Page 41 of Queen of the Crimson Throne (Queen of Blood and Stardust #2)

41

LUCIANA

Two days later I met Lennox, Luka, Declan, and Nico in a forest outside Cel Nox to transfer them back to Alethens to save travel time.

Time is always of the essence these days.

Which is why I had been running on close to two hours of sleep every night.

After spending all day attending to my duties as crown princess, I alternated spending my nights researching in the library and working on my spell with the Dhampir. Both projects had resulted in nothing of use so far, which made my lack of sleep even more frustrating.

Each night I felt like the moment I got close to reaching for the magic inside the Dhampir I passed out, waking later to a wrung-out body and a crusted wound on my hand.

If I was going to lose sleep, I’d at least like it to be for some reward.

I gave Lennox two days to get her affairs in order before I returned so we could summon the Goddess.

We were going to summon Astria.

Like a bunch of fucking idiots.

No one had ever been successful in summoning Astria. Some said it was a crime to do so and interrupt her. But damn interrupting her. We needed her help.

And if anyone would be able to summon Astria, it would be me, Kara, and Lennox.

Three witches whose Hecate’s blood ran through.

And we possessed Hecate’s full spellbook.

My mother had prepared me as much as possible. Telling me any information that might be useful to help in our pursuit.

She even sent me with relics and herbs from her personal garden.

I pretended I didn’t know she had a secret garden. And hadn’t been using the herbs for years.

I hauled the leather strap of my bag farther up my shoulder as we continued into the woods beyond the palace, past the training center, until we came to an area far enough away that we wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention.

Once we found a place we all found suitable, we set out on the tasks we had discussed beforehand.

Declan and Kara got to work setting up a perimeter around us, ensuring no one would find us, while Luka and Lennox set up the fire.

“Do you think this will work?” Nico asked as he helped me unload my bag.

“There’s only one way to find out.” I shrugged. “No one has ever been successful before, but maybe we will be the first.”

“I’m not getting my hopes up,” Lennox added, her and Luka had returned, each holding a pile of sticks in their arms. We needed a large fire for the spell, making an actual fire would be more efficient than relying on magic to sustain it. And I needed Lennox to focus her attention on the spell, not keeping a fire burning.

“C'mon Len,” Kara chidded. “Why do you have to be so pessimistic?”

“It’s called being realistic.” She dropped her pile of sticks to the ground.

“Whatever you want to call it,” Nico mumbled.

Lennox flipped him off before returning her attention back to helping Luka start the fire. He had set up a perimeter of rocks and was now carefully placing the sticks in the shape of a pyramid.

I sat cross-legged in the grass, with Nico across from me, placing my stone bowl between us. He had my bag at his side, ready to pass me what I needed. One by one I asked Nico for the relics and herbs, consulting Hecate’s spellbook to make sure I was adding everything in the correct order and in the right amounts.

It didn’t say if those details were critical to the spell, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

I placed the last ingredient in the bowl, letting out a deep sigh as I looked at the fire now blazing behind Nico.

It was time.

I stood, taking the bowl and the two halves of Hecate’s spellbook with me as I approached the roaring flames.

I set the two halves of the book before the fire and the bowl on top of them before looking at Lennox and Kara.

“You ready?” The sisters nodded, reaching for their blades, each of them slicing open their palms and allowing a steady flow of blood to drip into the bowl.

Once our blood was mixed with the relics and herbs, I used my blade to mix them all before lifting the bowl over the flames.

Kara and Lennox stood around the fire, following my instructions and waiting for the next step.

I muttered the spell, completing the first part before dumping the contents of the bowl onto the raging fire.

It hissed as the blood mixture hit the flames. It dulled for a moment before rising higher as I continued the spell under my breath.

“Now,” I directed my cousins. They each sliced their palms again and I did the same before we all joined hands, our blood mingling together as we chanted the words we had memorized.

The fire blazed higher as the magic swirled around us. The air became thick with magic, even with my eyes closed I could see the blaze as it grew higher.

Sweat coated my brow, dripping down my face as we continued to chant.

The magic thrashed around me, sending my knees buckling—but I held strong.

I gritted my teeth and forced my tongue to continue with the spell. It was as if my magic was at war with the words—trying everything in its power to get me to stop chanting.

We had to be getting close. We had to if the magic was trying to stop me.

I managed to open my eyes and caught a glimpse of Kara and Lennox.

They were struggling too. Their bodies shook and their faces were etched with concentration and pain.

We could do this. I knew we could.

Maybe it was a trick of the mind, but I swore I could see the magic swirling around us. Stars danced on a phantom wind even though it was the middle of the day. The sky grew darker and darker—more stars coming into focus.

I repeated the spell again and at once the magic ceased. It wasn’t gone, but it lessened, no longer did it press against my skin, but danced around me like a phantom breeze.

The fire died, it was nothing but burning embers now as more and more stars came into vision.

In the space where the flames had once been appeared the thickest concentration of stars. The formation of stars became thicker and thicker with each passing second—they appeared to almost be forming a shape—like a constellation coming to life.

It looked like— “Holy stars,” Lennox murmured .

“It’s—”

I swallowed—my throat suddenly dry as I realized who stood in front of us.

The star-flecked figure turned, focusing its starry eyes on me.

“I’ll give you dears a moment to get over your shock—but I would love to know why I was summoned by three of Hecate’s descendants.”