The Darkest Magic (A Book of Spirits and Thieves) by Morgan Rhodes Read Free Book Online Page B

to press: A few years ago, on Halloween, they’d found an old Ouija board in the attic and decided to ask it questions at midnight.
    A believer in the supernatural from the beginning, Becca had asked if the bookstore really was haunted and what the spirits wanted. Crys had secretly moved the planchette to spell out
K-I-L-L
, and Becca freaked out. So much that she’d locked herself in the bathroom for an hour.
    At the time, and because it had been such a “Becca” thing to do, Crys had found it hilarious.
    “All right, all right,” Dr. Vega said. “That’s enough. Becca, this is all so fascinating. Now, can you tell me: In Mytica, who, exactly, has access to elemental magic? Is it just these two goddesses, or are there others?”
    “Um, well, no, actually.” Becca shot a quick glare at Crys before turning to Dr. Vega and pressing on. “There are also witches that can use elemental magic. But they have a much weaker hold on it.”
    “Witches! My goodness.” He jotted down more notes, shaking his head as his pen flew across the page. “Fascinating. It’s all so, so
fascinating
. I wish my father could be here to hear this! Finally, his life’s work is coming to fruition. We’re finally getting some answers about this book.”
    “All we really know about it is it’s dangerous,” Jackie snapped. She got up and moved toward the desk. “Too dangerous to be here—especially near Becca. Give me the book, Uriah.”
    “Jackie . . .”
    “
I’m
the one who stole it and sent it here. I take full responsibility for that thing being here in the first place. For everything it did to Becca. Give it to me. Please.”
    He hesitated for a long, tense moment before relenting. He unlocked the drawer, opened it, and gave one last pleading look to Jackie before pulling out the book. Becca inhaled sharply. While she’d felt its strange pull while it had been locked away, now that she could see it, that magnetic sensation had ramped way up. She forced herself to stay in place and not immediately go to it.
    “Are my eyes . . . ?” she asked, her heart pounding hard.
    “Still normal,” Crys confirmed steadily.
    “Good.”
    Jackie held the book and stared down at it as if she despised it every bit as much as Markus himself. “We’re only putting ourselves in danger by keeping this book near us. And damned if I’m ever going to let Markus get his greedy hands on it again.”
    Without a moment of hesitation, she opened the book and tore out the first page.
    Red hot agony sliced down Becca’s arm. A painful scream wrenched from her throat. She fell, hard, to her knees.
    “Jackie, stop!” Crys cried out. “Please! Becca! Look at her!”
    Crimson blood poured from the jagged wound that had been angrily scrawled down her forearm.
    Jackie gasped, a hollow look of horror overtaking her features. She dropped the torn page and staggered backward, stopping only when her back hit the study wall. She covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, Becca. I’m so sorry! I had no idea!”
    Crys scrambled for some tissues and pressed a wad of them up against Becca’s arm. Dr. Vega dove to the floor, retrieved the torn page, and placed it carefully back into the book before closing the cover. He unlocked the desk drawer once again and moved to put the book away.
    “Wait,” Becca managed. “Don’t put it away yet.”
    Dr. Vega drew his brows tightly together. He looked to Jackie, still cowering against the wall, then back at Becca, concern in his eyes. “I think it’s best we do, Becca. If we’re to draw conclusions about what just happened, it seems that if the book gets damaged . . .”
    “Becca does too,” Crys said.
    There it was. All the proof Becca needed to understand that gnawing feeling in her gut. This was definitely so much more than a simple spell book.
    “I want to see it up close,” Becca said weakly.
    No one said a word as Becca approached the desk, one step at a time, slowly and cautiously.
    “Still no