Page 28

LUCAS

N adine and I rushed home to find our friends frantic with worry. Grant had dragged his bags into the living room and was unpacking everything. He tossed clothes everywhere.

“The Wands have to be here!” he insisted. “We must’ve misplaced them.”

“ All of them?” Chloe demanded. “I know I left the Mentalist Wand in my room next to our bags. It’s gone, along with the rest of them.”

“Grant, the Alchemy Wand isn’t in your suitcase,” Talia pressed. “I packed it with the Seer Wand in my backpack, and they’re not there anymore.”

Nadine and I entered the living room, and Oliver scurried over to me and meowed in distress. Marcus started crying in his stroller, and I quickly went over to cradle him in my arms.

Chloe looked relieved to see us. “We went looking for the Curse Breaker and Mortana Wands, but we couldn't find them.”

I rocked Marcus, and he quieted. “I have the Mortana Wand.”

“I left the Curse Breaker Wand here.” Nadine started down the hall toward our suite, and we all followed. “After we lost our magic, I assumed the Oaken Wands were useless. I didn’t see a reason to protect it anymore.”

She stopped in our suite and knelt next to our bags near the door. She unzipped the front pocket of her duffel bag… but it was empty.

Slowly, she stepped back. “The Curse Breaker Wand is gone, too.”

“Nadine’s right, isn’t she? The Oaken Wands are useless,” Grant said, but even he didn’t sound like he believed himself. “Perhaps someone wanted to keep them as a memento.”

“That’d be one serious collector,” Miles mumbled with a curious expression on his face. It was the same look he got whenever he was on sheriff duty. I could see in his calculating eyes that he was already thinking of this as a crime scene.

“Someone must’ve waited until we left home and taken them for a reason,” Nadine insisted.

Talia frowned. “We don’t know what this thief could use the Wands for, but it can’t be good. If they knew the Wands could still help us, they would’ve come to us directly.”

Nadine tapped her foot thoughtfully. “Only if they trusted us, and we’ve made a lot of enemies.”

“Yeah, but who’s left? The priestesses are all gone, and everyone who doesn’t like us has already left,” Grant pointed out.

“Maybe the Wands are worth something to other supernatural societies, even if they’re useless to us,” Miles theorized. “Someone might’ve taken them thinking they could sell them off to the highest bidder.”

Nadine didn’t seem convinced. “Something’s not adding up. Did you guys notice anything else missing, or anything out of the ordinary?”

Chloe shook her head. “Everything’s in its place—everything but the Wands.”

“Show me where you kept them,” Nadine requested.

Chloe led us to the other side of the house and into her room. Her bags and a few boxes were piled near the door.

Chloe smacked the top of the dresser. “I left the Mentalist Wand right here. I know I did.”

Nadine carefully examined the dresser’s surface, then started opening and closing drawers. She got down on her hands and knees to look underneath the furniture—first the dresser, and then the bed. She found nothing. Chloe kept her room spotless.

“What are you looking for, exactly?” Grant asked.

Nadine leaned back on her heels. “I’m not sure yet, but I feel… something. I can’t put my finger on it.”

She started to stand, but as she pushed her knee against the floor, she winced. “Ow!”

Nadine picked something out of the carpet, so small I couldn’t see what it was at first. She stood and held a small pink rock in the palm of her hand. It was raw rose quartz, barely an inch long.

“Um… that’s nothing,” Miles said quickly.

“It’s definitely something ,” Nadine countered. She peered closer at the crystal, like there was something inside she couldn’t quite make out. “I think the thief dropped this.”

“Miles is right,” Chloe said. “We used rose quartz in an intimacy ritual we did a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a spell, exactly, but we mixed a bunch of rose quartz with herbs and essential oils while we?—”

“They don’t have to know the details,” Miles cut her off.

Chloe sighed. “We must’ve dropped it during the ritual. It’s ours.”

Nadine furrowed her brow. “Then why do I sense it contains magic?”

The room went dead silent for several beats. We were all equally baffled.

“That’s impossible. Can I see?” Miles held out his hand. Nadine placed the crystal in his palm, and he peered closely at the rock. “I don’t feel anything.”

“I do, because Curse Breaking is in my blood,” Nadine said. “As long as there’s magic for me to access, I can feel it.”

Talia tilted her head. “All witch magic is gone, though. So… what’s this?”

“It’s gotta be fae magic,” Miles theorized. “Which means the fae were causing the Waning all this time and this isn’t some punishment from Mother Miriam, but an act of war from the Arcanea.”

