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I pushed the Wand to fight his curse, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t break through. This curse had been cast with the Master Wand, and its power was too much for the Curse Breaker Wand to reverse.

Instead, I subconjured the Curse Breaker Wand and exchanged it for Master Wand. The Master Wand should be able to break its own spell. I clung to my connection with my son, and I ordered the Master Wand to break that curse. Immense power pulsed through me, more powerful than anything I felt with the Oaken Wands. If the Curse Breaker Wand could expand my power across the globe, the Master Wand spanned galaxies. I was everywhere and nowhere all at once.

My son’s curse became enraged, seeming to grow to epic proportions as it fought against me. It lashed out, delivering a magical blow that reverberated through the Master Wand. I stumbled back, gasping. I quickly drew back my power, because I feared I was only fueling the curse with this magic.

Only, the power didn’t stop like I commanded it to.

“Nadine, what’s happening?” Talia cried.

The ground began to shake, and the forest trees twisted and groaned. I struggled to maintain my footing.

“Stop the spell!” Grant demanded.

The Master Wand shuddered violently. I gripped it tightly with two hands, and my heart slammed against my rib cage in panic. My whole body convulsed as I tried to claim control of the spell again. I didn’t know if I could. I’d never lost control of a spell like this before.

“I’m trying!” I shouted. “I can’t control it. It’s not working!”

Chloe threw her hand up to shield herself from a falling tree branch. “The Master Wand is too strong!”

Lucas withdrew the Mortana Wand. “We’ve got to work together to get this spell under control.”

My friends met me in the center of the clearing. I struggled to hold on to the Master Wand in one hand as I took the Curse Breaker Wand in the other. We each extended an Oaken Wand outward until the tips touched. I commanded their power to steady the Master Wand’s magic—but I never finished the spell.

A huge blast of energy shot out of the end of the Master Wand, sending my friends and I flying in different directions.

For a beat, I found my mind floating in empty space, then slowly I came back to myself. I lay flat on my back. The ground was steady now, but my ears rang. Tiny white dots filled my vision, and it took me a moment to realize they were stars. I pushed myself to a sitting position, wincing at the aches and pains in my joints. Around the clearing, my friends groaned as they sat upright. Lucas clutched his side and sucked a pained breath between his teeth.

I looked around to see the Master Wand lying several yards in front of me. I’d been so disoriented I hadn’t even realized it’d flown out of my hand, though I still held the Curse Breaker Wand tightly. I crawled to the Master Wand on the ground and carefully reached out, as if I were testing the heat on a hot stove.

The Master Wand appeared perfectly benign. My fingers curled around the handle, and I could feel its magic pulsing, awaiting instruction from a spellcaster.

“Wh—what happened?” Grant asked warily.

“The Oaken Wands must’ve overpowered the Master Wand,” Talia said.

I shook my head. “No, I never cast the spell. This was Marcus’s curse. Even the Master Wand couldn’t handle it.”

“How’s that possible? The Master Wand cast the curse,” Chloe pointed out. “Its spell can’t be more powerful than the Wand itself.”

“Well, it was,” I bit harsher than I meant to.

“So… did the spell work?” Lucas asked. “Did we break our son’s curse?”

“I—I don’t know,” I admitted. I was too afraid to use my magic to check, because I feared making it worse. Instead, I conjured my phone. “I’m calling Wykoff. I need to make sure Marcus is okay.”

I stood and began pacing around the clearing. I put the phone on speaker so my friends could hear. The phone rang three times before Professor Wykoff answered.

“Nadine—”

“Is Marcus okay?” I demanded before she could get another word in.

“Yes, what’s going on? You sound very worried.”

“Are you sure?” I pressed. “Check if he’s breathing.”

“He’s perfectly all right,” Wykoff promised. “I’m holding him right now. He was fussing for a bit, but I calmed him down.”

