Page 14

NADINE

T he priestesses will be here in three days.

Lucas’s words repeated over and over in my head, feeling like a bass drum pounding against the sides of my skull. I felt the blood drain from my face, and I steadied myself against an officer’s desk. The Oaken Wands were our last line of defense, and their magic was locked down tight by the curse the priestesses had put over them. If we didn’t find the Curse Breaker Wand now, we’d be completely defenseless once the priestesses arrived.

“Finding the Curse Breaker Wand is going to take a miracle,” Grant said breathlessly.

We were all thinking it, but Grant was the only one brave enough to say it out loud. The rest of us went silent as the harrowing reality fell over the group. We had a mere three days to do what we’d spent years trying to accomplish. It wasn’t enough time.

We knew my mom had taken the Curse Breaker Wand out of Octavia Falls and hidden it, but we didn’t know where. The message we’d found in my birthday cards was our only lead, and I’d pored over my mother’s belongings every day since, looking for clues. I came up short each time. I didn’t know how we were going to find the Wand in the limited time we had.

Chloe cleared her throat. “We’ve pulled off miracles before.”

“If we do find the Wand, what are we going to do with the priestesses if we win the fight?” Miles asked. “We can’t just let them go like Lucas did with Ryan. I know you guys want to play nice, but compassion won’t work on the priestesses.”

We could stand around all night discussing possible outcomes, but that wasn’t going to help us find the Curse Breaker Wand. We needed to get moving right away.

I stepped forward. “Every moment we spend talking about it is time away from pursuing the Curse Breaker Wand, and we aren’t going to win this fight without it. We can figure out what to do with the priestesses once we destroy their army and seize the Master Wand. If we can pull that off, they’ll be forced to surrender. In the meantime, we developed a plan months ago for this invasion, and it’s time to move on it. I’ll focus on getting the Curse Breaker Wand, and the rest of you need to implement the protocol and start the evacuations.”

“The priestesses want a coven to control. It’s not about Octavia Falls to them—it’s about the people,” Chloe pointed out. “Without the Oaken Wands, how can we ensure an evacuation will actually keep anyone safe?”

All eyes turned to me, which was the absolute worst feeling in the world. I could feel my friends giving up, and the little hope I had left was hanging on by a thread. It was tragic to witness, because we’d always been the kind of people to persevere through anything. I wasn’t sure how things were going to play out this time, and I couldn’t bring myself to give false promises.

“We can’t say for sure that everyone’s going to be safe,” I answered carefully. “But we have to save as many people as we can. No matter how unlikely, and how much the evidence is stacked against us, we’re going to find a way out of this. We always do. The Shield Squad has faced haunted mansions, demon possessions, and literal torture. The priestesses have thrown everything they can at us, and we’ve outwitted them before. I know we’re at the eleventh hour, but even when I’m disconnected from my magic, my intuition is still there telling me we stand a chance. We have to persist down to our final moment, because that’s what The Shield Squad does.”

“Yeah!” Grant agreed. “Nadine’s right. We’ve got to hold on to the team motto. To hell and back, even if it kills us .”

I wasn’t sure I believed a word I’d said, but it got Grant excited, and that was all I could ask for. More than anything, I needed my friends to keep going, because if they gave up hope, then I would, too. If that happened, then we’d already lost.

“We’re not going to just sit down and take this,” I added. “We’re going to continue following my mother’s clues to the Curse Breaker Wand, and if we don’t find it, then we’ll die trying.”

“I’ll be by your side through it all,” Lucas vowed. “Whatever you need, Nad, I’m here.”

“I’m with you,” Chloe added. “We’re not going down without a fight, even if there’s no magic left to fight with.”

Miles nodded. “All right. You’re in charge, Nadine.”

“Miles, brief your officers and start the evacuation protocol,” I ordered. “Evacuating this many people is going to take time, and we need officers directing traffic at all of the town’s exit points.”

“You’ve got it,” Miles said.

“I’ll hold a press conference and inform civilians of the evacuation,” Lucas offered. “If they want to stay and fight the priestesses, they’re more than welcome to, but otherwise they need to leave. I’ll contact Verla and Warren on my way, and they can start transporting students out of town. Dr. Mack has connections down at the hospital, and I know she’ll help us get as many patients out as we can.”

