Seduced by Power by Alex Lux

but it has to be human, or at least part human."
    "Does witch count?"
    He cocked an eyebrow. "Yes."
    Father Patrick stood and nodded. "It's ready."
    Drake approached with the codex Jasmine had found the communication spell in.
    We'd already gone over the details, what to do and when. My heart thumped in my chest, and my stomach clenched as waves of nausea threatened to overwhelm me. Drake had already started speaking in low tones in a language I didn't understand. I wondered when and how and why he'd leaned to speak in demon tongue. Was there a big call for this at their school?
    Thinking of their mansion brought back all the talks and plans Derek and I had for our future. A future with children of our own and working with the kids at the paranormal school. A future full of love and laughter.
    Blake was talking.
    I tried to focus on his words.
    "There must also be a gift of pain, beyond the cut for blood."
    Thinking of my crushed heart, I shrugged. "I've got that part covered. There's nothing you could do to me that would hurt more than what I'm already experiencing."
    He nodded and I held out my wrist as Drake droned on. With a quick swipe that I didn't even feel, Blake opened my skin, and blood trickled into the bowl.
    I stared at the red liquid with a certain detachment, as if it were a movie and not my own life force pulsing out of me.
    "This is just going to open a portal for communication, nothing more. You'll be able to talk to someone on that end and ask questions. You should be safe, and I'll be here if anything goes wrong. But it takes a lot more than this to cross over. Just be careful. Demons are tricky and manipulative. They never do anything for anyone without expecting something greater in return. You'll have to be prepared to give up something, and they will try to make it seem insignificant, but it won't be. Don't promise anything without talking to me first, okay?"
    My body shook, from the cold or nerves, I didn't know. "We've already gone over this, Blake. It'll be fine."
    He covered the cut on my arm with white gauze and tape and sat next to me, holding my hand. "Focus on your pain and send it to the bowl with your blood."
    I wasn't sure how to send my pain anywhere, but I focused on the metal bowl and imagined my pain as a real thing—not that hard to do, considering how much of me it had eaten up—and I directed it to my blood.
    A flash of light burned my eyes, lighting up the night with oranges and reds, and then it was gone, and the bowl was empty. No blood.
    I pulled off the gauze Blake had put on my arm, and a small scar remained where the cut had been.
    Cool trick, but I didn't feel anything else happening. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Some red magical phone to start ringing with a scary demon voice on the other line? A ghostly vision haunting me?
    Nothing. Just the clear winter sky and cold ground that was freezing my ass.
    I turned to ask Blake what we did wrong, but he had a look of terror on his face as he stared forward, his hand clenching mine.
    "Rose, you have to leave. Now." Blake whispered, but he might as well have shouted.
    "What? No! I need to talk to someone. I need answers."
    I didn't budge as he tried to push me out of the circle.
    Father Patrick called my name, but his voice faded until I couldn't hear him anymore.
    Night closed in around me, cutting me off from everyone. I held up my hand, the one Blake had been holding, and grabbed for him, but he was gone.
    "Blake? Father Patrick? Drake? Where are you guys?"
    For the first time, I felt fear. Real fear.
    Fog swirled past me, and the cold turned to steam, then heat, and my body broke out in a sweat.
    A flash of lightning silenced the world around me, and a dark mist clouded over my vision, sticking to my clothes and body, filling my lungs and stinging my eyes. I cried out, but there was no one there to hear me.
    The mist pulled something out of my body, something I needed. Something important.
    Then I was the something being