I heard the soft coo of my son’s voice over the line, and I began to sob in relief. It was a sound I knew so well, one I could easily distinguish from any other child. My son was alive and well, seemingly unaffected by the spell we’d just performed.

“We tried to break his curse,” I told Professor Wykoff.

“That may be why he was fussing,” she replied. “But he’s perfectly fine now. Did you succeed?”

I swallowed the lump rising to my throat. “I haven’t checked…”

Lucas slowly approached me. “Nadine, we have to. We need to know for sure.”

I knew he was right, but I was afraid of what provoking the curse might do to our son. Still, we had to know. Hesitantly, I lifted the Curse Breaker Wand and reached across the globe for my son again. I found his magic easily, and with it came the sickening gut-punch of his curse. On the other end of the line, Marcus began to scream. I gasped and yanked my magic back before I could do any more damage.

My jaw trembled. “It didn’t work. Marcus is still cursed.”

Lucas furrowed his brow. “Professor Wykoff, could this have something to do with Marcus’s demigod powers?”

“Certainly,” she replied. “His curse was cast with the Master Wand, which is just as strong as he is. Nadine’s Curse Breaker powers wouldn’t stand up to such a spell.”

“We tried using the Master Wand to break it,” I told her. “ And the Curse Breaker Wand. Neither worked.”

A silent beat passed, and I could sense Wykoff’s panic from the other end of the line. “Not to worry,” she forced out in an even tone. “I will look into this for you. I’ll dedicate all my time to this mystery. I will find answers. I promise.”

I wanted to believe her, but until we had answers in our hands, I wasn’t convinced we’d find them. The stakes were far too high to rely on hope this time.

Voices approached in the distance.

Chloe shot a glance through the trees. “Wrap it up, Nadine.”

“Thank you, Professor,” I said. “We’ll talk soon.”

I hung up, then turned back to my friends. “I know we should be able to pull this off. If we combine the power of the Oaken Wands and the Master Wand, we should be able to overpower the curse.”

Chloe’s gaze darted toward the trees again, where the voices were growing louder. “We’re out of time.”

“No, we can still do it,” I insisted. “This should’ve worked. The only explanation is that the Waning is screwing with our spell somehow, which means we have to end the Waning first.”

“That puts your son at risk, once everyone has their magic back,” Grant pointed out. “We don’t know what the priestesses told people and who might already be plotting something.”

“We’re going to do the spells all at once,” I said. “I did the same thing the night in the courtroom, when the priestesses kidnapped Marcus. I just had to time everything right to get him back. One spell to fix it all—end Marcus’s curse, cast a protection spell over him, and rebalance and restore all our magic, all at the same time.”

“That’s a lot of power,” Lucas pointed out.

“We have power,” I said, holding up the Master Wand. “We can end the Waning with just the Oaken Wands, but combined with the Master Wand, we can do anything. We need to use all the power that’s available to us.”

“If you think this is the right thing to do, then I’m on board,” Grant said.

Talia nodded in agreement. “We set out to heal the coven, so let’s heal everyone .”

“Agreed,” Lucas said.

Chloe tore her gaze from the trees. “All right. Let’s do this.”

Hordes of people flooded out of the trees. I recognized so many faces—Tyler, Dr. Yonker, Judge Calloway, and Professor Warren. There had to be a hundred people here, and far too many to name. The coven stared back at us expectantly, so I could only assume the earthquake that had occurred moments ago had been localized and the others hadn’t felt it. Coven members surrounded us until the clearing was completely full.

Meredith stood at the front of the group with her arms crossed. She tapped her foot on the ground. “Well, are you going to fix this or what?”

“Lay off them,” Tyler defended. He didn’t look well and should’ve stayed back at the medic station. His face was really pale, and his body was covered in a sheen of sweat. “They’re waiting for everyone to get here. This isn’t just about you, you know.”

Meredith scowled at him. “You really should learn to respect your elders—ah!”