“But the fae helped us find the Wands—Beau Blankard, Professor Calliope, and the fae we met in Malovia,” Talia pointed out.

Miles cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, they put us through hell to find the Oaken Wands so they could eventually get their hands on them. Professor Calliope’s looking like our prime suspect.”

“How are the Oaken Wands useful to the fae?” Grant wondered.

“It doesn’t matter if they can use them themselves, as long as they prevent us from using them,” Miles said. “The Oaken Wands were built to protect our magic from the fae, but if they’ve got their hands on them, that leaves our magic completely vulnerable.”

“It’s not fae magic.” Nadine took the crystal back. “I can feel that it’s witch magic, but it’s different, too. I can’t identify one singular Cast. That’s why Miles doesn't feel anything, because it doesn’t quite resonate with him. But this is my specialty, and I’ve been working with sensing magical signatures for years. It’s faint, but it’s there.”

“So our magic isn’t completely gone like we thought,” Chloe said thoughtfully. “The Waning never drained our crystal stores, so severing our connection to Alora must’ve not affected them, either. If there are any charged crystals still left in the coven, then there’s still witch magic here, and it’s magic we can access.”

“If that crystal doesn’t contain the magic of any witch Cast, then what is inside of it?” I asked.

Nadine swallowed audibly. “I said any singular Cast. This crystal contains magic from all of them.”

Nobody knew what to make of that. I hadn’t been aware witches could infuse a crystal with magic from multiple Casts.

Chloe appeared perplexed. “How did it get there? I mean, this crystal is ours. Miles and I never put any magic into these crystals during our ritual, and it’s impossible for us to infuse them with magic that isn’t our own.”

“It may be your crystal, but this is the thief’s magic,” Nadine said. “Remember when we found those Executors dead near the safehouse? One of their wands had a crystal embedded in it that had absorbed Autumn’s Mortana magic. It’s how we tracked the reaper down. The same must’ve happened here. Your crystal absorbed some of the thieves’ powers without them realizing it.”

“So we’re looking for a team of witches,” Grant realized. “There’s no other way to use the Oaken Wands but together.”

Talia appeared wholly confused. “How’s this possible? No one should have access to magic anymore.”

“Unless they’ve got enough crystal stores,” Chloe pointed out. “Someone must’ve been planning this for a while. The only question is… what do these thieves want to do with this magic?”

“Can we use the magic in the crystal to track them down?” I asked.

“It’s our only shot.” Nadine stepped forward and placed the crystal in Talia’s palm. “Tal, we need your powers right now. Use the Seer magic in this crystal to see who’s been here.”

Talia pulled her shoulders back. “I’ll see what I can get.”

She curled her fingers around the crystal and closed her eyes. I squeezed Marcus close to my chest, holding my breath as we awaited Talia’s vision.

Talia frowned. “I’m trying, but there’s not enough magic here.”

Nadine’s eyebrows pinched together. “There should be. I can feel it.”

“Then it’s resisting me,” Talia said. “I can’t connect with the magic. It’s like it’s stronger than me, and I can’t overpower it.”

“Let’s work together,” Nadine suggested gently.

She curled her hands around Talia’s fist, and the girls closed their eyes. A long, arduous minute passed. With each second we waited, the thieves got further and further away with the Oaken Wands.

Talia’s eyelids fluttered. “I hear footsteps, but I can’t see anything.”

“How many pairs?” Nadine asked.

“One,” Talia answered.

“The thieves must’ve split up to look for the Wands,” Miles muttered.

“Shh…” Grant hissed. “Let her concentrate.”

Talia squeezed her eyes shut tighter. “There’s nothing here. I can only trace objects, and this crystal didn’t see enough.”

“Instead of tracing the crystal, can you follow the magic back to where it came from?” Nadine suggested.

“I’ve never traced magic like that before, but I can try,” Talia offered.

Her eyelids fluttered faster, and she inhaled shallow breaths. “I think it’s working.”

“What do you see?” Chloe urged.

“It’s more like a feeling,” Talia explained, her tone growing in intensity. “I’m moving backward in time, feeling the magic in reverse. It’s moving from the crystal to… someone’s chest? It’s a strange perspective. I can’t see their face.”

“Keep going,” Nadine encouraged.

“It’s coming in flashes,” Talia said desperately. “I’m moving across town! I see houses… so many streets. I can’t read the street signs. It’s going so fast! I—I…”

Abruptly, she dropped to her knees on the floor, letting out a defeated sigh.

