Page 18 of Lunar Diamonds (Celestial Magic #1)

RILEY

I sat on the floor, opening the grimoire to the index. Blue and leather-bound, it was like touching a historical artifact for the first time. I never thought I’d get to see one in the flesh, let alone leaf through its yellowed pages.

The cover was heavily worn, several of the pages torn out after a fight between the previous triplets. Erin didn’t elaborate, but she said it was bad.

Must have been a doozy of a row for the grimoire to take a battering from my mum, aunt, and uncle.

My family.

Okay, we’re not going there yet.

The voice of that damn blue orb echoed in my mind. No strangler this time, but the arsehole took me into a blue room where it floated, spouting its crap. My scar ached, which only made my brain hurt.

Why had it come out of the bite mark that first time? What the hell did this mean?

Make it make sense!

I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans, struggling to focus on the pages before me.

It wanted me. It hunted me. But what the hell was it?

Isaac joined me, his knee bumping mine. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Want to take a break? Go for a walk or something.”

A nice idea, but no. “Just want this over with.”

“I get that.”

I rolled my shoulders. “Okay. Focus.”

“Focus,” he said, mirroring my posture. “We can do this.”

I searched for the spell, tracing a finger down the index.

Wow, all these spells, magic at its purest. True spellcasting and potion-making, none of the diluted bangle stuff.

And dangerous.

The kickback from dealing with magic was another reason the High Coven didn’t want witches running around casting spells and brewing potions at will. I once read about a woman exploding after casting a love spell. She didn’t ground herself with a ring of strawberry seeds, nor did she pay the toll of chicken bones. So she went ‘pop.’

Yuck.

“Hopefully we won’t have to hide that book under loose floorboards anymore,” Erin said.

My skull throbbed a little as I turned the pages for the correct spell.

I was really about to do this. Allow Drake to be bound to me. I wouldn’t change my mind, but it really began to sink in now.

Ollie prepared the cauldron for us, using some vacuum thingy to suck out the contents, filling it with fresh water.

Isaac watched his every move with hungry eyes.

“I am sorry to ask this of you, Ollie,” Erin said.

“Not a problem,” he answered, his face unreadable.

“This isn’t his job,” Erin explained. “He’s more of a handyman. Once the siblings are back, they will take care of this sort of thing.”

“We could do it ourselves.”

Erin scoffed. “Absolutely not.”

Okay… I didn’t get why but went with it for now. There were more important headaches on the horizon.

I eyed Drake, his attention on the cauldron. He leaned against the wall, still cuffed. He stood there unmoving, a frozen specimen of deliciousness. My goodness, even in those grubby white jeans and torn shirt, he looked so edible. A lock of hair fell across his forehead like tantalizing silk.

Stop it.

I tore my greedy peepers away, watching Ollie go about his business checking the temperature of the water.

Isaac yawned, his jaw stretching like a rattlesnake’s. “What a peachy butt.”

Ignoring him, and my own probing thoughts about Drake’s backside, I returned to the grimoire, finally landing on the soul binding thing.

Transform!

There were many subheadings detailing various methods of transformation. I skimmed down to the bottom of the page for the one I needed.

Transform: Shadow Bonding Change!

This spell requires strong resistance from the caster to break the shadow bond and transform it.

The new bonding will last for ten years.

Severe consequences: Death. Shadow bond jumping to caster. Severe brain damage. Amplifying existing desires. Benefits of the shadow bond will be removed with no protections granted.

(Turn the page for casting details).

This spell was added to the 200 th edition of the official grimoires.

Amplifying existing desires?

Hmmm.

I turned the page.

Grounding requires candles wrapped in poison ivy. A toll of three chicken eggs must be paid.

Pour cold salted water into a cauldron with no heat. Add three drops of the bonded person’s blood, followed by three more drops of the newly intended host.

Say the words Transform Soul Bond! together (the shadow-bonded need not be a witch).

Clap magic out.

Cast at own peril.

I relayed this to the room.

Drake pushed himself off the wall. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

I gave my bottom lip a break, getting to my feet. The moment this ball got rolling, ten years of my life would be filled with Drake Parish.

How about filling my ? —

Ugh. Stupid brain. Best to focus on the lunar diamonds and not the other stuff.

Like the amplification of existing desires.

I drew a long breath, my hands clenched into anxious fists. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Isaac gave me a reassuring pat. “I’ve got you.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure thing.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Erin chimed in. “Your life is your own. Both of you are free to walk away. I appreciate your efforts so far and admire your strength in accepting this. But when the adrenaline fades, and you sit with this for a while, things may change. And you have every right to return to your old lives.”

Our old lives. Our jobs, our friends, our homes. Were we about to leave all that behind?

“What do we do about that stuff?” I asked.

My brother yawned again. “I’ll call my agent in the morning, tell her I’m taking some time off. She’ll pitch a fit but fuck her.”

I swallowed a giggle. “I’ll do the same.” Carol would happily let me take some time out.

But what about my mum?

Not yet…

Would I really be giving up the library? Live without Glitter Fox? I wasn’t sure how to live without them, even if I had to. Maybe we could work something out. Later.

I wouldn’t be walking away. I received these powers and this responsibility for a reason. Burying my head in the sand wasn’t an option, no matter the background terror ready to take to the stage.

We followed the spell, my heart jackhammering. I paid the toll and pierced my skin with a needle Ollie handed me, Drake doing the same.

Here we go.

I linked arms with Isaac for greater resistance to the force of the spellcasting at Erin‘s suggestion, pointing out that two was always better than one.

“And three at some point,” she’d also mumbled.

The water bubbled without any heat, the surface shimmering an iridescent green glow. Magic bloomed in my hands, ready to be clapped out.

I made eye contact with Drake, then counted us down to say the words together.

“Transform Soul Bond!” I clapped, the magic bouncing from my hand into the cauldron.

Bubble, bubble, to ? —

…kaboom!