“So what do you think will happen?”
“Getting rid of the spell isn’t going to erase the last few days. Everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve learned and come to appreciate about each other, that’s all still going to be there.”
“Right.” She smiled. “Which means we’ll still like each other.”
“That’s what I think.” They might even still love each other, but he wasn’t going to push it. What happened happened. And they’d recover from it, because he wasn’t about to give up on something this good. “Come on. Let’s go get untethered.”
The door opened as they walked up, and Pandora greeted them. “Hey, good timing. We’re pretty much ready to start.”
Jenna bit her lip. “How’s Ingvar?”
“That’s what we’re about to start, the separation. One of our members, Kelly, is a nurse, and she checked Ingvar’s vitals, just to see how she’s doing, and discovered she’s pretty dehydrated, so Kelly started her on an IV.”
“Oh. Okay.” Jenna growled softly. “I hate this. I hate what Sola’s done to her.”
Titus took Jenna’s hand, and she gripped his, hard. “She’s going to be okay.”
Jenna seemed to steel herself. “How did she get so dehydrated?”
Pandora’s eyes held all kinds of sympathy. “The truth is, Sola wasn’t taking very good care of the body she was inhabiting. If your friend makes it through this, she’s in for a long recovery.”
“If?” Jenna lifted her chin. “Ingvar is one of the strongest women I know. She’s going to get through this.”
Pandora nodded. “Of course she is. I should have said when. Come on, we’re all gathered in Alice’s practice.”
They followed Pandora back to the room they’d visited when they’d given blood for tests.
It looked a little different now. The rug was gone. So was all the other furniture, except for the large worktable Titus had made. It had been moved to the center of the room and the top cleared off. Now Ingvar and Sola lay side by side on its surface. Ingvar looked paler than normal and lay very still. An IV had been hung from a coatrack beside her.
Sola’s hands and feet were in restraints, and there was duct tape over her mouth. She looked like she was trying to cast spells with her eyes. Her deep auburn curls were a tangled mess around her bitter face. She looked like she’d been pretty once, but Titus wondered if giving herself to the dark side was to blame for that no longer being true. Something had cast an undeniable ugliness over her.
Jenna grimaced. “Duct tape, huh?”
Alice stood at the head of the table. “Yes. We can’t have her casting counterspells in the midst of our work.”
Jenna pursed her lips. “No, we can’t.”
A circle of what looked like salt and silver surrounded the table. Beeswax candles sat at even intervals, their flames flickering and sending the warm scent of honey into the air.
Runes just like Titus had seen on the trees in the circle marked the four directions. Alice had done her homework.
Women stood shoulder to shoulder around the walls. Titus knew many of them. Corette Williams and her other two daughters, Marigold and Charisma. Agnes from the bookstore. Dominique, who was also on the town council.
He nodded at them, hoping they knew how much he appreciated what they were doing for him and Jenna.
Alice lit the single candle at the head of the table. “Let us begin.”
She pointed to Jenna. “Deputy Blythe, please come hold your friend’s hand. I believe the connection will increase the magic’s power. Step over the circle so it remains unbroken.”
“Sure.” Jenna did as she was asked and went to Ingvar’s side. She took her hand. Ingvar was ice-cold, and this close, Jenna could see just how much of a toll Sola’s control of Ingvar’s body had taken. There were lines in her face that Jenna didn’t remember. And tiny spider veins in her cheeks. Her skin was chalky. “I’m here, Ingvar,” she whispered.
There was no response, but Jenna hadn’t expected one.
Alice spread her arms and began, but as Jenna looked into Ingvar’s face, she was lost in memories. They’d had so many good times together. Some bad ones, too, but getting through the hard moments together had only made their friendship stronger. How many times had they gone into battle together? Taken souls to Valhalla? Celebrated their victories? Cried on each other’s shoulders?
The women surrounding them joined in with Alice’s chanting, lifting their voices as one. The sound washed over Jenna, but she remained in the past.
From battle camp to the battlegrounds, she and Ingvar had been inseparable. So what had happened? Life? Was that one-word answer really enough?
No. It wasn’t. Life happened to everyone. It wasn’t an excuse.
The candle flames flickered and strengthened as the chanting increased.
Guilt settled in Jenna’s stomach like a knot. Why had she let so many years go by with so little contact? Sure, they’d both been busy. Ingvar even more than Jenna. So really, the blame was on Jenna for not reaching out. She wasn’t going to let this happen again.
“Come on, Ingvar,” she said quietly. “Come back to me.”
The moment stretched out, the chanting around her filled with positive energy and a buoyancy that Jenna recognized but just couldn’t connect to. Her heart hurt too much for her friend.
Jenna held on. Ingvar’s hand felt warmer, but maybe that was because Jenna had been holding on to it.
“I need you to come back. Vikka needs you to come back.” Jenna wasn’t sure Ingvar’s sword would respond to someone else speaking its name, but maybe it was enough to send a little bolt through her.
Anything to wake her up.
But nothing seemed to be working.
Alice sprinkled something into the flame of the candle on the table, sending sparks into the air. The sparks seemed to twist and turn before landing on Ingvar and Sola like tiny fireflies. A glow lit each woman from within, causing them to arch skyward as the light filled them.
Sola howled and
