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NADINE

T he immense relief I felt when we defeated the priestesses was surreal beyond words. I’d spent so much of my life fighting that it didn’t feel real for the fight to be over.

I fell into Lucas’s arms, letting my guard down for the first time in years. “Lucas, I was so scared,” I whimpered.

“And you were so brave,” he said softly.

“I knew they were going to turn on each other,” I told him. “I just needed to wait for them to start arguing so I could take my opportunity. I realized in the middle of the fight that aggression wasn’t the answer. They were going to be their own downfall, and I just had to let them.”

He pulled away to push a strand of hair behind my ear. His green eyes sparkled. He didn’t show it, but I could see he’d been afraid, too. “You succeeded beautifully.”

“We all did,” I said. I turned to my friends, and Grant, Talia, and Chloe joined Lucas and me in a group hug.

Grant’s shoulders sagged. “I can’t believe we did it.”

Talia sobbed. “The war is over. We can rebuild the coven now without worrying if it’s going to be destroyed again.”

“We can get started right away,” Chloe said.

I nodded in agreement. “We should get to the Protection Tree. That’s where the Waning is originating from.”

My friends and I started down the mountain. The clouds continued to swirl above us, but the rain had let up. Night had already fallen, so the forest was dark. We moved slowly, because everyone was battered, bruised, and tired. The rest of the coven members were already far ahead of us, and I could hear them cheering for our victory.

We came upon the battlefield. Most of the forest had been destroyed, and mounds of dirt covered fallen trees. Every last golem had been reduced to mud.

A few people milled around the battlefield. Lucas approached one of them, and as we came closer, I realized it was Gregory. He wiped tears from his eyes.

“We’re… um… looking for survivors,” Gregory stammered.

“Don’t bother,” Lucas said sadly. “I can feel life and death, and there’s no one else out there. It looks like even my zombie army returned to the graveyard.”

Gregory sniffled. “We lost some good people today.”

I didn’t want to ask, but I had to. “Brayden…?”

“No, no,” Gregory said quickly. “Brayden’s fine. He’s back at the school helping the recovery team. A couple of necromancers stayed behind. Samantha and I were going to move the bodies to a better place, but… the Waning. We’re out of power.”

“Already?” Lucas asked. “I just used the Mortana Wand to give you magic.”

Gregory shrugged. “It worked for a bit—helped us win the fight, honestly. But we used up what we had. Whatever is causing the Waning is stronger than your Wand. You’re going to have to pull off some fancy magic to overpower it if you want to give our magic back for good.”

“We will,” I promised.

“In the meantime, I hope this helps,” Lucas said as he waved the Mortana Wand.

Gregory inhaled a deep breath, then lifted his fingers. Sparks came out the ends of them. Lucas swished his Wand across the battlefield, distributing power to all the Mortana there.

“We’ll use this magic well until it’s gone,” Gregory said, before addressing the others. “Let’s get these people to the funeral home!”

He turned back to us. “You should go to the school. They’ve got EMTs there caring for the injured. I’m sure there are a lot of people who want to see you.”

“Thanks, Gregory,” Lucas said. “You fought well.”

We continued toward the school, where red and blue lights flashed across the parking lot. The coven’s entire fleet of ambulances were there, and anyone with medical training was rushing to help. A siren blared when we reached the school, and an ambulance took off in the direction of the hospital.

Gwen, Camille, and Valerie sat in the back of an open ambulance, huddled together under a blanket. Gwen rubbed at the Chosen tattoo on her wrist, like she was trying to get rid of it.

“It’s not going to rub off,” Camille said.

Gwen scowled. “I can get rid of it with Alchemy magic. I’ll alchemize the ink and dissolve it. I don’t want anything to do with the Chosen anymore. It was all a lie.”

Valerie stared forward, her eyes completely glazed over. They’d been there to witness Lilian’s confession and were clearly shook by it. “I committed everything I had to the Chosen. The Mentalist Wand must’ve forced Priestess Lilian to say all that. It can’t be true.”

“Believe it, Val,” Camille said. “We’ve been following the priestesses blindly for too long. Does it really make sense that Mother Miriam would want us hanging our own people? We did a lot of bad things in Mother Miriam’s name, and it’s time we start seeing our history for what it really is. I, for one, believe Lilian’s confession, and I’m disgusted we were lied to for so long.”

Gwen’s gaze flickered in our direction, and the girls quieted when they noticed us.

