Hellbent Halo Boxed Set by E A Copen

Author:E A Copen [Copen, E A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781642024579
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2019-09-17T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

JOSIAH

I knelt gingerly next to my bag and opened it. There was no telling how long we had before the first effects of the curse would appear, or what form they’d take. If I’d wanted to decode the spell, I could’ve. We just didn’t have the time. Not if we all wanted to live anyway.

Petra and hers might’ve been able to zap out of their human hosts and live to fight another day. Me and Khaleda, however, were dead on our feet until I got the magic shut down.

I knew I’d made a mistake the moment I triggered it and saw the scrawling spell work over her skin, but it took the magic hitting my skin, buzzing and biting like horse flies, before I realized what it was supposed to be.

Death curses were the magical equivalent of a bomb. Normally, they triggered upon the death of whoever cast the spell. One last hurrah from a pissed-off and dying mage. But not always. Some death curses, like the one I’d triggered, weren’t laid by the dying person, but by some other party who’d hoped to destroy any witnesses hanging about.

“What kind of death curse?” Petra folded her arms and stood firm, trying to appear unperturbed. The waiver in her voice betrayed her nerves.

“I don’t aim to find out. If you don’t want to know either, I suggest you stay where you are. Attempting too much movement could trigger whatever it’s supposed to do.” I finally found what I was looking for and stood, the plastic container in my hands.

Milly wasn’t happy to be bothered. I could practically feel her displeasure at being interrupted as I carefully opened her container. She’d molted about a week ago, and didn’t like to be handled for about twelve or thirteen days after. It always left her in a foul mood, overprotective, and generally uncooperative, but I needed her if I wanted to shut down such a complicated spell.

“Up and at ’em, old girl. Give us a little help.” I slowly reached into the container.

She didn’t immediately strike, which was an improvement on the last time I’d tried to interact with her, but it took some convincing to get her to come to me. Tiny, sharp hairs pricked at my skin as her legs moved, carrying her up over my wrist. She hesitated when she reached my elbow, refusing to climb any higher and onto the damp parts of my shirt. I nudged one of her rear legs, urging her forward, but she wouldn’t budge. Bloody drama queen didn’t want to get her feet wet. Fine.

“No time for a warm-up,” I advised her, turning around.

Milly tapped out a quick warning rhythm against my bicep.

I know, I know. I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and extended both hands toward the body. It was the source of the spell, which meant it was as good a place as any to begin. To diffuse the magic, we’d have to first reveal the hold it had on everyone.

The curse lurked out in front of me, cold, a stiff cord of steel encased in writhing skin.

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