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Kael opens my door, and we start taking bags to the plane. “I’m pretty sure we just heard wolves. We need to hurry,” Kael says.

“Lilith, you and Leli go sit on the plane,” Daemon says.

“I’ll do a bigger barrier,” Leli says. “I’ll have Lilith help, but hurry. It’s a bit harder to hold.”

Leli and I get on the plane and sit down. She turns and faces me before taking my hands into hers.

“Is this the same protection spell you taught me a few days ago?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s just on a much larger scale,” she says. “Just concentrate on me and the words. Block everything else out.” I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to center myself. I let everything around me fade away while keeping Leli at the forefront of my mind. Repeat these words until we are in the air.By the dragon’s light and the strength of the bear, I call for protection as we take to the air.”

“By the dragon’s light and the strength of the bear, I call for protection as we take to the air,” I say in synchrony when she repeats it. We repeat the spell on a loop as we sit together holding hands. I feel the vibrations of the plane, but we remain focused on the words and our hands connecting.

“Hey… We made it. We are in the air,” Daemon says softly. We stop chanting the spell, and I open my eyes.

“Woah. You glow too,” I say. Leli is glowing yellow, as are her eyes. It is fading fast, but when I look at my body, I see the same yellow glow.

“Yeah,” she says simply.

“That was… I’ll never get used to that,” Kael says, and I laugh.

We move to the couches to sit. I am sitting in Callum’s lap with my legs across Daemon while Leli sits beside us. “I need to get in contact with Mazvyn,” she says.

“I was going to ask about that,” Callum says.

“Yeah, he needs to know we are coming sooner. How long of a flight do you think it is?” Leli asks.

“Kael said that to get to land is about two hours,” Callum says.

“Okay. Let me get everything ready,” she says as she stands up. I turn and look out of the window while she prepares.

I watch as we fly over rolling hills full of lush green trees. You can see the farmlands with their rows of various crops from up here. Everything looks peaceful and serene, like the world isn’t rapidly going to shit. The sun is starting to set on the horizon, and it paints the sky with a beautiful pink hue, streaking through the blue.

“Okay,” Leli says as she sits down with a bowl of water. She sprinkles the herbs into the water before slicing her palm to draw blood. When the last drop hits the water, Leli whispers, “Mazvyn.”

The water starts to swirl into focus, and Mazvyn appears again.

“What’s wrong?” he asks right away. “You said you wouldn’t reach out unless something was wrong.”

“I… Fuck,” she sighs.

“Is she okay? Where is Lilith?” he asks, clearly panicked now.

“Yeah. She’s right here. You just might get mad at me,” she says.

“What’s wrong, Leli?” he repeats.

“Lilith was crowned today. Everything was going fine through most of the celebration. I was giving Lilith a break from dancing. The lights dimmed for a slower song, and we thought it was Daemon who came up to get Lilith. I went to go get another drink and sit down for a minute….” She stops talking again, and Mazvyn sighs.

“I’m not going to get mad, Leli. Just tell me,” he says softly.

“It was Zypher,” Leli says. His eyes flash red again, knowing where this is headed. “He pulled her outside to a balcony and cornered her. He was saying some shit about how he owned her. When she said that the guys would kill him for this, he… Uhm… he pushed her against the railing of the balcony and was trying to pull her dress up. She panicked and shifted so she could get away. She managed to get to Kael, and… Zypher shifted, and I thought he was about to charge her… so I put up a barrier. I outed us both in front of everyone.”

“So everyone knows she’s a witch?” he asks with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Leli says, sniffing back tears. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was afraid he was going to get her while he was still shifted. It would have killed her if he caught her. She’s so small, shifted… I was trying to protect her.”

“Hey. Stop, Leli. She’s alive, right?” he asks.