Meredith screamed as Tyler stumbled forward and collapsed in front of everyone. Everyone closest to him jumped back in surprise. My friends and I rushed to his side, along with Dr. Yonker. Talia reached her brother first, and Dr. Yonker knelt beside him.

“I told him he needed to let me look him over,” Dr. Yonker muttered. He pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and shone it into Tyler’s eyes.

“Is he going to be okay?” Talia asked desperately.

Tyler groaned as he came to. He pushed Dr. Yonker’s hands away. “Easy on the light, Doc. You’re going to blind me.”

His voice was groggy and didn’t quite sound like his own.

“Tyler, you lied to me,” Dr. Yonker stated sternly. “You’re sick.”

“Yeah, Doc, I’m injured,” Tyler moaned. “Couldn’t hide it from you long enough, could I?”

“What’s wrong with him?” Talia demanded.

“Hit by a rogue spell, sis.” Tyler winced as he lifted his shirt.

If I thought Lucas’s bruises were bad, Tyler’s were ten times worse. His entire abdomen was a sickly purple color. The internal bleeding was severe. I didn’t know how much longer he had left.

“Tyler, you should’ve taken the healing potion!” Lucas demanded. “Your injuries are far worse than mine. Why would you refuse help?”

“I knew I didn’t have long left,” Tyler rasped. “A measly witch potion wasn’t going to help fast enough. I didn’t want the doctors wasting time on me.”

“We can still help you,” Dr. Yonker insisted. “We’ll get you to the hospital right away.”

“It’s too late,” Tyler insisted. “I can already feel my reaper coming for me.”

“ No !” Talia screamed. “I only have one brother, and I’m not losing you. You stay with me. There has to be something we can do! Nadine?”

When Talia begged me, my heart shattered. The thought of losing someone else, someone we loved , made my insides shrivel up. I wished I could take Tyler’s place, because I never wanted Talia to feel the loss I’d felt when my family died.

“Witches don’t have healing magic, Tal,” I whispered regrettably.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. “We have to be able to do it! We have more power than witches have ever had before. You’re going to cast a spell to heal the tree—to heal the coven . Use it to heal him . That’s healing magic isn’t it? Even if it doesn’t heal him completely, won’t it give him a chance?”

I wanted to tell her yes, to give her every reassurance in the world that her brother would make it, but this kind of spell had never been done before. We couldn’t know for certain.

“Tal, you have to let me go,” Tyler requested. “I knew the risks. I’m happy to die so you can build a better coven.”

I couldn’t do this. I was sick of losing people all in the name of a better coven. There was no point in continuing to let people we love die in the name of our cause if they weren’t here to be a part of it anymore.

“Lay him next to the tree,” I stated firmly.

Grant furrowed his brow. “Is this going to work?”

I wasn’t sure. “Talia said it best. We set out to heal the coven, so let’s heal everyone .”

Talia squeezed her brother’s hand. “Stay with me, Tyler. We’re going to fix you.”

A few muscular guys stepped forward to help move Tyler closer to the tree. He was a bit out of it when they laid him down. “I don’t know if I should go through with this…” he slurred.

“Let us try ,” Talia begged.

Tyler’s eyes focused for a second on his sister. “All right, Tal. For you, I’ll try.”

“Everyone stand back,” Chloe ordered the coven.

My friends and I gathered around the Protection Tree, and we formed a circle around Tyler’s body. I clutched both the Curse Breaker Wand and the Master Wand in my hands.

“We do this all in one go,” I told my friends in a shaky tone.

“Group spells work better with an incantation,” Lucas suggested. “ Through unity and these wands of oak, we pray to the Goddess to restore what’s broke. ”

I nodded firmly. “Lend me your magic, and I’ll do the rest.”

My friends lifted the Oaken Wands and spoke the incantation in unison. Power rippled through me like a shock wave, but I forced my feet to remain grounded. The Master Wand responded to me this time, tangling its magic together with the power of the Oaken Wands. There was so much power that I had to force some of it back. If I allowed it all to be unleashed at once, it would rip through us like a tidal wave, tearing us to pieces in one fell swoop.