Grant rushed over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Tal, it’s okay. You’re here with us.”

Chloe took a wary step forward. “Did you get anything?”

Talia blinked her eyes open. “Not much. I saw a flash of something, but I can’t quite make it out. All I saw were crystals everywhere —all shapes and colors stacked up on the walls.”

“The Crystallary at school?” I wondered.

Talia shook her head. “This felt like it was outdoors somewhere… like some sort of crystal cave.”

When she said that, something nudged at the back of my mind. I furrowed my brow, and Nadine wore a matching look of contemplation. I could’ve sworn I’d heard that somewhere before, but I couldn’t recall where.

“We don’t have much for caves around here,” Miles pointed out. “Maybe a cavity in the bedrock, but that’s hardly a cave.”

“I’m telling you that’s what I saw,” Talia insisted. “I don’t know where it was or how big, but that’s where the magic led me.”

Nadine tapped her chin. “So to find the thieves, we need to find the crystal cave.”

I gasped as it hit me, and Nadine inhaled a sharp breath at the same time. “ Find the crystal cave! ” I cried.

“Lucas, the haunted house!” Nadine exclaimed. “We need to go back!”

Nadine was already headed toward the door.

“Wait!” Chloe demanded. “What are you two talking about?”

“When I first moved here, Lucas took me to Old Man Keller’s house,” Nadine explained quickly. “He was an old man who had recently died from tripping and hitting his head on a rock somewhere on the Black Circle trial.”

“I remember Old Man Keller,” Chloe said. “How’s this relevant?”

“I heard his last thought,” I told her. “Professor Warren gave me an assignment to look for the good in my gift, so I went to Keller’s house to see if I could help him cross over. I brought Nadine along thinking she’d enjoy a séance. We summoned him, but all we got was him repeating his last thought— Find the crystal cave. He was a violent spirit who knocked Nadine out. I thought he was talking nonsense.”

“Clearly not,” Chloe said. “He obviously knew something.”

“How much Seer magic is left in that crystal?” Miles asked.

Talia bit her lower lip. “A tiny bit. I used most of it up.”

Miles smirked. “A tiny bit is all I need to talk to him. We’re going to have to cancel dinner, because we need to go find this ghost and see what he knows.”

I strapped Marcus in his car seat, and we took two cars since we couldn’t all fit in one. We sped across town, coming to a screeching halt in front of Old Man Keller’s house.

The house was different from the first time I’d been here. Back then, it had all the creepy feels of a haunted house—rickety front steps, peeling paint, and dust everywhere. But that had been years ago, and the house had been sold since then. Now, the front steps had been replaced, and the house had new siding. The porch light was on, but there wasn’t a car in the driveway, so I could only assume the family had evacuated town.

The cats jumped out of the car and raced up the porch steps. Instead of going to the door, the cats circled around a porch swing that swayed lightly in the night breeze. I carried Marcus in his car seat and followed Nadine up the walkway. The others trailed closely behind.

When we reached the house, I realized the porch swing wasn’t swaying in the wind at all… it was being rocked by a ghost . We didn’t need Miles’s Seer powers, because Old Man Keller was sitting there waiting for us. His form was ethereal, but that confused, crazed expression I recalled the first time we’d encountered him all those years ago was gone. Oliver jumped onto the cushion to lay beside the old man, and the ghost gently petted him.

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time,” Old Man Keller said. “I hoped one day you would come back.”

“I understand better,” I told him. “You just wanted to be heard, and I’m here to listen now.”

Miles’s jaw hung slack. “You guys are seeing him, too? I didn’t even use my powers.”

“You don’t need to,” Old Man Keller said. “I’m strong enough on my own.”

Nadine took a careful step forward. “If you don’t mind me asking… where are you getting your power from? Alora’s magic has been lost to us.”

“The magic is still out there,” Old Man Keller replied. “You just can’t access it because something is overpowering you.”

“Does it have something to do with the crystal cave?” I asked.

Recognition glinted in Old Man Keller’s eyes, but a second later, it was gone. “A crystal cave?”

“That was your last thought,” I reminded him. “ Find the crystal cave. You said the same thing when I summoned you during a séance years ago.”

Old Man Keller stared out at the empty street. “Yes… there was a crystal cave. Forgive me. I remember very little of my death. It was traumatic, wasn’t it? That’s why I don’t remember.”

