I drew the pentagram. That was easy enough. Then, one by one as Joanna handed me them, I lit a purple candle and placed them at the ends of the points. At this point, I felt a tingle running through my veins, like I'd been injected with a little buzz of adrenaline.

When she handed me a small glass jar full of dead spiders, I resisted the urge to scream and run. All curled up, they looked absolutely revolting. Reminding myself this was a means to an end, I sucked in a deep breath and plucked the first one from the jar. The need to squeal and drop it very nearly overtook me, but I managed to best it. Just.

The snakes were cold and rigid and marginally easier to deal with than the crispy spiders. After I'd laid the snakes in their respective sections, the tingle in my veins had increased to a buzz, like a really bad case of pins and needles.

As I laid the ribbons out around the circle I'd drawn, the buzz became hotter and more intense with each ribbon I set down.

"Are you ok?" Luke said, the waver in his voice telling me all I needed to know.

I nodded and let out a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm good."

"We can stop at any point."

I shook my head. "We are not stopping. I've got this."

I didn't look at him. I couldn't. Without a doubt, if I saw the concern in his eyes, my resolve would break.

Stepping back into the centre of the pentagram, I arranged the remaining two spiders and two snakes around my feet. The buzz dissipated, leaving nothing behind but an intense burn. I felt like I was in thirty-degree heat with no sunscreen. I looked at my arms, certain I'd see blisters, but there was nothing there.

Joanna plucked a long silver knife from her bag, its blade engraved with pentagrams from top to bottom. "Exsolvo, Libertas, Imperium. Nice and slow, seven times."

I nodded. "Exsolvo, Libertas, Imperium."

Nothing intensified. Ok, this was good. If this was the worst of the pain, it was more than bearable.

"Exsolvo, Libertas, Imperium."

The heat in my body notched up a degree. A bead of sweat ran from my forehead and into my eye. I wiped it away and repeated it a third time. This time, the scalding heat inside me became visible on the outside. My milky white skin started to redden.

I repeated it a fourth time.

Nothing more happened and I breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"Exsolve, Libertas, Imperium," I said, for the fifth time.

My stomach twisted into knots. I could feel my insides blistering. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice told me to hurry up. I breathed the words for a sixth time, trying to ignore the black spots in my vision.

"Joanna," Luke said, the quiver in his voice unmistakable.

"It's ok," she said. "It's going well."

"If I lose her—"

"You won't. Now shush. Cat—once more. Say it."

"Exsolvo," I breathed, my voice a hoarse whisper. "Libertas, Imperium."

Everything I'd been feeling up to this point jumped up ten levels. An unknown force snapped my body ramrod straight and took control of me. It was almost an out of body experience, as if I was no longer moving myself by my own will. My body had become nothing but a puppet for whatever had charge of me.

The scorching heat consuming me licked at the edges of my consciousness. I knew it was there, but I couldn't feel its effects like I had ten seconds ago. It was like an invisible shield kept it at bay, stopping me from feeling its raging flames.

Joanna handed me the knife and as if I were on autopilot, I took it from her and sliced it across my scar. My skin opened up like butter under a hot knife, my blood, my life force, spilling out over my palm.

Yet, I felt no pain. I wondered for the briefest of moments if I could cut deeper and still feel nothing but whatever had control of me sent me on the course of dripping seven drops of my blood onto each spider, each snake, and each ribbon.

I gave the knife back to Joanna as I put each snake and one of the ribbons onto each burning candle. The smell of burning flesh invaded my lungs, making me want to wretch, but the force inside me, spurring me on, squashed down any reflex my body wanted to give.

Returning to the centre of the pentagram, I placed the remaining two ribbons on the two snakes and two spiders circling my feet. I opened my left palm to see my blood still oozing from my wound. I smeared my right thumb into it.

Before I could even think that I had no idea where the chakra points were, my right hand was moving on its own, pressing my blooded thumb to the top of my head, in between my eyes, and then my throat. It then moved down to my heart, my stomach, and just below my bellybutton. Just as I thought 'what about the seventh', my arm reached behind me and pressed my thumb to my tailbone.

"Here," Joanna said, passing me the vial with the potion in it.

Catching it with my left hand, my thumb knocked out the cork as if it were nothing more than a speck of dust. The force inside me tipped my head back and poured the potion down my throat.

The instant the vial was empty, whatever had taken over me vanished, leaving me in excruciating agony. I doubled over, screaming until my voice broke. The circle of snakes, ribbons, and spiders at my feet burst into flames, ravaging my clothes and sizzling my skin.

"Caitlyn!" Luke yelled.

"Don't!" Joanna screamed back at him.

I lifted my head to see Joanna, her right arm outstretched into the air, pinning Luke back against the wall with her magic. Her entire body was shaking as Luke fought against the invisible hold on him. I locked eye contact with him, the wild despair in his eyes slicing through my heart.

I'm ok, Luke. It's nearly over.

You're not seeing what I'm seeing!

Don't make me do this again. Just a few more seconds.

He stopped struggling but the anguish in his eyes only intensified.

The candles were melting, the wax creeping across the floor, joining one candle to the next. After several torturously slow seconds, the candles became one circle of purple wax. As I looked down at myself, my entire body on fire, I wondered if this was it, if this was my end. Shouldn't I have passed out from smoke inhalation by now?

Just as I felt my body weaken, the agony too much to bear, a burst of energy exploded from my chest, flattening everything inside my apartment. Joanna and Luke fell to the floor, all my furniture smashed up against the walls, glasses and plates shattered into pieces inside my cupboards.

I gasped for breath and looked down at myself, more than relieved to see I was no longer on fire. Deep in my core, in my soul, I felt good. Real good. My blood simmered with energy, power, and I felt immense, invincible.

Then I passed out.