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Even from this distance, I see Felix’s shoulders straighten and his tight nod of assent. A pulse passes between the two demons—years of respect and friendship and understanding.

“An honor, my king,” Felix says softly. “And one I hope will not come to pass.”

Eren returns his nod, no further words needed, and turns back to me. “Shall we?”

I lay my hand on the stone, and the Veil pulses emerald. We step inside, and a few moments later, we exit back in the human realm.

The first face I see is my mother’s.

Tight with worry and determination, eyes locked on the portal, washed in red light, she watches as we step through the Veil and stumble into the clearing. She raises one hand to her mouth to stifle whatever emotion is threatening to break from her, and a murmur moves through the crowd behind her.

The power in these woods is palpable. Not just from the Veil, but from the assembled witches. The coven’s most powerful. It radiates in notes of copper and iron, lacing the air with a faint metallic edge.

There must be at least a hundred coven members here.

I recognize nearly every face staring back at me. Young and old, former classmates and friends of my mother. All here to see the portal between worlds closed off for good.

Sitting just a short distance from the Veil is a large, oblong black stone. Obsidian maybe, or tourmaline. Whatever it is, I can feel the powerfully protective, banishing energy radiating off it from here.

“Allison,” my mother says, stepping forward. “What are you doing here?”

As she speaks, she looks over my shoulder at Eren, glancing nervously between the two of us.

“I’m here to ask you for just a little more time.”

She shakes her head. “Tonight is the full moon, we can’t wait for—”

“There’s an hour until it reaches it’s zenith. I only want that long.”

She frowns, but doesn’t answer right away, and I glance over at my demon.

Eren has come to stand beside me, a hand resting on the small of my back and his wings flared out behind us. I take in his serious, handsome face, the hard look in his eyes as he scans the coven, searching for any sign of danger, ready to protect me as always. Something shifts and clicks into place in the center of my chest, though I hold on to the words for now.

Turning back, another familiar face catches my eye, just over my mother’s shoulder.

Emilia, looking lovely and fragile, but with a fierce determination in her eyes that sparkles in the pale light of the full moon.

She catches my gaze for a moment, but then stares beyond me, eyes fixed the light of the Veil. “I wanted to be here, to see it sealed.”

See,I want to tell my mother.It isn’t just me you’re hurting with this.

Still, knowing that even two witches’ plights compared to the safety of the entire realm won’t sway her, I stick to the plan.

“I got answers from the grimoire,” I say, my emotions perilously close to the surface.

Believe in me,the frightened child in me wants to say.Tell me I’m strong enough to do this.

“What answers?”

“Soul magick,” I tell her, voice steady.

My magick, that same voice says.Magick that’s going to beenough.

I don’t know what makes me believe it. By all rights, I shouldn’t. Standing here, with the strength of the coven around me, the unstable Veil at my back, and my own mother looking at me like I’m still the powerless witch I’ve always been, there's no reason for me to believe I’m going to succeed.

And yet.

Eren stands beside me. My Goddess-blessed husband. My mate. My demon who’s never seen me as anything but capable and who’s been in awe of my gifts from the beginning. My partner in all of this, who’s challenged me to see my magick and myself in a new light.