37 Chapter 37: Show me some magic (1/2)

SALEM: I reached into my pocket. If you reach deep enough, there's another pocket at the side. Push your index finger in there and you'll find a key.

”Elina.”

”Hmmm?”

I took out a key. Didn't have to say what it was. Recognition appeared on her face. She smiled.

I said, ”Will you keep your word?”

”You'll find out.” She raised her hands to her chest. The gransia handcuffs clinked. Magic pulsed in her eyes.

I shrugged. I've been trapped in her game since the beginning. Maybe even before I met her. Now that I think of it, everything was too easy. Finding her in Altheim, tracking her down, capturing her.

She wanted me to find her. She let me capture her.

And there is a reason why she hasn't escaped. She could've killed me in my sleep, but she didn't. She could've poisoned me, but she didn't. She could've left me to die in this honeytrap village, but she didn't. She stood there, watching me, waiting.

I've come this far. Might as well see what her endgame is.

I said, ”You said you'll save me if I freed you.”

”Mh-hmm, but I never said anything about not killing you in the process.” She took a step towards me, rested a finger on my chin. ”Death is a kind of salvation in itself, hmm?”

”Then at the very least, show me some good magic.”

I grabbed her wrist and inserted the key. I turned it.

Clink.

The handcuffs sprung apart. Fell from her wrist. Fell to the ground.

For a moment, everything was still. Even the villagers and their bloodthirsty children froze. I never told them that Elina was a witch. They should know nothing about her power. But they stopped anyway. Maybe they sensed something.

Elina rubbed her wrists. Her eyes were closed.

Ba-dum.

A beat. Not my heart. But something in the air. Like a rock being dropped in a lake.

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum.

It's like the air had its own heartbeat.

She looked at me.

Her silver eyes turned to white. Like the sun. They shone so brightly that I had to shield my eyes. Her hair no longer glittered with magic. It too had turned completely white.

Her whole body was enveloped in light. Slowly, she rose into the air.

Ba-dum.

Ba-dum.

It was no longer a feeling. I could hear the magic electrifying the air.

Then it dawned on me. This was Elina's heartbeat. Her unleashed magic connected her to everything around her.

”There, there, no need to feel afraid.”

I felt something caress my cheek. Something warm and gentle. Like a loving hand. But there was nothing next to me. Elina was floating in the air. I looked up at her. She smiled down.