“It really is him,” Atarah replied. “He’s bringing out her magic.”
“No, he’s undoing the spellbind,” Adelaide said, stepping closer as she looked us over. “He might be the key to undoing it completely. Whenever she is near him, he’s unlocking her. That is why we didn’t piece anything together when she was alone in Washington. She wasn’t doing magic because he wasn’t with her, and she couldn’t.”
“All of this started when she ran into Theseus in the woods, correct? So since then, she may have been unlockin
g more and more. Therefore, she’s been getting stronger and stronger,” Arsiein said to her.
Adelaide nodded. “That’s what I am thinking, but when we were in the other room, were we any closer to Theseus? Why was she able to get her memories when she wasn’t with him then?”
“Not to mention the time in which she disappeared. She was leaving Theseus at the time, too,” Atarah added. They were talking amongst themselves in a little huddle, like scientists trying to uncover a great mystery before them.
“Should we leave and let them think amongst themselves?” Theseus bent slightly to ask me, and I grinned.
“That’s it!” Arsiein exclaimed, and his gaze turned to me. “Druella, what were you thinking about before you disappeared.”
I didn’t want to share that. But they were all watching, and now, even Theseus was. I sighed. “I was thinking about him.”
“And before you gave me some of your magic?” Adelaide questioned.
“Him still,” I admitted.
“Finally, we’ve made real progress,” Arsiein replied and nodded happily. Good to know he was pleased.
“So, you think of me often?” Theseus teased.
I pushed him away to hide my embarrassment at all of this, then walked forward. “So? Even with Theseus here, my grimoire still looks like a kid’s notebook, and it’s only showing me the first page again,” I stated, opening it and showing Adelaide since they were in the mode to discover.
“For some reason, he is part of whatever spell you need to undo the spellbind. This whole time we’ve been trying to do it without him, or you’ve been trying on your own. Maybe if you focus on your magic and focus through him, you can break it.”
“Maybe?” I pressed.
“It’s not like I’ve done this before,” she snapped, looking around the library. “However, I have done meditation before, and it’s always better in the center of a nine-point star. It helps you focus. We needed crystals and chalk.”
“We have a marker and some old stones…no crystals,” Atarah said to her as she held up the thick sharpie.
“Fine, whatever to concentrate the flow of magic. Help me move everything around them,” she ordered Arsiein, and to my surprise, they listened to her.
“What do you want me to do—”
“Both of you just stand there!” she hollered as she began to draw on the ground.
I looked at Theseus, who was looking at all of them as if they had lost their damn minds. Feeling me staring at him, he shifted his gaze to me, and this time, I reached out for his hand with my free hand.
“There are no dull moments with me apparently,” I said.
“It will make for an interesting eternity at least.” He smirked and leaned closer to me. “But so we are both on the same page—everyone else is odd, not us. I thought the moon would fall out of the sky before I ever saw Arsiein take orders from a witch.”
“Consider it a testament to how much I care for you, brother,” Arsiein scoffed before he was ordered out of the way as Adelaide drew the next point of her star by his feet.
“Noted,” Theseus replied to him. He reached up and brushed my hair from my eyes before cupping my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “Don’t focus on them. Focus on me. If you are to figure out whatever this is, I am pleased to know I get to do it beside you.”
Stepping closer to him, I did what I was itching to do since he’d left my side. I rested my head on his chest. I felt it again, that warmth, and I just wished I could close my eyes and go to sleep, holding him. However, when I closed my eyes, I saw the bound witch in my mind staring at me. When I reached out and touched her binds, they didn’t burn, and so it made me wonder, could it really be that easy?
Was all I had to do was hold onto Theseus and pull these damn things off?
It will hurt, I heard the silvery voice speak to me.
“Druella, are you all right?” Theseus asked, placing his hand on my shoulders, but I kept my eyes closed.