Nearby, a medical station had been set up to care for the most severe injuries. I witnessed Patty, a nurse who worked in the school’s infirmary, attending to a long gash across Alex’s face.

“Do you think it’ll scar?” Alex asked her as we passed them.

“Most likely,” Patty told him regrettably. “But with the right care, we can reduce its appearance.”

“Awesome!” Alex exclaimed. “Scars are cool. Girls like scars, right?”

Patty sighed as she dabbed cream over the wound. “I can give you medical advice, but I’m not the person to ask what kids these days like.”

At the next care station, my nephrologist Dr. Tracey administered first-aid to Lincoln’s leg. She used scissors to cut his pants, revealing a red, blistering wound filled with pus. It looked like he’d been hit by a nasty battle spell, because his skin was starting to rot off the bone.

“Ah!” Lincoln gasped. He was a tough guy, so for him to show his pain meant it must be really bad.

I hurried over to them. “Here, let me help.”

Dr. Tracey stepped aside, and I aimed the Master Wand at the wound. Its power was strong, vibrating through me from head to toe with an intensity that was difficult to steady. The Master Wand could create power out of nothing, and I willed it to heal.

Nothing happened.

Lucas gently pulled me aside. “Nad, I admire that you want to solve every puzzle, but this isn’t something you can fix. Witches don’t have the ability to heal that quickly.”

“Why not? We have all kinds of healing potions. The Master Wand is more powerful than any other magic the coven possesses.”

Lucas kept his voice low, for only me to hear. “It’s still witch magic. Even demigods have their specialties—they can’t do everything . This Wand was made with our son’s power, and if he can’t heal on his own, the Master Wand can’t, either.”

I turned toward Grant. “Can we start alchemizing healing potions for these people right away? I know it can’t fix everything, but it could help the process along.”

“That’s going to take time,” he replied. “It’ll be hours before even the simplest salves can be ready.”

I sighed as I turned back to Lincoln. “I can’t heal it, but I can stop it from spreading.”

Lincoln winced. “Anything that will stop the pain.”

I used the Curse Breaker Wand to siphon the lingering magic from the spell. When I finished, I subconjured my Oaken Wand, along with the Master Wand. They were too valuable to leave out in the open.

Lincoln gave a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Priestess.”

“You’re welcome.”

As we continued walking, I spotted a girl with wild red curls lying on a stretcher. An EMT wrapped a bandage tightly around her ankle, which was severely swollen and bruised.

I went over to her, and my friends followed. “Darcy, how are you doing?”

Her voice was strong as she said, “I might have a broken ankle, but I actually feel really good. I’m glad I came to help, because it was worth it to win.”

Darcy had always been one of our meeker classmates. She’d been taken hostage by the priestesses the night of the Burning my sophomore year. We’d rescued her and gotten her pardoned for the so-called crimes the priestesses accused her of—even though she’d only been trying to put out the fires. After that, we asked her to fight with us, and she’d been too afraid to join us. She appeared so different now, with an air of confidence about her that I hadn’t ever witnessed before.

“You didn’t want to fight with us before,” I pointed out. “What changed?”

“ I did,” Darcy said simply. “I used to be so scared that if I spoke up or brought any attention to myself, I’d become a target. But eventually things got so bad that I realized it was more painful to stand around and do nothing than it was to take the risk.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” I told her. “But thank you for standing up for what’s right.”

She offered a kind smile. “I’m not afraid to do the right thing anymore, and I know I made the right choice this time.”

I looked around the medical station and was amazed by how many people here were just like Darcy—people who we never asked to fight, but showed up anyway.

“I don’t get it,” I said to my friends. “These people have no magic of their own, but decided to defend the coven anyway. Defeating the priestesses was up to us because we’re the ones with the Oaken Wands, but all these people stayed regardless, even though there was a threat.”

“That’s what community does,” Talia said simply. “We help each other.”

For so long the coven had been divided, but so much of it had just been a spectacle run by the priestesses as a power-hungry display. In the end, regular people just wanted to live their normal lives and help one another.

“Council,” someone called.

We turned to see Professor Warren approaching. His hair was a mess, and he had dirt on his face. His brown suitcoat was torn, but he appeared unbothered by it. He carried a large cardboard box with him.

“I heard what happened up the mountain—the Golem War, people are calling it,” he said. “You must all be very worn out. You should all eat something.”

He withdrew bottles of water and energy bars that he handed to us.