I wasn’t a demigod—I didn’t have the ability to harness that much magic all at once. But I was a talented supernatural, and I had my friends at my side, along with the Oaken Wands and the Master Wand to stabilize the power. It was more magic than the Miriam Coven had ever possessed before, and I knew that whatever we willed the Wands to do, they would follow our command.

The ground began to shake beneath our feet again, and wind whipped the Protection Tree’s branches back and forth. The tree groaned from beside us. Coven members screamed and backed away.

“Keep going,” I ordered my friends. “We’ve got this.”

The stars that twinkled above us moments ago vanished as another wave of storm clouds rolled in. Only this time, they were worse than anything the priestesses had conjured. Lightning bolts cracked in quick succession, never pausing for even a moment. The rumbling of thunder was so strong it sounded like an animalistic growl coming from a massive, angry beast. Lucas instinctually conjured his scythe and glanced around frantically, ready to protect us all in the face of an attack. The wind was so strong I had to fight against it to stay on my feet. Coven members huddled in large groups or clung to trees to avoid being knocked off their feet.

“What are you doing?” Meredith shouted, though her voice seemed distant against the roaring wind. “Cast your spell!”

“Nadine, we’re ready when you are!” Grant shouted.

When I pushed our magic outward, it didn’t go anywhere. “I’m trying!”

“Have you lost control again?” Lucas asked.

“The magic’s responding to us, but it’s like it’s trapped!” I told them. “Something’s pushing back.”

“The curse?” Chloe asked.

“No! I haven’t even touched it,” I said.

“We have to keep going!” Talia insisted. It was clear she’d do anything to save her brother.

Furthermore, we’d promised these people to restore their magic. We weren’t about to turn back now.

I tried extending the spell outward again, but it was like I was hitting up against the solid walls of an impenetrable box. Moments ago, my magic could cross continents, and now, it was like it couldn’t even leave Octavia Falls. It didn’t make any sense.

“We distributed magic to other people when we were fighting the golems,” Grant pointed out. “Why isn’t it working now? We should be able to end the Waning.”

I didn’t have an answer. My body became electrified with incredible power. I knew my friends felt it too, because in unison, our bodies began to glow with bright white light, like we were made of magic ourselves. Our arms shook violently as we tried to steady the spell. I didn’t know how much further I could push. With every ounce of energy my friends and I gave to the spell, that power seemed to push back on us. Even so, I was willing to take this as far as we had to if it meant the coven got their magic back.

A deafening snap filled the air, and everything changed in an instant. My body slammed into the dirt, and the breath left my chest in a violent blow. Though I maintained consciousness the whole time, I couldn't be sure I hadn’t somehow skipped forward in time. The lightning came to a sudden halt, and the clouds vanished. The earth stopped rumbling, and the wind died down. It was like none of it had happened in the first place.

Only when I lifted my head, I found my friends sprawled out in the dirt. Lucas’s scythe lay on the ground between us, and Tyler was still lying next to the Protection Tree. Coven members filled the clearing, clutching one another as they looked around in confusion.

It was far too quiet… the kind of silence that made my skin crawl. I’d never encountered anything quite so eerie.

I sat up and sank back on my heels when I lifted the Master Wand. The object of immense power fell into two pieces in my hand, sliced straight down the middle. I tried to search for the magic inside of it… but it was gone. My stomach became hollow as I realized the Master Wand was nothing more than a useless piece of wood now.

“I don’t understand how this happened,” I said breathlessly. “The Master Wand is destroyed.”

“Uh… Nadine!” Chloe cried.

Her panicked eyes focused on something behind me. I looked up to see that everyone all had their eyes on the same thing.

