Page 26 of Faeheart (Widdershins Supernatural Academy #2)

A distant scream pierced through the Veil, followed by another.

Through our connection, I caught glimpses of the chaos as the Purity Front’s formation broke.

One of the robed figures was being dragged toward the water, spectral hands clutching at his limbs while his companions tried desperately to hold onto him.

“They’re breaking,” I snarled, my fae form crackling with wild energy as more spirits answered my call.

Through our bond, I could feel the others’ shock at the violence of what we were unleashing, but also their grim satisfaction.

These weren’t innocent victims. These were murderers who had spilled blood in the name of their twisted ideology.

The screaming intensified, and through our tetrad connection, I could see the Purity Front’s ritual circle collapsing entirely.

Three of their number had already been pulled into the river, their life force consumed by hungry spirits who had been denied crossing for far too long.

The remaining witches were scrambling to retreat, their coordinated attack dissolving into panicked flight.

“The wards are stabilizing,” Elias reported, his voice tight with concentration as his magic wove through the mansion’s defenses like silver thread. “Whatever they were using to break through, it’s failing.”

“Good,” Atlas growled, his protective energy radiating outward in waves that made the very air shimmer. “Let them run back to their masters with their tails between their legs.”

But even as the immediate threat receded, I could feel something else stirring in the Veil.

The spirits we’d awakened weren’t satisfied with just three souls.

They’d tasted life again, felt the warmth of blood and breath, and they wanted more.

Through my fae senses, I could feel them pressing against the barriers between realms, testing the boundaries I’d created.

“Wild,” Caden said urgently, his growth magic flickering with alarm. “The spirits... they’re not going back.”

“Yes,” I growled. “They are.”

Tapping into my deep well of fae magic, I drew up the power of fire, the symbol of my southern point in the tetrad.

The others, despite their obvious exhaustion, gave me what they had left as I summoned up a massive wall of fire to surround the mansion completely.

The spirits, drawn by the warmth, disintegrated against the magical flames.

And the rest, seeing their brethren turned to ethereal ash, turned tail and fled toward oblivion.

As they went, I felt one more spirit join them, happy to finally be at peace. It was the sacrifice for the witch's blood magic ritual.

All at once the lines of power connecting us all faded, our consciousness leaving the Veil outside the mansion and returning to the circular room built just for us. I fell to my knees as the exhaustion set in, my body shrinking back into my more human-looking form.

“We… We did it,” I panted, my arms shaking as I tried to hold myself up.

Elias was beside me in an instant, his arms wrapping around my trembling form as aftershocks of magical exhaustion rippled through our bond. “Easy,” he murmured, his voice rough with his own fatigue. “I’ve got you.”

Through our connection, I could feel the others’ similar depletion.

Atlas had collapsed back against the western wall, his partial transformation slowly receding as golden light faded from his eyes.

Caden sat heavily on his marker, face pale and drawn, amber energy still flickering weakly around his fingertips.

“That was...” Caden started, then trailed off, apparently lacking words for what we’d just accomplished.

“Terrifying,” Atlas finished, pushing himself upright with visible effort. “And incredible. And probably illegal in seventeen different realms.”

I let out a shaky laugh, leaning into Elias’s warmth as my body continued to readjust from the fae transformation. Every nerve ending felt raw, oversensitive, like I’d been struck by lightning and was still conducting electricity.

“The spirits,” I whispered, guilt beginning to creep through my exhaustion. “Did we just commit mass murder?”

“Those witches made their choice when they used blood magic,” Elias said firmly, his magic weaving gentle healing energy through our bond. “They killed an innocent person to fuel their attack. Those spirits... they were seeking justice.”

Through the mansion’s walls, I could still sense the lingering traces of what had happened outside.

The Purity Front’s retreat had been complete and panicked, their carefully planned assault shattered by forces they hadn’t anticipated.

But something else nagged at me, a wrongness I couldn’t quite identify.

“They found us too easily,” I said, struggling to focus through the magical fatigue clouding my thoughts. “The wards Lydia and Sorrel created were supposed to be unbreachable. How did they even locate this place?”

Atlas’s expression darkened, his protective instincts flaring despite his exhaustion. “Someone told them where to look.”