Lucas took a swig of water. “What happened here in town?”

“We got most civilians to the other side of town before a golem squadron reached us, though some people chose to stay behind and help,” Professor Warren reported. “We set a trap using our last potion stores just before the army got here. It was the biggest explosion I’ve ever seen—took out a good chunk of the forest, too. Luckily we had enough magic to take them on, because I wasn’t sure it was going to be enough. Not a single golem got past us.”

“Good work, Professor,” Chloe said. “By chance, have you seen my husband?”

“Miles is over there.” Professor Warren pointed toward a big van. “He’s helping hand out supplies we brought from the Community Center. They’ve got blankets and dry clothes.”

“Where’s Headmistress Verla?” I looked around, but I hadn’t seen her anywhere.

“She went to help civilians across town before the attack ended,” Warren said. “They had no idea what was going on, and someone needed to get them to safety. I stayed here so she could help the others. She’s still out there taking care of the evacuees and looking for survivors.”

“Now that the threat is gone, these people can return to their homes,” I said. “Can you get in touch with Verla and let her know we’re rescinding the evacuation order effective immediately? She’ll be able to help these people back into town.”

Warren nodded. “You’ve got it, Priestess.”

We were still wet from the rain, and I shivered in the cold.

The professor noticed. “You should all get into something warm.”

It was clear it wasn’t a suggestion. We approached the van he’d pointed out earlier. The back doors were open, and Miles sat there with a bundle of blankets in his arms, staring ahead with a blank expression.

“Miles?” Chloe approached him slowly.

He snapped out of his daze and looked up at her. “Chloe, thank the Goddess you’re safe.”

“What are you doing ?” she asked.

“Trying not to fall asleep, honestly. I’ve been going since last night. I haven’t slept at all.”

“All right, hun. You need to get some sleep. You can help out when you’re feeling better—” Chloe cut off as she reached out for him, and he drew the blankets away to reveal an unnatural twist in his left arm. “Miles, your arm is broken!”

He shrugged, like it barely bothered him. “It only hurts a little. There are people with worse injuries, and we’re short volunteers. The doctors will see me when they’re done with the others.”

Chloe shot him a pointed expression. “Honey, I love how much you care. It’s why I married you. But you’re in no shape to volunteer right now. You can’t carry anything.”

“I can carry blankets.” Miles shook them at her.

Chloe took them from his hand and placed them back in the van. “Right now, the best person you can possibly help is yourself.”

Grant stepped forward. “Tal and I will hand out blankets.”

“Come on,” Chloe encouraged her husband. “I’ll walk you over to the medics.”

She turned back to us. “I’ll meet up with you guys once things settle down here. Our main priority is making sure everyone is safe.”

Miles didn’t protest as Chloe guided him away.

Talia dug through a box of clothing donations. She handed a pile to me, then another to Lucas, before giving us each a pair of dry shoes. “These should fit you both. Go get cleaned up inside, and then you can get back to council duties. We’ll take turns. Grant and I will start by getting these blankets to people in need.”

We were drenched from the storm and caked in mud, so it was nice to have a chance to quickly change. Lucas and I turned to head into the school and found our way to the locker rooms near the pool. No one else was around, so I followed Lucas into the men’s room.

Lucas gritted his teeth as he lifted his wet t-shirt. I gasped when I saw the deep purple bruises splayed across his entire torso. It looked incredibly painful. I reached out to lightly run my fingers over his sides. I could feel huge bumps where the bruises had swelled his skin. He definitely had a couple of broken ribs.

He turned his head to the side, like he couldn’t look. “How bad is it?”

“Pretty bad!”

“I thought so. I’ve broken ribs before, but this feels worse.”

“You need to go to the medic station,” I insisted.

“I will. Could you help me?”

Lucas couldn’t lift his arms very high, so I helped pull his wet t-shirt over his head. I felt awful watching him wince with every micromovement. I helped him dress, then tossed my dry clothes on.

“Do you need help walking?” I asked.

“No, I can handle that. Just stay with me, all right?”

I carefully wrapped an arm around his waist. “Always.”

I walked Lucas to the medic station, where we found my primary care physician, Dr. Yonker, arguing with Talia’s brother. Tyler sat in a chair where patients with less severe injuries were waiting to be seen, but he was waving Dr. Yonker off.

“Mister Murphy, I’m telling you, you need to let me look you over,” Dr. Yonker insisted. “You’re looking very pale, which could point to something severe. We won’t know until we take your vitals.”

