying to get to Donovan before it was too late.
All eyes were on Donovan, and all hearts fell when he fell to his knees. Adriana screamed. Kate began biting her nails. Blaire gasped. Rico held on to Adriana tightly.
Donovan was growing weaker. Erik was going to win the battle. Kate had been wrong. She had been so miserably wrong. She began pacing and muttering words to herself, cursing herself for trusting her instincts. The words began to shift, to take a different shape, creating new meaning. Kate turned toward Rico, realizing what she was saying. “Rico,” she said. “The words are wrong. The incantation is wrong. He’s not taking a human soul, not really. He’s taking Erik’s soul. The words are wrong.”
“There are no other words, Kate. There is no other Rite of Control,” Rico called, his voice desperate. He turned back to Adriana. His hands were on her shoulders; his eyes were searching her blank gaze.
“Yes there is,” Kate pressed. “Donovan told me that the words were symbolic. They don’t actually mean anything right now, Rico. He’s not speaking to a human. They can be changed.”
“If they were symbolic, Kate, then we wouldn’t need them,” Rico said angrily. Kate could tell that he was losing his patience. Rico was upset at having forced Donovan into this chaos; he was upset at hurting Adriana. Kate could tell that he would blame himself if Donovan failed, if Donovan ceased to exist. But Kate wouldn’t allow that to happen. She swallowed her fear at his anger, and continued her protest.
“Rico, symbols are powerful if used correctly. You kept the necklace as a symbol of your actions and it still affects you.”
Rico just kept shaking his head disbelievingly, his eyes watching Donovan’s waning strength. Kate knew that if Donovan failed Rico would jump in there, and he would die too. There was only one thing left for her to do, and she hoped that Donovan would hear her; she hoped that he would trust her words, because they held the one thing that would save them all: the truth.
Kate began reciting the new incantation; she named it the Rite of Succession. She knew that this name matched the old incantation’s name because of the play on words. She knew that this would work, it had to work, and she knew that she had only moments to relay this message across.
“I take from you, my soul. I grant thy one request.
Thee will seize thou pleasure.
And make thee wishes met.
Thou heart concedes – break fire and ice.
Then take from thee, eternal life.”
Kate repeated it, her voice growing stronger with each telling. Her mother was the first one to speak it alongside her; their voices echoed around the room. Adriana chimed in next, hoping that her voice would persuade Donovan to follow along. Rico did the same, knowing that there was no point in fighting with Kate when he had nothing else to lose. Soon, the Rite of Succession circulated around the room. It was almost like a physical presence, a shimmering of light that clung to the walls and ceilings, tangible proof that Light was aiding their cause. As the incantation grew louder and stronger, the shimmers began to move into the center of the room. They began to swirl around Donovan and Erik, but they wouldn’t touch them.
“Donovan,” Adriana shouted encouragingly. “You have to recite the incantation with us. You have to, Donovan. You have to find the strength to speak with us.”
Donovan didn’t speak. He didn’t move.
“Donovan!” Adriana screamed, her voice panicked. Jerking away from Rico, she ran toward the wall of light that spun around the two men, and stopped unexpectedly, slamming into it. The wall was solid and Adriana couldn’t get through. Adriana screamed and banged on the wall with her fists. She fell to the floor in a heap of black clothes and creamy skin a moment later, breathless and hopeless.
Kate cautiously moved closer to Adriana. She sat next to her friend and put her hand on Adriana’s. She put her other hand on the wall of light, feeling the individual glitters of light pulsing against her fingers like a hundred heartbeats.
“Donovan,” she said. “Adriana loves you. Adriana loves you so much. You need to be brave enough to come back to her. You can’t leave her. You can’t leave us,” she pleaded. “We need you.”
Kate kept repeating quiet, comforting phrases, praying that she would reach Donovan. Slowly, she began to sense Donovan returning and squeezed Adriana’s hand. She glanced at her friend and nodded, inviting her to speak too.
“Donovan,” Adriana added uncertainly. “Kate’s right. I do love you, in my own way. I love your heart, your kind words,” her voice trembled and she stopped speaking momentarily. Kate watched as silent tears slid down her soft cheeks. “I love your soul,” she added in a whisper that only Kate could hear.
The group sat in silence, for what felt like forever, until Donovan’s lips began moving. His lips moved slowly at first, stumbling over the new words, almost as if they refused to leave his mouth. Kate straightened up, excitement lurching through her veins. She began reciting the incantation again, to aide Donovan, to stand by his side. His words grew louder as they mingled with hers, echoing around the room. The others chimed in, and the wall of light moved, closing in on Donovan and Erik – on Kate’s father.
The light caress
ed Donovan and Erik’s skin, pulling the dark magic from Erik. The magic moved into Donovan, the glittering light accompanying it. As the magic left Erik, Donovan’s body strengthened. It seemed to glow from the inside, the light shining through Donovan’s pores, reflecting his good heart.
Erik’s body left Aaron’s then. There was a flash of pure, white light, and then he lay sprawled across the floor behind Aaron’s body, breathless and frail. He could barely lift himself up; he was so much weaker than he had been with the dark magic flowing through his veins. Kate watched him struggle to his hands and knees and a surge of sympathy almost coursed through her soul. However, it didn’t, and she watched gladly as Rico moved so that he stood over Erik, his foot pressed on Erik’s back, keeping him firmly on the ground.
No one was looking at Erik, though. Everyone else was watching what was happening between Donovan and Aaron now, and Kate shifted so that her attention was focused on them too. Donovan was changing somehow, his hand still on Aaron’s heart. Kate turned to face her mother, who still stood across the room. Blaire had her hands wrapped around herself and tears fell down her beautiful face.
Kate walked across the room until she was next to Blaire. She wrapped her arms around her mother in a gesture of love and comfort. Kate’s emotions swirled around them