“You passed very suddenly.” I didn’t want to tell him too much, because triggering his trauma could put him back into that wildly confused state I first found him in. “What can you remember of this crystal cave?”

He tilted his head thoughtfully. “I remember it’s why I died.”

When he didn’t elaborate further, I asked, “You wanted us to find it. Do you know why?”

“I saw something there… something you need to stop,” he said distantly.

“Do you recall where this cave was?” I prodded.

He shook his head. “Not far. I was chased.”

Nadine got a worried expression on her face. “Mr. Keller, are you saying you were murdered?”

“I… think so,” he admitted.

The air seemed to drop several degrees. The police had ruled his death an accident.

“So we’re not just dealing with thieves. We’re dealing with murderers.” Grant crossed his arms. “Could it be the priestesses’ supporters continuing their work—trying to gain power to get people to submit to their will?”

Old Man Keller didn’t look like he’d heard Grant. “Someone is trying to bring back what they lost.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but the ominous way in which he said it made my skin crawl. “Mr. Keller, is there anything else you can tell us that might help?”

Finally, he tore his distant gaze from the street to look at me. “It’s all connected—this thing you call the Waning, the crystal cave, all of it. There are whisperings from the other side, rumors of a missing boy.”

We all exchanged a wary glance, but Talia was the one to ask, “Could he be talking about Issac Miller and Caleb Thomas, the two kids murdered by the Gingerbread witches?”

“An infant,” Old Man Keller said simply.

I didn’t understand. “There were never any reports of a missing infant. Mr. Keller, do the rumors say whose child this is?”

“I don’t know his name, but they say he works at the school,” Keller said. “That’s all I’ve heard.”

Miles stepped forward, holding the crystal out toward the ghost. “With more power, could you connect to the other side to get more information? We need to know who’s behind this.”

“I can try to get you his name,” Keller offered.

Miles placed the crystal on the porch swing, and Keller put his ghostly hand over it. His fingers went through the crystal, but I witnessed tendrils of magic swirling up his arm. He closed his eyes as he worked a spell that went far beyond my understanding. He’d been a Mentalist with telekinetic magic during his life, but in death, there must’ve been other spirits helping him, because his features started to change.

The wrinkles on his face smoothed out, and his hair turned from gray to dark brown. Stubble sprouted across his jawline until a familiar face I knew far too well stared back at me. The details were perfect, even down to the brown suit he always wore.

Professor Jonathan Warren .

My friends must’ve let out a collective gasp, but I couldn’t quite hear past the ringing in my ears. I stumbled back a step, catching one hand on the porch banister. This couldn’t be right. Professor Warren was my mentor, a better father to me than mine had ever been. He’d helped us through everything, even lived with us in the safe house for months. He couldn’t be behind this.

Keller’s features became his own again.

“A—are you sure?” I stammered breathlessly.

Keller nodded. “There are those on the other side who know better than me. I’m afraid that’s all the information I can provide. I’ve used up all the magic in your crystal.”

I steadied myself on my feet. If I weren’t holding Marcus and didn’t want to drop his car seat, I was certain I’d have fallen over.

“We’ll find the crystal cave,” I promised him.

For the first time, Old Man Keller smiled. “Then my unfinished business is complete, and I can move on now.”

He stood and stared at something near the edge of the porch I couldn’t see. I had to assume it was his reaper, but without access to my powers, I couldn’t see them.

Keller turned back. “Thank you for hearing me.”

“You’re welcome,” I told him.

Then he vanished. The street became eerily silent, and a shiver traveled down my spine as I turned back to my friends.

Nadine looked particularly troubled, like she was sad for me. She knew how much Professor Warren meant to me. “It can’t be him, can it?”

My voice broke. “Keller said someone’s trying to bring back what they lost. He’s talking about a resurrection spell. Professor Warren’s wife Roberta died of cancer years ago. He must be using some sort of dark magic to bring his wife back from the dead, and his kid is involved.”

“I didn’t think Warren had any kids,” Talia said. “You think he and his wife had a child they never told anyone about?”

“If she was already sick when she got pregnant, and he thought he could use the kid to bring his wife back after the cancer took her, then I’m sure he’d hide it.” I didn’t want to believe a word I said, but it all added up. “Roberta was already too sick to go out, so he could’ve kept her pregnancy hidden. He told me once they went through fertility treatments. He claimed they all failed, but maybe one actually took. He told me he didn’t go to therapy after she died, and perhaps that’s because he had something to hide.”