“I’m fine,” Tyler told him. “I’m just hungry. There are people far worse off than me. Take care of them first.”

“Dr. Yonker!” Professor Richards came rushing over. “Your team should have this.”

Richards held up a glowing potion—the same one we’d seen him try to administer to Professor Loren before she passed away on the battlefield.

“It’s not much, but it’s the last of the healing potions I have left,” Richards told him. “If it helps just one person, I’m happy to give it up.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Dr. Yonker said as he took the vial. He looked it over to be sure it was legitimate, but I personally wasn’t worried about anything Professor Richards brewed himself. “This will be very helpful to one of our patients, I’m sure.”

Dr. Yonker saw us standing there then. “Nadine, how can I help?”

“Lucas needs medical attention,” I told him.

Lucas lifted his shirt to show the doctor what we were dealing with. Tyler’s eyes went wide. He gagged, then looked away, like he couldn’t stomach the bruises.

“Give the potion to him ,” Tyler insisted. “That looks like a bitch.”

Lucas lowered his shirt again. “It’s definitely not fun.”

“Come sit at my station,” Dr. Yonker offered kindly.

I helped Lucas get situated on a stretcher next to a table full of medical supplies. Dr. Yonker put on a pair of gloves, but he really didn’t need to examine Lucas to determine if his ribs were broken. Anyone could see that just by looking at him. Even so, Lucas lifted his shirt, and Dr. Yonker looked him over.

“Six broken ribs, by the looks of it,” Dr. Yonker said. “Four on your right side, two on the left. You’ll need X-rays to confirm. Usually, these types of injuries heal in about six weeks. You’ll want to limit your activity so you don’t worsen the injuries. That said… I think Mister Murphy is right. You should take this potion. It’ll help you heal faster and ensure there isn’t damage to other organs.”

Lucas pulled away. “I want that to go to the person who needs it most.”

“ You need it most right now,” Dr. Yonker pressed. “I’ve known your wife for years now, and if you’re anything like her, you’ll be back to work tomorrow. I know it sounds like we can’t do much, but that doesn’t mean these injuries aren’t severe. When I say take it easy, I mean it. But you won’t… so you’re going to take this potion to prevent it from getting worse. You may have won the war tonight, Priest, but these people still need you.”

Lucas scowled. “It’s not fair to use my own compassion against me.”

“Maybe it’s not fair, but is it working?” Dr. Yonker cocked an eyebrow.

“It’s good enough for me,” I cut in. “Dr. Yonker is right, Lucas. If you don’t take this potion, you’ll be back in his office tomorrow with a punctured lung. I’d rather see you get better than make it worse.”

“Fine, I’ll take it,” Lucas relented. He took the potion from Dr. Yonker’s outstretched hand and drank it. “What’s my recovery time look like now?”

“Three weeks,” the doctor replied. “ If you take it easy.”

Lucas pushed himself upright. “I’ll take it easy. I promise.”

Commotion on the other side of the medic station caught our attention. “Who’s in charge here?” a woman demanded. “I want to speak to someone who knows what the hell is going on! They told us to evacuate, but I’m not going anywhere until I get some answers!”

It was Meredith, who’d been absolutely lovely to deal with in the past. She might as well have spat on Monica’s grave at her funeral—a fake funeral, but Meredith still didn’t know that. I had no intention of telling her, either. Even though the priestesses were gone now, I respected Monica’s right to keep her whereabouts a secret, even from her own sister.

That wasn’t the worst of Meredith’s wrongdoings. She’d denounced her marriage in front of the whole coven at the Festival of Santos. But she’d admitted her regret about that, so I didn’t think she’d be too devastated to learn the priestesses were gone now.

I started walking toward her, and she did a double take. “Oh, hell no,” she protested.

“Meredith, please,” I said calmly. “There’s no reason to fight.”

“What, you’re afraid of causing a scene?” Meredith demanded. “I wouldn’t have to do that if you fulfilled your promises when you and your little friends took over the council all those months ago. You said you were going to fix the coven and end the Waning, and look how far that’s gotten us.”

“We are going to end the Waning,” Lucas said from behind me.

I turned to see he had followed me. Chloe, Grant, and Talia had just finished cleaning up inside. They heard the commotion and came to Lucas’s side. Miles was notably missing, along with one of the ambulances, so I could only assume Chloe had pressed for him to be taken to the hospital for his injury.

