Read The Night for Free Online Page B

have clouds. “Is this how you reversed your transformation last night?”
    He nodded and swallowed the contents of the bottle.
    “I found the spell in one of your books. It seems to work quite well.”
    She noticed the way he had said that and held his gaze as he slipped the phial back into his pocket.
    “We are still going. You can’t spend the rest of your life taking potions to halt the change... not now there is another change happening to you.”
    His right eyebrow rose.
    “You purred in your sleep,” she stated flatly.
    He swallowed hard and his eyes widened the slightest amount.
    “We must force Erikka to lift the curse.” She began walking towards the castle at a determined clip and stopped only when she realised that Zane wasn’t following her. Turning, she saw him standing by the lake, his eyes fixed on the moon.
    The potion would protect him from the night, if only for a short while. She could feel the power in it now that she knew it was there.
    “Come... we must hurry.” She held her hand out to him and he looked at her as though he had only just noticed she was there. Had he been waiting for the change? She wouldn’t allow it tonight, not like she had last night.
    He caught up with her and she looked into the distance at the castle.
    “We have to run,” he said.
    She shook her head and took hold of his hand.
    “No need.”
    Focusing on the castle, she willed them to be standing at its door. The world shifted around her, effortlessly rearranging itself to change their position in it. When everything was stable again, she looked at Zane and saw that he couldn’t believe what she had done.
    “But...” Zane started and then faltered. He felt queasy, a strange feeling in the very depths of him that said that something wasn’t right. It wasn’t about what she had done, but it was about her. He stared into her eyes for what seemed like minutes, waiting for the unsettling feeling to pass. Something was wrong. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was definitely wrong.
    The whole world didn’t feel right.
    “Come,” she said, taking hold of his hand again.
    He stumbled along behind her, still lost in his thoughts and trying to understand what had just happened to him. A glance at his surroundings and then the sky revealed that she hadn’t transported them here instantly. Time had been lost. The night was wearing on.
    As the castle loomed before him, the strange feeling gave way to dread and he moved to be alongside Celene.
    She was so determined as she strode towards the castle, her step not faltering and her eyes fixed on her destination. He wished he could say that Erikka would do as Celene was going to ask of her, but he knew the witch, and he knew that she wasn’t going to back down and lift the curse that easily.
    He flexed his fingers and magic built there, circling and spiralling around his hand. He got the feeling that they were going to have to force Erikka to lift the curse, just as Celene had said.
    Only, he had tried many times to use magic in this place, and every time it had been weak. His insides knotted with the horrible feeling that Erikka was going to be too powerful for them. They had never tested Celene’s magical abilities when it came to fighting, and he didn’t know whether she knew such spells. He glanced across at her. She was staring at the castle, her eyes reflecting her determination and the set of her jaw telling him that she was going to fight, regardless of whether she had the power to or not.
    The dark, menacing feeling inside of him grew worse as they began up the small incline to the castle. He realised that it wasn’t about Erikka, or potentially having to fight her to force her to lift the curse.
    It was about Celene.
    This had gone too far. If he had been honest with her from the start instead of allowing his attraction to her to silence him, then they might have been able to find a counter-curse or break the one that had hold of him.
    He had thought