Page 22 of Lunar Desires (Celestial Magic #2)
RILEY
M ud.
Still alive, but mud. A puddle breaking apart under the ferocity of the rain. Some of me running left, part of me going right, a big gloopy section oozing down a smelly drain.
Oh. My. God.
I saw the sky in three parts, as well as the darkness of the drain. Totally helpless, freaked out, my brain struggling to comprehend this sudden shift in physicality.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Any moment now, I’d throw up. But mud didn’t puke. It required a throat and a stomach and a whole body.
No! What an incredible revelation!
I could do without the sarcasm, I rebutted the unhelpful inner voice.
Okay. Think. How to not be mud?
My brother ran through me.
Splash!
“Ouch!” I yelled, although my voice stayed in the mud. Lost to the ears of the people up there.
“Freeze!” Isaac called with a clap.
Damn. I wish I could see what was happening.
“You fuckhead!” he barked. “Turn him back.”
Uncle Jonathon grunted out of sight. “You…you… Let me go!”
The witchcop freezing spell allowed for speech but not movement. All the better to interrogate with, I guess.
But it wouldn’t last long.
“Kill him!” Isaac cried.
Our uncle unleashed a flurry of curses, ending with, “You’ll never beat me!”
Gunfire. A body hitting the ground. Me swirling, breaking apart further under the deluge.
Hecate, please help me.
A boot splashed into me, breaking me apart further.
Damn, what a kick to the balls.
“Please… Please help me…” I whimpered desperately.
Erin appeared in my line of sight, gazing down at one part of me. I had no idea which part anymore. So many eyes, so many angles.
“Don’t let me stay like this forever,” I begged her unhearing ears.
“The grimoire,” she said. “There is a curse removal spell.”
“He’s cursed?” Isaac responded.
Drake appeared beside Erin, his eyes moving around the little pools of mud.
“Your nose!” I called.
Broken. Bloody. My poor, erm, whatever he was to me.
“Let me try something first. Jake? Can you drive me down the road?”
“Get in,” he answered.
Yay! He was testing our soul bond! Good thinking on his part.
A witchcop grumbled something but Jake told him to shut his face.
Double yay!
The car sped off.
“Don’t worry, little brother.” Isaac’s voice was infused with reassurance. “You’ll be up and singing karaoke again in no time.”
“Sounds like heaven.”
I clung to hope, as I always did. Keeping to the sunny side of the swamp.
With my non-existent fingers crossed for top tier results, I waited, sending off all the prayers.
God, the drain stank of moldy cheese.
“There’s something on the ground,” Isaac said. “Is that a gem?”
Pop!