All eyes had turned to us.

“Oh, really ?” Meredith rolled her eyes. “ You’re going to end the Waning . And when exactly do you plan on doing that?”

“Right now,” Lucas replied simply. He raised his voice to address the others. “Gather your friends and family. You all deserve to see your magic restored. We’re bringing it back to the people tonight . We’ll meet you all at the Protection Tree in fifteen minutes.”

Meredith turned her nose up, looking skeptical. “All right, then. We’ll see if you can truly fulfill your promise.”

She hurried off in another direction to spread the news.

Lucas sighed heavily and kept his voice low. “We’re all ready for this, right?”

“I’m ready,” Chloe said confidently. Grant and Talia both nodded in agreement.

“We need to move fast,” I insisted. “The priestesses may be dead, but the Master Wand is powerful enough for its spells to outlive the spellcaster. The priestesses used it to cast a curse on Marcus, which prevents us from telling him he’s a demigod, but also ensures he can’t create another Master Wand.”

“Isn’t that kind of a good thing, though?” Grant wondered. “You don’t want anyone using Marcus to create another Master Wand.”

“You’re right, but a curse isn’t the right way to protect him from that,” I said. “I know what it’s like to live with a curse inside of you, and I won’t let my son grow up with that for another day. Even though Marcus is on the other side of the world right now, I need to find his curse and free him from it. Once that curse is broken, we can cast a protection spell on him so no one can ever use his magic the way the priestesses did. That way, he’ll be safe, but we’ll still be able to tell him what he is and prepare him for his future. We have to do this now, because even though the priestesses’ curse prevents anyone from creating another Master Wand, that doesn’t mean someone won’t try to hurt Marcus in some other way once they have their magic back. It’s imperative that we break Marcus’s curse and cast a protection spell on him first , and then we can end the Waning. I’m not restoring the coven’s magic just for someone to come after him again.”

“Do you think you can break his curse, even if he isn’t here?” Lucas asked.

“With the Wands? Absolutely,” I said. “This isn’t just for Marcus and us, but for the whole coven. If his powers get in the hands of someone else, we could see another repeat of this war. We need to keep anyone else from using his powers against him again, and we’re doing that before anyone has enough magic to do anything about it.”

Lucas glanced around. “We can’t do it out in the open. I don’t want anyone knowing our son is cursed, let alone a demigod. Let’s get to the Protection Tree and do the spell before anyone gets there.”

My friends and I hurried off the school grounds and sprinted down the trail that led to the Protection Tree. It wasn’t far from the school, but the trail ahead seemed to stretch into an eternity. Chloe got sick of running and levitated us into the air, flying us through the forest faster than we could run. She deposited us in the clearing at the Protection Tree.

I heaved for breath, and my heart hammered. Dead leaves littered the ground, and above us, the gnarly branches of the ancient oak appeared dry and cracked. The tree had so little life left and was taking every last bit of magic it could in its struggle for survival.

“Cover me,” I told the others. “Let me know if anyone’s coming.”

I gripped the Curse Breaker Wand in my hands and closed my eyes. My magic reached outward, through the center of the Earth and across the globe. It was the furthest I’d ever taken it, but I was determined as hell to reach my son, no matter how far he was away from me.

Finding him amongst billions of other people was as easy as calling him up on the phone. I had carried this child in my womb for seven months—my magic knew his intimately. There was a loving familiarity there, a unique connection only shared between mother and child. I knew him like I knew my own heartbeat.

Then my magic brushed up against the darkness of his curse, and I gagged at the vile sensation. I immediately commanded the Curse Breaker Wand to draw the curse out of him… but the curse wrenched away from me. I could see the dark, chaotic energy of it in my mind’s eye. It appeared to react with outrage, howling and hissing at me like a hostile monster infuriated at the disturbance.

I tried again, but the curse came at me at full force. When my magic touched it, it was like slamming my entire body into a brick wall.

“How’s it coming, Nad?” Lucas asked urgently.

“It’s not working!” I cried. “The curse is fighting me for its survival.”

“Forget the curse and just cast the protection spell,” Chloe pressed. “We can break his curse later.”

“No!” I protested. “If I protect him from other spellcasters now, I could block myself from breaking his curse later. This curse prevents us from ever telling him what he is. We won’t be able to prepare him for his future, and the curse will eat away at him like our family curse did—only this one is stronger, so it’ll be worse. I can’t risk my son growing up this way. I need to break it now.”