Slowly, I spun around to look at the Protection Tree. My heart wrenched when I realized the Master Wand wasn’t the only thing that had shattered. Before us, the Protection Tree had split in two. It looked like it’d been hit by lightning, with a crack straight through the center that left a three-foot gap in its trunk. Each side of the tree sagged, its branches hovering only inches off the ground.

Except I knew lightning hadn’t been the culprit, because the crack was far too perfect… like something only magic could create. Frantically, I reached out with my magic to feel for the protection spell around the town, but I felt… nothing .

I gripped the Curse Breaker Wand tightly in my hand, searching for magic I could use to reverse this. But the Wand responded only briefly to whisper a final farewell. The Curse Breaker Wand wept, and the last of its magic faded.

It hit me with the most horrifying clarity that the protection spell around our town had fallen… and with it, all of our magic was gone.

If my stomach had hollowed a moment ago, my entire being seemed empty now. I witnessed the truth right before my eyes, and I still didn’t quite believe it. I didn’t understand how this could happen.

I had the horrible thought that I’d fucked this up, that in my selfish attempt to protect my son, I’d used too much power and cast a spell I couldn’t reverse. But my theory was unsound. We weren’t demigods, and we couldn’t harness such power alone, but all the Wands we possessed should be able to make up for that. We hadn’t pushed them hard enough to cause such a calamity. If we had, we’d all be dead.

My friends looked down at their Wands in confusion, stunned to find they didn’t respond. The Oaken Wands could access all magic in the coven, and if they weren’t working… that meant there wasn’t any magic left for them to use.

“My magic… it’s gone,” Lucas said breathlessly.

“No!” I cried. I shook the Wand in my hand, like that would force its magic to come back. I tried to create a spell, but every ounce of magic inside of me had vanished. The void was all-consuming.

This wasn’t like the Waning. Then, I could still feel the smallest hints of magic lingering in my chest, even if I couldn’t cast a spell. Now, there was nothing. It was like losing one’s own heartbeat—you never really paid attention, because it was constant, but once it was gone, you felt the agonizing desolation of emptiness.

We hadn’t restored our magic at all. Somehow, in the midst of trying to save everyone… we’d lost it.

It was nonsensical and went against everything I knew. I tried to make sense of it, but instead of coming up with an answer, my mind went blank in pure and utter shock.

The excruciating silence was broken by the sound of Talia’s heart-wrenching cries as she threw herself over her brother’s body. His lifeless eyes stared at the sky, and there was no denying it from even a distance. Tyler was dead.

I got to my feet, though I barely felt them move under me. The ache of failure in my gut seemed to devour me. “Tal…”

“You said this spell could save him!” she snapped. “You said it would work, Nadine!”

Tears pricked at my eyes. “I said we would try. We did the best we could.”

“ That was your best?” Meredith spat. All around us, coven members started to whisper. They’d felt the void of their magic disappearing, too. “You promised us our magic, but instead you’ve destroyed it. We should hang you!”

Professor Warren quickly jumped in front of Meredith. “Nobody’s hanging anyone! Have you considered that maybe this isn’t the council’s fault? It’s ours ! Think about it! We killed the priestesses to win this war, but we didn’t win anything. We had a chance to make things right, but we chose the same path the priestesses did that started all of this. It’s been our own choices that doomed us. Isn’t it obvious? Alora doesn’t want us anymore.”

Professor Warren had to be right, because it was the only explanation. Something had been fighting to contain our spell. Whatever it was it had to be stronger than the Master Wand and Oaken Wands combined—and power that strong could only come from the gods.

The Waning was happening because the coven divided, and killing the priestesses had been our final undoing. Our connection to Alora was lost, and that meant we didn’t have magic anymore.

We’d failed.

Meredith’s lips curled back into an angry sneer. She stomped forward several paces, but before she could reach us, she doubled over and started to retch.

She wasn’t the only one. All around us, people started to heave. Several people collapsed, groaning in a sickly way. Soon, everyone except my friends and I were doubled over in pain.

