The Legend of the Eight: The Twisted (Book 3)

26: This Is It

TWENTY-SIX: THIS IS IT
MAY 29
NICOLE BRADLEY

IT WAS FINALLY THE DAY. That Sunday, the day following Phoebe and Drew's wedding, was the day that Nicole and the Eight would perform the spell and travel back in time to prevent the attack on the Veil. According to Damon's impossibly accurate calculations, the blue moon was set to begin rising at four-oh-seven, meaning they had exactly seven hours after returning to the house to finalize their preparations for the spell.

        While Logan and Kate arranged a series of eight candles in a perfectly symmetrical circle around the Watch of Iris, Nicole was tasked with finding an object to represent Cam Miller—who'd abandoned them before the spell could be completed. Wil selected one of Liam's jerseys from the Academy to represent him though Nicole was having a bit more difficulty. She hardly knew anything about Cam—aside from his failed relationship with Kate—and his room was almost bare after his sudden departure. She would've settled for a lock of his hair if she could find it.

        "I have a kind of crazy idea," suggested Phoebe, noting Nicole's frustration. She turned to see the newly-married girl standing in the doorway of Cam's old bedroom, watching as Nicole dug through drawers in search of something with enough Cam on it to be suitable for the spell.

        Nicole tightened the hair tie keeping her blonde locks up in a high ponytail and raised a brow. "At this point, I'm open to anything."

        Phoebe stepped into the room and looked around at the mess, her freckly nose scrunching briefly. "Back at the Academy, Drew snuck into Clarion's office with Wil and Kate and he said they found a rope there that mimicked the magic in our tattoos. When we lost a knot, so did the rope. And Damon said that it was used to bind us the night we were... Well, I guess you could say created."

        Nicole nodded, slowly following Fi's train of thought.

        "I was thinking," continued Phoebe. "That rope is linked to us, right? So if we had it during the spell, we'd be able to channel Wil, Liam and Cam even though they don't have magic anymore."

        "You think it still has traces of them in it?" Nicole asked and Phoebe was quick to nod.

        "I did some research on objects like that and when they're created, they also require a personal touch to it. Like a strand of hair or something. It's integral to the rope's structure."

        Phoebe gestured for Nicole to follow her out of Cam's room and into Walter's office—where she saw the Vacancy Stone sitting on his desk.

        "And then I got to thinking," Phoebe said when they entered the office. "What are the chances that rope is still at the Academy, right? But Walter and Clarion would never leave anything tied to the Eight behind. So I did a little snooping and..."

        She kicked open the bottom drawer of the desk before reaching in and removing an ordinary looking rope—though the knot structure was identical to the tattoo on Nicole's body.

        "Voila!"

        Nicole smiled, shaking her head in disbelief.

        "You know what Fi?" she said, still smiling. "People don't give you enough credit. Sometimes, you really are a genius."

        Phoebe giggled and as they walked out of the office to join the others, she muttered (mostly to herself),

        "Honestly. I keep telling people that but no one ever seems to believe me."

"ARE YOU BRINGING ANYTHING BACK with you?" Kate asked while the girls sat in her room that afternoon, counting down the hours until the blue moon.