Page 70 of Mated to the Monster Under my Bed

Goody Albright nodded. "So mote it be—the circle is sealed. Now for the spell for renewing the town’s protective bubble. Repeat after me, please."

She chanted:

By moonlight bright and witches true,

We bind our town with magic new.

No darkness enter, no evil stay,

Let light and love protect our way.

We all repeated the lines, voices mingling in the cool night air. As the final word left our lips, the sky overhead exploded in light.

I gasped and looked up in surprise. What in the world?

What I saw almost made me smile.

Magical fireworks burst through the night sky in arcs of color—shimmering golds…rich purples…glittering blues—they all formed protective symbols and runes before dissolving into sparkling mist that rained down on our heads with the sweet scent of cinnamon and cloves. I gasped and ducked instinctively before Harmony leaned over and whispered,

"Don’t worry. It’s just the bubble renewing itself."

The light show went on and on, leaving me breathless. It was better than any Fourth of July display I’d ever seen, but finally, the sky went still. The last sparkles fell silently like enchanted snow and dissolved when they hit the ground.

"The bubble is renewed for another year. At this point, we would normally disperse," Goody Albright said. "But as I mentioned before, we have a second order of business. We must call a door to the Shadow Lands. Please repeat after me."

She began the chant:

Veil of shadow, thin and wide,

Open now and part the tide.

Call the one we seek tonight,

Bring him through by love’s true light.

We echoed her, our voices rising together. As we chanted, something began to stir in me. A tingling sensation deep in my chest—like something old and long-buried was waking up.

Is this my magic? Is it finally answering me?

I didn’t know but the feeling kept getting stronger and stronger until it felt like my whole body was humming with some invisible power. The air in the center of the circle shimmered, but nothing else happened. For a long moment, I thought it wasn’t working—that my love wasn’t strong enough.

That I’d failed.

Then—

A swirling shadow appeared in the very center of the circle. It widened and lengthened, until a massive black door loomed there, framed in mist and light.

I stared, wide-eyed. My heart was beating like a wild thing in my chest. The door—it had worked! That must be the door to the Shadow Lands!

Goody Albright turned to me, her face grave.

"Well, go on, my dear,” she said. “This door is for you. If you can’t open it, no one can."

40

DANNI

I took a deep breath, trying to steady the trembling in my hands, and stepped into the center of the circle.