As I entered the house I could tell that something wasn’t right. My whole body was on edge and I was fighting to stay in control. I couldn’t possibly have known what I was stepping into, all I knew was that something bad had happened.

My little garden trip hadn’t done much to clear my mind and I had decided that I at least owed Andreas a conversation. The look in his eyes before I left told had told me as much. I needed to hear what had to say and then I could run away again.

I walked through the house, fear settling over me. Something was really, really wrong. “Andreas?” I called tentatively. Perhaps I was just overreacting. My imagination running wild. Maybe I was just thinking the worst because I was so used to bad things happening. It could be nothing. It had to be nothing.

There was no reply. “Andreas?!” I called again, my voice shaking with premonition. Again there was no reply. I started running, flying past rooms as I tried to find him. Something bad had happened. Something bad had happened to Andreas. I didn’t want to believe it. He was Andreas Scott Grigoli after all, one of the most powerful sorcerers to ever exist. No one could’ve done anything to him. It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t possible….

Each room I passed was empty, devoid of any life. I started panicking, my blood thumping with an anxious energy. It became difficult to breathe. Andreas had been the one to tell me that the location of the house enhanced our magic; was able to enhance our intuition. I had felt anxious that first time I had brought Elijah over to the house and that didn’t turn out very well. What I was feeling now was ten times worse. I needed to find Andreas. I needed to be sure he was fine. He needed to be fine.

I reached a part of the house I had never been in before, a part Andreas hadn’t shown me on the first tour. This must be where he spent all his time. There were two rooms adjacent to each other and I finally slowed down my pace. If he was in the house, this was where he would be. “Andreas?” I called, my voice quavering with fear. Please let him be well. Please let him be well.

Still, no reply. I pushed the door open and walked inside, my body shaking. I did everything in my power to keep myself composed, but I was faltering. The feeling got worse as I went further into the room. It became so bad that I couldn’t even focus on my surroundings.

I almost missed him.

The first thing that hit me was the overwhelming sight of red. Red everywhere. It stained the carpet and it covered the form it came from. No one could have that much blood in them. Slowly, his face came into view. I couldn’t move.

His eyes were staring ahead dully, the slight movement of his chest, the only indicator that he was still alive. I shook myself out of the shock and ran to him, panic taking over. “Andreas!” I yelled as I fell to my knees beside him.

He turned his head to me slowly, the energy having been drained from him. A sad smile spread over his lips. “Lana, you’re here,” he whispered, his voice raspy.

My mind was racing a thousand thoughts per second as I tried to figure out what I could do. “Andreas, please tell me you are okay. What can I do? How can I help you? Please, you can’t die. I can’t let you die,” I shrieked, my words tumbling out rapidly. I placed my hands on either of his cheeks, keeping his gaze locked on mine.

His bloody hands covered mine. “Be calm, I need you to calm down.”

Tears started rolling down my face. How could he expect me to remain calm? I couldn’t be calm, not when seeing him like that. I couldn’t fight down the anxiety. I couldn’t squash down the thought that he might die. I couldn’t bear to think I might lose him. I wasn’t ready to lose him.

“How do you expect me to stay calm when you are bleeding out?” I asked through hysterical tears.

“I need you to do a spell that will heal me. I do not have the energy to perform it myself, but you do. I need you to calm yourself in order to do it,” he said, flinching on the last words. It was beyond me how he was able to keep himself collected even when he was losing so much blood.

I took several deep breaths to steady my frantic heart and to clear the moisture from my vision. As soon as I got a better handle on myself, I asked, “What must I do?” My voice revealed that I was still a long way from calm.

“You remember the spell Kalen had taught you, the healing spell? I need you to use it,” he replied in a strained voice, the strength draining from it. Every moment I didn’t do the spell was a moment less he had to live. It was too much pressure. I didn’t think I would be able it. I could barely move objects, let alone heal someone.

But I had to try. I tried to remember the words, but I was coming up short. “Vigoratus ut ego habitum dearheal; ut is vires otium meus vereor,” I started to chant as soon as I remembered them. I closed my eyes and focused every fiber of my being on healing Andreas. My hands were still on his cheeks, but it made no difference. I couldn’t feel any magic passing from me to him.

“Vigoratus ut ego habitum dearheal; ut is vires otium meus vereor. Vigoratus ut ego habitum dearheal; ut is vires otium meus vereor. Vigoratus ut ego habitum dearheal; ut is vires otium meus vereor,” I chanted over and over again. But nothing happened.

“You need to calm yourself,” Andreas cautioned, his voice growing even fainter than before, not helping me calm down at all. “It won’t work if you can’t say it clearly.”

“I’m trying,” I cried in a low voice. “But it’s not working.” My voice was hopeless. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to calm myself. I tried everything I could to focus on healing him, but nothing worked.

“Vigoratus ut ego habitum dearheal; ut is vires otium meus vereor!” I yelled and nothing happened. I repeated it. Again and again and again.

“Focus, little witch. Believe in yourself the way I do,” he said, almost no strength left in his voice. His eyes started closing. I was losing him. He was slipping away. No. No. No. No.

“ANDREAS!” I shrieked, but he didn’t seem to hear me. His eyelids were fluttering, barely staying open. I was at breaking point, overwhelmed with fear, anxiety and dread.

Suddenly, a strange sensation swept over me and everything within me stilled. My tears stopped flowing and a sudden peace overtook my body. It was like someone else inhabited my body, yet it was still me. I was radiating with energy waiting to be released. The words flowed from my lips before I even knew I was saying them. “Etiam intus est lux tenebris, qui enim non diligit mortis. Et nunc, et curabo eum finire fortuna; nec mortem proelio.”

Even in darkness there is light, for those who are loved do not deserve to die. Heal him now and end my plight; do not let death win this fight.

The energy I had been willing to flow through me and into him finally did and he was glowing with an iridescent light. His eyes flew open, the strength returning to them. They were wide and unguarded as he stared at me, my hands still on his cheeks and his still covering them. His hands let go of mine and searched the area where the wound had been; it was gone.

I smiled, relieved. “Lana, how d—“ I didn’t hear the end of his sentence before everything around me went dark.

When I regained consciousness I was lying on my bed back in my room. Perhaps everything had been a dream – or rather nightmare. That would explain everything. Andreas hadn’t really been hurt, I was just afraid that he would be. My thoughts were projecting onto him, that had to be it.

“You’re awake,” Andreas’ relieved voice spoke. My eyes found him immediately, still donning his bloody clothes. It hadn’t been a dream, but he was okay.

I sat up suddenly and got out of the bed and I ran to him. I threw my arms around him. “You’re alive,” I sobbed. “You’re okay. You didn’t die,” I mumbled, still amazed that I somehow saved him.

“All thanks to you,” he said, returning my embrace. I pulled away and looked up at him through my blurry vision. “You incanted a very powerful spell, Lana,” he continued. “Your eyes turned blue.”

“What?” I asked, my eyes now bulging. I was still afraid of that side of me. “How… what? How did I even know that spell?” I was completely lost and more afraid of my power than ever.

“You have a natural inclination to magic. It is who you are.”

I sank down on the bed. My thoughts racing, but I decided not to dwell on it at that moment. The most important thing was that he was alive and okay. My eyes drifted back to him. “You’re okay,” I said, still dazed, not convinced any of this really happened.

“Yes, I am okay,” he said as he sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. I let him. I needed to feel that he was real. I needed to know he wasn’t a ghost. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held onto him as if at any moment he could disappear.

I realized that I never stopped falling in love with him, I just fooled myself into think that I had.