I turned to Grant. “Call the bus garage. We need all public school buses working to get as many people out of town as possible. Send them to the nursing homes and anywhere else we can to pick up people who can’t drive themselves.”

I choked up a bit as I added, “The rest of us have to stay here to fight, but you make sure Rose gets on one of those buses.”

“I will,” Grant promised.

“Chloe, you’re with me,” I ordered. “We’ll meet up with Talia at home, and the three of us will follow my mom’s clues to locate the Curse Breaker Wand.”

Chloe clapped her hands together. “All right, you heard the boss! Let’s get to work.”

We all got moving right away and went our separate directions. When Chloe and I returned home, Talia already had Marcus tucked in for the night. We quickly filled her in on what was happening.

“What do you need from me?” she asked immediately. “Whatever it is, I’m with you until the end.”

“We need to decipher the clues my mom left behind,” I told her.

The three of us gathered around the dining room table, and I spread all of my mother’s belongings across the surface. I tapped my fingernails against the tabletop. “We’re missing something, but no matter how many times I look at her things, I can’t see it. I know my mom, and she wouldn’t have spent nineteen years crafting a message for me only to lead us to a dead end. She would’ve left something else behind to guide me. We just have to find the missing piece and fit it all together.”

We must’ve sat there for hours looking for coded messages like the one we’d found before. We tried decoding the first letter of every sentence in the cards, rearranging birth dates and other important numbers, but ultimately came up with nothing. Isa kept letting out heavy sighs at my feet, like she wanted to help but couldn’t.

My head sagged into the palms of my hands. It was my job to find this Wand, and I had failed to do so at every turn. My mother left this message behind for me , and I felt like the worst daughter, because I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to tell me. It didn’t matter how many codes I’d cracked or how many complicated puzzles I’d solved in the past if I came up empty-handed here. If I couldn’t figure this out, then the fate of the coven fell solely on me.

“Something’s missing,” I said through gritted teeth. As I stared down at my mother’s things, I had to face the horrifying truth that perhaps I couldn’t crack the code this time. I had so few things of hers left, and perhaps the message I was supposed to find just wasn’t here anymore.

Chloe picked up a photograph that was only half visible. The rest of the photo had been ruined when Lucas knocked my things into the sink a few months ago. The edges were crumpled, and the ink had bled together into splotches that covered most of the image. Most of my photos had suffered some sort of damage in the accident.

“It’s possible you’re missing something that was here but is gone now,” Chloe suggested.

“I’ve considered that, but there’s nothing we can do to restore the images,” I insisted. “I don’t have any spare copies of these pictures.”

“What if we could use magic to restore them?” Talia wondered.

“You don’t think I’ve thought of that?” I asked hopelessly. I shoved one of the photos in her direction. “Touch it, Tal. Use your Seer powers to look into the past and tell me what this photo used to look like.”

Talia frowned hopelessly. She’d barely conjured a spark of magic since our séance failed, and that’d been weeks ago. The Waning had drained so much of our powers that even she couldn’t uncover what was lost.

“If we could use magic to reverse the damage, the Waning has made that basically impossible,” I said.

“I could try using a Seer crystal,” Talia offered.

“Where are you going to find one?” I demanded. “We’ve used up the last of our last crystal reserves helping the coven, and you can’t just waltz into a crystal store and buy magically charged crystals anymore. Verla’s been supplying us what she can from the Crystallary at school, but we’ve used all that, too. There’s not enough magic to go around.”

“Maybe your mom left something else behind,” Chloe suggested.

“There’s nothing!” I snapped.

I knew they were trying to help, but I’d already considered all these angles, and it killed me to admit that I had no answers to give them. If we’d found this clue months ago, maybe we could’ve used magic to learn more, but the Waning had never been worse than these last few weeks. We encountered spurts of magic here and there, and Lucas’s powers were strong, but it was Seer magic we needed, and we didn’t have any right now.

“Everything else I had left was destroyed in Grammy’s house fire,” I reminded them. “It’s a miracle any of this survived. If the rest of my mom’s message was in one of my other boxes, it’s gone now. It has to be here, or we’re done. We’ve failed!”

