Of Time & Spells by Jennifer Snyder

Author:Jennifer Snyder [Snyder, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-10-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

“Piper, are you okay?” Tristan’s voice filtered through the blackness. It wrapped around me and pulled me out.

My eyes slowly blinked open. Where was I? Where had I been, and what the heck had happened? My face scratched against the gritty stone beneath me as I glanced around. Tristan’s face came into view. His gray eyes shined brightly in the sunlight beating down on us. I moved into a sitting position and noticed my palms were coated in a sticky warmth. My nose crinkled as I glanced at them.

Blood and dirt crusted the surface of each hand. One was more inflamed and tender than the other. Flesh bubbled its surface as though I’d been badly burned. When I touched it, it flaked off, revealing soft pink skin beneath. New skin. A gash across my other palm captured my attention. There was a reason for it. But, what was it?

“Piper?” Tristan tried again.

I continued to stare at the gash, ignoring him. What had happened? My thumb rubbed against the sticky wound. Everything came rushing back to me then. The witches. The house. The magic. The cloak.

A hand smoothed along my forearm—Tristan’s. “Piper? You’re scaring me. Are you okay? Can you talk?”

“Yeah.” I lifted my gaze to meet his. “I’m okay.” At least I thought I was. I was breathing, and that had to count for something.

“Thank God.” Tristan leaned in and kissed my forehead. His hands pulled me until I was almost sitting in his lap. “I thought we’d lost you too.”

His words jolted me awake. “Lost me too?”

Who else had we lost? Meili had been enough.

Jasper!

My chest tightened as I glanced around the room. It couldn’t be him. He was strong. He would have been able to survive anything that happened in this room. Hadn’t I already lost more than enough when my parents’ lives were stolen? My breaths came in shallow gasps as I continued searching for the room for my brother.

There. Oh, thank God.

Jasper sat a few feet away. He cradled his head in his hands as words flowed from his mouth. They were so low I couldn’t make them out. Sobs shook his body as he started blankly in the distance, repeating whatever it was he was saying. He rocked back and forth, oblivious to his surroundings. Had there been a catch to the spell I wasn’t aware of? I wanted to crawl to him and snap him out of whatever trance he was held under, but couldn’t bring myself to move. This was a side to my brother I’d never witnessed before.

“What’s wrong with him?” I asked.

“He thought you were both dead,” Tristan whispered.

“That we both were dead?” Who else was he meaning?

My gaze darted around the room. I spotted her on the other side of my brother.

Anna.

She was motionless. While I couldn’t see Anna’s face, I imagined her eyes would be glassy and her lips blue. There was a stillness about her I’d witnessed before.

Anna was dead.

Again.

My chest caved in. This was why Jasper was so broken.

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