I stumbled back and grabbed Lucas’s arm. “What’s happening?”

“It’s got to be some sort of side effect of the spell,” Lucas theorized. “We aren’t affected because we were the ones casting it.”

Meredith dropped to her knees and reached out toward me. “Save us!”

Tears rose to my eyes as I whispered, “I can’t.”

Never had that heartbreaking reality been more true.

Dr. Yonker clutched his stomach and stumbled into the center of the clearing. “Everyone stay calm. This appears to be some sort of side effect of our magic. It should pass. If we just stick together, we can figure this out.”

“ Together? ” Judge Calloway scoffed as she stepped forward. She clutched her stomach but spoke through the pain. “When are you people going to learn that none of us are ever going to agree on anything? If we don’t have Alora, then we aren’t witches, and there’s nothing that connects us anymore. Perhaps Mother Miriam was right to take our magic away, because we aren’t a coven. We haven’t been for a long time. Octavia Falls is already in ruins, and if there was any hope of fixing it before, there’s no hope now. I suggest you all take what you do have left and leave this place with your families.”

Judge Calloway whirled toward my friends and me. “As for you five, we’re not going to kill you and make the same mistake we did with Lilian. You’re better off being left alone here in the ashes of your ruins.”

“We never intended this to happen—” I started, but the judge cut me off.

“Intention or not, you’re still responsible,” she snapped. “You wanted to take over this coven—have what’s left of it!”

Then she turned and stumbled down the trail. Others went to follow. After the Imperium Council, Judge Calloway was the next authority. People would listen to her. They would leave town like she suggested, and with no one left to build this town up… it would crumble.

We hadn’t just lost our magic. With it, we lost our town. We’d lost our coven.

All I could do was stand there as the townspeople abandoned us. Professor Warren was the only one who stayed. He winced as he stepped forward.

“Professor… I’m so sorry,” Lucas struggled to say. We were all at a loss for words.

Warren cleared his throat as he knelt at Tyler’s side. “I’ll, uh… get him to the funeral home.”

Even Professor Warren had nothing to say, which was absolutely devastating. Usually, he had some sort of insight or pep talk to give us. This time, he couldn’t offer any of that. All he could do to help was the one thing a necromancer knew how to do—move dead bodies.

Only this time, he had no magic to do it. He went to lift Tyler in his arms.

“Wait,” Talia begged. She staggered forward and grabbed Professor Warren by his coat collar. “Did his reaper come for him? Will he make it to Alora!?”

He wore a sad look of regret. “Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s at peace.”

Warren wouldn’t say the obvious aloud. For all we knew, Tyler was stuck here now that Alora had closed her doors to us. It was a cursed existence to live in a world you couldn’t live in—watching and observing but never experiencing . Usually when ghosts got trapped on Earth, it was by their own choice, often due to some unfinished business.

But we’d done this to Tyler, and to every witch who died after. We’d lost our religion, our goddess, and our way to Alora. Every witch and warlock still living who eventually died would be stuck here as a ghost, unable to cross over to the afterlife.

Perhaps the people who’d died in the battle were lucky. At least their souls still had the chance to make it to Alora. The rest of us never would.

Talia sobbed as Professor Warren lifted Tyler’s corpse and carried him away. The five of us were left completely alone in the clearing.

Talia turned her tear-filled gaze to Lucas. “What was his last thought? I have to know.”

Lucas choked back tears, but he couldn’t bring himself to answer. His tragic silence was answer enough. Lucas hadn’t heard him. “Tal, I’m so sorry.”

Talia’s whole body convulsed into sobs. Grant wrapped her in his arms.

“I don’t understand how this happened,” Grant said hollowly. “How could the Oaken Wands lose their magic?”

“They draw their magic from the coven, and our magic comes from Alora,” I rattled off without feeling. It was easier to compartmentalize, because I couldn’t make sense of any of this myself. “The Oaken Wands have got to be able to access Alora’s power to work. They can’t generate their own magic like the Master Wand can.”

