The Secret of the Spellbook: a YA Gaslamp Romance (The Iron Girls Academy Book 1) by Isabel Riley

Author:Isabel Riley [Riley, Isabel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KLE Publishing
Published: 2019-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

NINE

AN INCANTATION I FOUND in the book on African folk magic was entitled, Clarity. Clarity was one way to describe what I needed, so that was the incantation I spent the entire day after the ball working on.

“Ejecuro tormego,” I began again, the hundredth time it seemed, “Releasecto demoniseo. Demoniseo sancetus arachnienum, repaentus agoiate. Silenectus avius extermina pestactus.”

Nothing. Not even a tingle of warmth in my hands from my own powers.

I had to be doing something wrong.

At a loss, I flipped back through the book, thumbing the pages quickly and absently until a phrase jumped out at me.

Errors of execution.

I stopped and read.

Practitioners who found the incantations idle and unrespondent often isolated themselves in a shelter that blocked out all sunlight. Darkness, they claimed, provided heightened focus.

“Hmph,” I mumbled, glancing around the attic space. Mid-morning sunlight poured in from the window that faced the Embers Society building, and perhaps that was the problem. Though, I felt a distinctive sense of hesitation at the idea of hiding from sunlight. I was, after all, a solar witch. The sun was supposedly inherently connected to my abilities, and I couldn’t help wondering what that meant as far as attempting to decipher my book with magic that was heightened by lack of sunlight.

“Well,” I muttered, suddenly indignant at my own history, “a lot of good sunlight has done for me thus far.”

Desperation compelled me to try something new, and I picked up the folk magic book, carrying it into the closet that led to the crawlspace. Closing the door behind me, the tiny space was pitch black, and I tucked my skirts under me to sit and try again.

“Ejecuro tormego. Releasecto demoniseo. Demoniseo sancetus arachnienum, repaentus agoiate. Silenectus avius extermina pestactus.”

Nothing again. Only thick silence in the closet that was so dense it seemed to create a quiet, high-pitched buzz in my ears.

“Ejecuro tormego. Releasecto demoniseo. Demoniseo sancetus arachnienum, repaentus agoiate. Silenectus avius extermina pestactus.”

The high-pitched buzz seemed to be slowly increasing in decibel level and the closet felt as if it had dropped in temperature by a degree or two.

“Ejecuro tormego. Releasecto demoniseo. Demoniseo sancetus arachnienum, repaentus agoiate. Silenectus avius extermina pestactus.”

Rather than tingling warmth in my fingers, I felt a numbness that spread from my fingertips to my palms and up my wrists.

“Ejecuro tormego. Releasecto demoniseo. Demoniseo sancetus arachnienum, repaentus agoiate. Silenectus avius extermina pestactus.”

Undeniable weightlessness crept over my head and shoulders; a stark contrast to the heaviness of fatigue I was used to feeling with my own exertions of power. My head began to swirl, and the pitch dark of the closet managed to get even blacker.

“Ejecuro tormego. Releasecto demoniseo. Demoniseo sancetus arachnienum, repaentus agoiate. Silenectus avius extermina pestactus.”

The weightlessness was pierced by a feeling of having the weight of a piercing gaze leveled on me; like someone was staring at my back; like they were standing just behind me.

“Ejecuro tormego. Releasecto demoniseo. Demoniseo sancetus arachnienum, repaentus agoiate. Silenectus avius extermina pestactus.”

The temperature dropped again, now to a level of cold

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