“There has to be something more,” Talia pressed. “If it’s not in her things, then it’s in the message she left behind in your birthday cards. Is there anything else she could’ve meant by it?”

“I don’t know!” I cried, smacking my palms against the tabletop. “Everyone wants me to have the answers because I’m the chosen one, but I don’t have a plan! I’m supposed to be the leader here, but that doesn’t mean I have an endless supply of answers. I’m not some savior born to redeem you all. I’m just a girl who wants to do right by her people, but I can’t do it anymore. I’ve been at this for months, and I’m out of solutions. I wish I could say I knew what to do to take care of everyone, because I know it’s my job to save them, but we’re out of time and I have nothing to show for it. There’s nothing I can say that can express how sorry I am, and even if I could, apologies won’t find the Curse Breaker Wand.”

Talia shot Chloe a nervous glance, looking desperate to help me. I’d completely broken down. I said I needed my friends to hold it together or I’d crack, but the truth was I was going to crack regardless, because no matter how much I tried to hold on, I’d already reached the end of my rope. There was nothing else I could give them.

“Nadine, I’m sorry,” Talia apologized. “I never meant to imply you had all the answers.”

“You don’t have to do this alone,” Chloe added. “Talia and I are going to figure this out. You go get some sleep.”

I sighed, because that wasn’t what I wanted. “I’m not giving up.”

“You need a break, along with our help to provide a fresh perspective,” Chloe demanded. “We said we were here for whatever you needed, so let us support you. Go to bed, and we’ll let you know what we find in the morning.”

“Chloe—” I started.

“That wasn’t a suggestion,” she pressed. “You’re obviously frustrated and tired, and we need you at the top of your game. This is not optional, and it’s not up for discussion.”

Chloe knew how to get me to listen, because she was right. It was almost three o’clock in the morning, and I wasn’t going to be much help here without sleep. If it was anyone else, I’d have protested more, but the great thing about Chloe is she knew how to take charge when the situation called for it. She could see what needed to be done even if I was too stubborn to admit it.

“All right,” I agreed. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

I slumped to my bedroom, and though I was completely wiped out, I tossed and turned all night. Still, the morning came far too soon, along with a harrowing reality I wasn’t ready for.

The priestesses’ impending arrival required unthinkable preparations that Lucas and I hadn’t had a chance to talk about last night. I knew the decision ahead of us was inevitable, but that didn’t mean I wanted to go through with it.

I awoke to a quiet house, which felt oddly surreal following the chaos of the previous night. The cats slept at my feet, but the bed and bassinet beside me were empty. I could hear the soft sounds of Marcus sucking a bottle from the next room.

Slowly, I got out of bed. The air felt ice cold on my skin, so I grabbed my bathrobe and wrapped it around myself. It wasn’t enough to ward off the chill—nothing could ever be.

I stepped into the main room, where I found Lucas sitting on the couch rocking Marcus back and forth. He stared down at our baby boy, stroking Marcus’s nose with the tip of his finger a few times. It was like he had to remind himself that Marcus was really there and not just a figment of his imagination. I understood, because I did the same thing when no one was looking. When you’d had everything stripped from you before, it was hard to believe in miracles even when you held them in your arms.

I wasn’t sure I could do this again. I sniffled, and Lucas looked up at me. He must’ve noticed the sad look on my face, because he quickly asked, “Do you want to hold him?”

I couldn’t get the words out. I nodded, then rounded the couch to sit beside him. Lucas placed Marcus in my arms, and I steadied his bottle for him. My husband draped an arm around me, until the three of us were snuggled together.

“What time did you get back?” I asked. I’d heard him return home before sunrise, but I hadn’t noticed him get up.

“Around six o’clock,” Lucas said. “It’s ten now. Grant and Miles are still evacuating citizens, but they sent me home so we could take turns sleeping. I’m not sure where Talia and Chloe are. They must’ve left before I got home.”

Under other circumstances, their absence might’ve worried me, but right now I couldn’t be bothered to care. My family had an immediate issue to address, and I was honestly glad Lucas and I were alone for it.

“Did you get any sleep?” I asked, though my voice was strained.

“A little,” he replied vaguely. “It’s hard to sleep knowing the evacuations that need to take place.”