“Then how did the Master Wand break?” Grant asked.

“Because something overpowered it,” Chloe answered sadly. She’d made the same calculations I had. “The Master Wand is only as powerful as the demigod who created it, which means anything demigod level or more can break it.”

“There’s got to be a way out of this… right?” Lucas asked desperately. “We always find one.”

I shook my head. “Not this time.”

“Not all magic is gone,” Lucas insisted. “We may not be able to access Alora, but the power’s still in our blood! Nad, you’ve manipulated fae magic before. The fae’s power isn’t connected to Alora, so their magic is still operable. All we need is a little spark, and we can work with it. There must be something we can do to get back in touch with Alora.”

“Not if Mother Miriam doesn’t want us there!” I cried. “If I try this spell again, then Tyler might not be the only person to die! That spell took what was left of Tyler’s life, and we made everyone else sick. If we try that spell again, more people are going to perish. How many more people are going to die for this? We keep acting like the five of us can just come in and fix everything, but this isn’t some singular enemy like the priestesses that we’re fighting against. Professor Warren was right—this was caused by the entire coven. We can’t fix something that everyone else has given up on. Even if I could do this spell, I’m the only one who can, and if I try it, I risk killing every other witch on the planet. That leaves me. Alone. To start the coven all over again. And Lucas, I don’t know anymore if it’s worth saving.”

“Nadine, if you don’t want to pursue this, then we won’t,” Chloe said gently. “The choice is up to you, but you need to make sure you’re okay with the alternative. Without Alora, our religion and our faith will die out. We won’t be witches anymore, and when we die, there won’t be an afterlife waiting for us. We might find somewhere else to go—someplace in between worlds, but our people won’t be together anymore. Mother Miriam won’t be waiting for us on the other side.”

I wiped my eyes. “If the spell doesn’t work, then the result is the same, and I’ll have just expedited these people’s damnation. If I don’t do it, then at least they get to live out the rest of their lives in peace.”

“Can any of us really be at peace if we give up who we are?” Grant wondered. “Do we really want to keep on living if we don’t have magic?”

I shrugged hopelessly. “I grew up without magic. People live like this every day. Maybe our people won’t be happy, but at least they’ll be safe. No more conflicts… no more threats… no more war. Lucas and I were prophesied to end the coven’s suffering, but maybe it never was about bringing magic back. Perhaps this is how it ends… no one’s ever going to use witch magic to hurt each other ever again.”

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll support your decision,” Lucas said.

That really fucking hurt, because if my husband was ready to stop fighting, there was nothing more we could do.

“It’s not what I want, but what choice do we have?” I bit angrily. “The coven doesn’t want us to fix this anymore, so why are we still trying? We got the Oaken Wands, and we defeated the priestesses. That was our mission. We can’t force these people to unite when we’re our own worst enemy.”

Talia sniffled and wiped her eyes. “So… what do we do now?”

My heart sank with the weight of unbearable misery. “We say goodbye.”

The Miriamic Conflict was done. This wasn’t the way we wanted things to end, but the only thing we ever really had control over was our own choices—not the outcomes. We kept saying we needed to unite the coven, and in a way, we had come together… but together we’d repeated the same mistakes. Professor Warren had been right. We brought this upon ourselves.

“I don’t know where any of us will go from here, but we can’t stay,” I said hollowly. “That’s what the Waning has been about this whole time, hasn’t it? It was a message to move forward, to change our ways or lose our magic for good. But we didn’t learn our lesson, and now we have to face that. We’ll survive, but we’ll lose ourselves, and that’s the choice we made together.”

This wasn’t the kind of speech I normally made, and every word I uttered cut me to the core, but there was no way out of it. This is what our choices had led to.

I had no pep talks to give this time, nothing to tell them. We’d persisted until the end, and now it was over.