The Night by Felicity Heaton Read Free Book Online Page B

rung around the stone room, echoing off the corners and sounding strange in her ears.
    There was confidence in it that she hadn’t heard in so long. It made her heart ache and the dread inside her conjured up images that made her believe that if they stayed here, he would surely die. She couldn’t lose him. She didn’t care about anything but him. Not anymore.
    “Why do you return now? I had expected you to come back sooner, and alone. Instead, you bring this thing with you.”
    Hearing Erikka refer to her as a thing made Celene’s blood boil. All fear disappeared as she straightened and stared at the witch. With or without her power, she was going to make Erikka lift Zane’s curse.
    “Release him,” she said, finding her strength again and walking towards Erikka.
    The witch looked shocked for a moment and then smiled.
    “No.”
    “I said, release him.” She raised her hand, calling all the power she could.
    Sunlight broke into the room. The day was winning in her fight against it. The pull inside of her was unbearable. Her knees wobbled and threatened to buckle beneath her. She forced herself to remain standing, unwilling to give Erikka the satisfaction of seeing her weak. She was one of the heavens. She was a ruler of this witch.
    “No,” Erikka repeated and flicked a glance at Zane. “He could so easily lift the curse himself.”
    Celene frowned and looked at him. It seemed to be the exact moment that Erikka had been waiting for. A bolt of magic knocked her off her feet and she heard Zane call out her name as she skidded across the floor. When she hit the wall, she gave herself a moment to recover and then struggled to her feet. Her eyes widened when she saw that Zane was fighting Erikka. Magic zipped around the room as they threw spell after counter-spell at each other. The air began to cloud with the discharge of power and she ran to his side. Calling up everything she could, she launched it at Erikka and the witch flew backwards into one of the tall black banners at the rear of the room.
    Zane ran forwards and Celene flanked him, trying to keep up with him and keep conscious at the same time. The dawn was calling to her now. She didn’t know how much longer she would be able to defy it. An orb of magic, crackling and red, flew past her ear and she ducked away from it, only to be hit by a bolt of silver. She gritted her teeth against the pain and pushed on.
    A glance at Zane revealed that she wasn’t the only one being hit.
    “You broke my heart,” Erikka shouted.
    Celene stopped dead and almost laughed. A broken heart? All of this over a broken heart?
    “If I can’t have you, no one should be able to! No one.” Erikka threw another bolt of magic but Celene easily dodged it. She frowned at the witch. Erikka sneered at her. “An easy curse, one to keep him alone for all his life... and he finds the one damn person who can lift it.”
    Celene was too stunned by Erikka’s words to see the magic coming. It smacked her hard in her stomach and raised her off the ground. She looked down with wide eyes at the floor below her as it spiralled away and then up at the crystal that the magic was propelling her towards.
    She fought against it and managed to turn in time to grab the crystal and stop herself from being impaled on it. It burnt her hands and she growled with effort as she pushed her fingers through the solid material as though it was made of thick tar not stone.
    A cry from below her caught her attention. Zane curled up into a ball on the white stone floor and turned into a cat.
    Screaming, Celene unleashed all the power she could muster into the crystal. It exploded, raining down fragments on the room below. She fell to the floor and landed on her feet. She didn’t pause and give herself a moment to recover from the drain of what she had done. She ran over to Zane and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, slinging him onto her shoulder.
    “You chose a great time to change!” she said to