I stared down at Marcus, who was scrunching up his nose in the cutest possible way. He had no idea what was about to happen, or that my heart was already breaking into a million pieces. If I had one wish, it’d be to take all the pain from my child’s life in every moment—past, present, and future. But no amount of magic could stop the agony from coming.

“I had really hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” I whispered.

Lucas pulled me closer, until my head rested on his shoulder. “We have to do it, Nad, even if we don’t want to.”

A tear streaked down my cheek. “I know. I just… didn’t think it’d be so soon.”

“You don’t have to let him go until you’re ready,” Lucas promised.

I stroked the dark tuft of hair on top of my son’s head. “I’ll never be ready, but I know it has to be done. It’s too dangerous for Marcus to stay here. He has to evacuate with the rest of them. We can’t put it off.”

Lucas kissed the top of my head, then started to stand. His tone came out sounding hollow as he said, “I’ll call Professor Wykoff.”

She was the obvious choice to care for our son and get him out of town, because she was the only person we trusted outside our closest circle. She’d promised us the night we rescued Marcus from the priestesses that she would always protect him. She’d said that if we ever needed her help, we just had to ask. This was a monumental request, but we had no other choice. The rest of us had to stay here and fight.

Lucas and I had been through so much together that we barely had to discuss the plan out loud. We just knew what we had to do, though I wasn’t sure we could have a full conversation about sending our son away. Usually, we could open up and talk about anything with each other, but this was different. This wasn’t just something that happened to us. It was a tragedy we were choosing, one that was happening right here in real time, and I feared that if we gave it too much consideration, we’d back out of the decision. That would be the worst possible thing for our son. I wanted him as far away from Octavia Falls as possible when the priestesses arrived. I’d sooner die than ever let them lay a hand on my son again.

I held Marcus closer than I ever had before. We got half an hour with our son. That was it before Professor Wykoff showed up at our doorstep with her bags packed. It was the shortest thirty minutes of my entire life, and I wanted every precious second of snuggling my son back. Mother Miriam could freeze our family in time right there for a million years, and it still wouldn’t be enough.

“Marcus will be safe with me,” Professor Wykoff promised. She stood in our suite awaiting the exchange, but I just couldn’t bring myself to hand my son over.

“Where will you take him?” I asked as I rocked him. Marcus laid his head on my shoulder, which made it all the harder to let him go. Isa, Oliver, and Rishi meowed at our feet, like they could sense the melancholy of the moment.

“Off to Paris,” Wykoff answered. “I’ve already been in touch with Onyx, and she’ll have a room ready for us when we get there. It’s the safest place for your son, because even with the Master Wand, the priestesses will hesitate to get that close to Malovia.”

“Marcus doesn’t have a passport, and I don’t have enough magic to portal you,” Lucas pointed out. “How are you going to get him out of the country?”

“I have allies that can get me there,” Wykoff said. “I’ve been researching demigods extensively since we rescued your son from the priestesses. I’ve heard whispers of a group of people who will protect your child. They’re called the Demigod Guardians, and I’m in contact with one of them.”

Marcus tugged on my hair, and I shifted uncomfortably, though for entirely different reasons. “How can we be sure we can trust these people?”

“Believe me, I’ve asked myself the same question,” Wykoff said. “I too am cautious about anyone claiming to have information on demigods, let alone wanting to protect them, but in the research I’ve done, I know these allies to be genuine. They are a group I hope to join myself someday.”

“Who are they, exactly?” Lucas asked.

“The Demigod Guardians are a secret organization made up of elder supernaturals who seek to protect demigod children from all around the world,” Professor Wykoff explained. “Many of their members are like us and have personal experience with demigods. They believe that demigod children deserve a proper upbringing, and that a demigod’s powers are not for others to exploit, but that their magic should only be used for good. Therefore, it is their mission to protect these children from being exposed to anyone who wishes to use their powers for their own gain. If they had to, members of the Demigod Guardians would step in to care for a demigod child, and raise them to do the best for the world.”

I took a step back. I didn’t like the way she was talking. “I don’t want anyone else raising our child.”