Nadine frowned deeply, appearing puzzled. “Old Man Keller said it was all connected—the Waning, the crystal cave, and the infant. If this is truly a resurrection spell, then Warren must be causing the Waning to steal our power so that he can sacrifice his kid, do a black magic spell, and raise his wife from the dead. He’s been stealing the coven’s magic for years.”

“He’s a necromancer,” I replied hollowly. “He’s already halfway there, but to actually get Roberta’s spirit to bond with her body again… that would require the power of the whole coven. He had to steal our magic, or he couldn’t complete the spell.”

“But he shouldn’t be able to handle that much power alone,” Talia countered.

“That’s where the crystal cave Old Man Keller found comes in,” I said. “It’s where Warren is storing the power he stole, and where he plans on doing the ritual.”

“Does this ritual sound familiar to anyone else?” Nadine asked warily. “Two children were already murdered, and the Gingerbread witches said they intended to raise the dead the night they dragged Chloe and me to Pinewood Manor.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as the pieces fell into place. “Professor Carlisle said he was receiving payment to do the ritual. We never found out who was the head of the operation. Those other kids must’ve been trials, to see if he could actually pull it off before getting his own kid involved.”

Chloe placed her hands on her hips, looking pissed . “Professor Warren’s behind all of it!”

“How could he possibly be causing the Waning?” Miles asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s got to involve some sort of dark magic,” Chloe said.

“The Waning was concentrated at the school, where Warren spent most of his time,” Grant pointed out.

“And he was there the night the Protection Tree was destroyed, when the last of our powers vanished,” Talia added. She looked like she was going to be sick.

Nadine’s hands shook. “He gave that speech to the coven that night, about the Waning being all our fault. He was trying to throw suspicion off himself .”

I swallowed the lump rising to my throat. “And now everyone’s left town, leaving him free to take all our magic for himself. He’s not planning to go backpacking the Appalachian Trail—that’s just an excuse so we can’t contact him. He’s going to stay here and use the Oaken Wands, along with the power he amassed, to bring his wife back.”

“Who’s he working with?” Miles asked. “Who would help him with something like that?”

“Dark magic doesn’t work the same as our standard spells,” Chloe said. “He could very well be working the spell alone.”

“We don’t know what consequences this dark magic could have. We need to find him, before he does something to destroy witch magic for good,” I stated firmly. “We still have a chance to stop him.”

“How are we going to do that?” Miles asked. “He’s got all our magic!”

“We’re going to have to find a way,” I insisted. “We can’t let another kid die.”

The thought of giving up a child for anything made me want to hurl. Nadine could cork off tomorrow, and sacrificing my son to get her back would never cross my mind. I’d gone down some dark roads, but to go there was absolutely horrendous. I couldn’t believe this man I’d admired so much had it in him.

But we’d been betrayed so many times. I was more pissed off that I hadn’t connected the dots earlier. I was getting really sick and tired of putting my trust in the wrong people.

“Where do we start?” Grant asked.

“We know this crystal cave can’t be far from the Black Circle trail, but it’s fifteen miles long and circles the whole town,” I said. “We need to narrow it down. We should start at Professor Warren’s home and see if he’s left any maps or research behind that could lead us to him—anything that could point us to where he plans on doing the ritual. He’s got the Wands he wanted, so we have to assume he’s not going to wait.”

“I know where he lives,” Chloe said. “I dropped off some council paperwork at his house over the summer.”

“All right, let’s get moving,” Nadine ordered.

I hoisted Marcus’s car seat up. “You go in Chloe’s car. I’ll drop Marcus off at Professor Wykoff’s. Her place isn’t far from here. Marcus can’t come along for this. I’ll be a few minutes behind you. You’re our best detective, and you need to be there to decipher the clues.”

Nadine nodded. We didn’t have time to talk about it, because we didn’t know how far Warren already was ahead of us.

My friends rushed to Chloe’s car, and the cats followed them. They took off down the street while I strapped Marcus into the back of my vehicle. I quickly rounded to the driver’s side. As I opened the door, an object tinkered across the pavement at my feet.

I thought I’d dropped something, but I looked down to find a tiny golden bell rolling to a stop against my shoe. It was spherically shaped, with tiny holes at the bottom like Christmas bells. I barely had a chance to process it before purple gas abruptly hissed out of the openings. I jumped into the car, but I didn’t get the door shut before the gas reached my lungs.

The hex overtook me, and everything went dark.