“Of course not,” Wykoff said gently. “The Demigod Guardians believe in preserving a demigod child’s family unit and wouldn’t interfere with how you choose to raise him. I simply mean that if we were faced with the worst case scenario, your child would be taken care of.”

Lucas quickly stepped in. “We don’t know that it will come to that.”

The thought of making plans for if we didn’t make it was absolutely crushing. It was so unlike us to consider every possible scenario. But if we had to think about dying and leaving our son behind, I wasn’t sure either of us would be willing to go through with this.

“Lucas is right,” I agreed. “We don't know these people and can’t trust them, but we trust you. You use your allies to get to Paris, and that’s it. You don’t take our son to these people unless we’re dead. Right now, you just protect him and bring him back when it’s safe.”

“Yes, of course,” Wykoff said. “You’re his parents, and I will honor your wishes.”

Lucas had already packed up Marcus’s things, but I noticed his blanket with the cartoon kittens on it was still draped across the back of the couch. I reached for it and wrapped it around my son’s shoulders.

“Marcus fusses when he’s cold,” I said with a sniffle. “Lucas, did you pack his teether?”

“Yes, all three of them.”

“Including the one shaped like a wolf?” I asked.

Lucas nodded. “And the wyvern and unicorn.”

“What about his pacifier? He can’t sleep without one,” I worried.

Lucas wrapped his arm around my waist. “He’s got everything he needs. I packed the teethers, pacifiers, rattles, bottles, formula, diapers—it’s all there, Nad. I promise.”

I turned to Professor Wykoff, but I hesitated. I couldn’t hand Marcus over. Instead, I handed him to Lucas. “You didn’t get a chance to hold him yet.”

Truth was, Lucas had been holding Marcus most of the morning. I only handed him off because I knew Lucas would be able to give him to Wykoff, whereas I never could.

Lucas pulled Marcus close and touched his forehead to our son’s. “You’re going to go on an adventure now, pumpkin. Professor Wykoff is going to keep you safe so Mommy and Daddy can build a better world for you here. When you get back, all will be better, and everyone will be safe. Don’t worry about us. We’ve got an important job to do, and we’ll do our best. We love you, nugget, and nothing will ever change that.”

I choked back my tears. “There’s one thing he’s missing.”

I hurried into our bedroom, then came out carrying mine and Lucas’s Wedding Wand. It didn’t hold any power of its own, and our magic was useless right now with the Waning, but once this was all over this wand would be as powerful as the magic caster wielding it.

“Momma and Daddy made this wand, just like we made you,” I said, holding our Wedding Wand above Marcus. He reached for it like it was a rattle, then started chewing on the end of it. “If you ever need us, just hold this wand tight. Momma and Daddy forged this wand from our love, and it will always hold our love for you.”

I kissed the top of Marcus’s forehead. “Goodbye, honey. I love you so, so much.”

“Goodbye,” Lucas whispered.

Then he knelt down and strapped Marcus into his car seat. It was hard to watch, harder even than I imagined it would be. Rishi meowed mournfully and batted at the edge of the car seat. Carefully, Lucas lifted the kitten and placed him in Marcus’s lap.

“Take Rishi with you,” Lucas told Wykoff. “He belongs with Marcus, and he can help protect him.”

“I will,” Wykoff replied.

Lucas lifted the car seat by the handle. “We’ll be in touch when it’s safe to come back. Let us walk you out.”

Professor Wykoff took the stroller, and I grabbed Marcus’s bag. We loaded it all into the back of Wykoff’s car, while Lucas strapped Marcus into the back seat. We must’ve said goodbye to our son a million more times, but it still didn’t feel like enough. I reached into the car seat to take Marcus’s hands, then leaned down to kiss his tiny little fingers. Marcus giggled like I was tickling him, and I wanted to keep that beautiful sound of my son’s laughter with me forever. There was no amount of goodbyes that would be enough.

“I love you, honey. Momma loves you so much.” I repeated it at least a hundred times, and it still didn’t feel right to step back and let him go. Lucas grabbed my hand, and I knew I had to do it now, or I never would.

Professor Wykoff kindly shut the back door, then turned to us. “Thank you for trusting me with your son. I will protect him with my life—and more if the Goddess wills it. You are both very brave in many aspects, but rest assured your son will be safe. You have my number if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Lucas said.