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LUCAS

M y head swam as I slowly came to. I could hear shuffling nearby but couldn’t make sense of it. I tried to move, but panic hit me when I realized I was completely paralyzed from head to toe with some sort of binding spell. I couldn’t remember where I was or how I’d gotten here.

I racked my brain for the last thing I remembered. I recalled going to Old Man Keller’s house to get information, and then the memory of the purple smoke came rushing back. Someone had hexed me and brought me here… but I didn’t know where here was.

I was aware I was lying flat on my back on a cold, hard surface. I could feel that the Mortana Wand was still in my pocket, pressing against my thigh. I didn’t feel my phone, which meant I couldn’t call for help. It must’ve fallen out of my pocket shortly after I’d been hexed. Cool air brushed against my skin, though that was all I could discern of my surroundings.

Slowly, I forced my eyes open. It was the only movement I could make, and I found it absolutely terrifying to be so disconnected from my own body that I couldn’t even wiggle my fingers.

A stone ceiling came into focus. As my eyes swept around the room, I noticed a crack in the ceiling, which a ray of moonlight shone through. The moonlight shimmered a rainbow of colors over the walls. As I focused on the colors, I realized they were crystals in all shapes and sizes, stacked all around the room. They were everywhere—on shelves, tables, and all across the floor. There had to be thousands of them.

Looks like I’d found the crystal cave.

I strained my eyes to peer in my peripheral, but I couldn’t move my head. I could barely make out the bottom end of a cot… then I noticed feet. They were covered in socks, so I couldn’t tell if they might belong to someone I recognized. Clearly, I wasn’t the only person who’d been captured. I tried to look upward to see the other person’s face, but I couldn’t move my eyes that far.

I looked as far as I could across the room, and the sight of a cradle made my heart jolt. It was an old wooden one, something a child might use for dolls. Inside, blankets had been wrapped in a bundle. I recognized the kitten blanket I’d put in Marcus’s car seat earlier, then I saw a tuft of dark hair sticking out of the bundle. Dear Goddess, I prayed he hadn’t been harmed.

Movement across the cave caught my attention. A cloaked figure stood at a table with their back to me, though I couldn’t tell what they were doing. It had to be Professor Warren. He’d gotten to me before Nadine and the others could find him.

The figure turned, and I quickly shut my eyes before he could notice I’d awoken. My pulse pounded in my ears, and I was certain he’d catch the unsteadiness of my frightened breath. But he left the cave without turning back to me. The soft sound of a cat’s meow followed.

Now would be a really great time to gain control of my body. I’d grab Marcus and run… but as I struggled against my own muscles, it became abundantly clear that I wasn’t getting out of here by sheer will. I needed help.

I needed Nadine.

Keeping my eyes closed, I found my consciousness drifting. It wasn’t difficult to fall into a sleep-like state, because I was still half asleep from the hex. As I fell into an intentional slumber, I willed my spirit to separate from my body.

The relief of gaining motion back to my limbs felt immensely freeing. I sat up in spirit form and looked around the room. Finally, I got a good view of the crystal cave. It was small, nothing more than a single room made entirely of stone. As my gaze traveled over to the other captive, my spirit nearly fell straight back into my body in shock.

It was Verla . She must’ve been hit by the same hex I had, because she looked pale and sickly, and she lay completely still. I had to move quickly to save us both.

I scrambled to my feet in spirit form, rushing over to the cradle. Immense relief washed over me when I stared down at my son’s face. Marcus’s chest rose and fell slowly. Instinctually, I reached out for him, because I wanted nothing more than to get him as far away from here as possible, but my fingers went straight through him.

Right. I was astral traveling. I couldn’t interact with the physical plane. I looked back to my solid form lying on the floor. It was always eerie looking at myself from a different angle, and tonight was the most chilling of all. If I didn’t get a message to Nadine right away, I may not live long enough to see her again—and neither would my son.

I had to figure out where we were so I could lead her to us.

I stood to see the four stolen Oaken Wands were laid out on the table. Alongside them sat a mortar and pestle full of herbs. That must’ve been what I’d seen Professor Warren doing—crushing the herbs in preparation for his black magic ritual.

I hurried out of the cave to find myself standing in a forest. The cave was set into an outcropping of rock, formed by the way the rocks leaned against one another, rather than being carved out by water. I’d never seen this particular outcropping before and didn’t know where in the forest I was. I could be miles from Octavia Falls.

My spiritual feet levitated off the ground, and I started flying through the forest. I crossed several acres, but it wasn’t long before I came upon an iron gate. It was exactly what I’d been looking for—some sort of landmark to lead Nadine to my location.

As I came closer to the gate, stones began to take shape in the moonlight, all spread evenly throughout an expansive lawn. Gravestones. It was a cemetery—not just any cemetery, but Octavia Falls Cemetery.

I had a location. Now I just had to get that information to Nadine.

I closed my eyes again, and when I opened them, I was standing in the entryway of the abandoned mansion we’d set as our meeting point. An ethereal feline circled around my ankles, yowling in a distressed manner. It was Buddy, the spirit cat we’d met here weeks ago when Nadine and I had practiced astral traveling to the mansion.

“Lucas!” a voice called across the house.

“Nad?” I cried. “I’m here!”

I ran toward the sound of her voice. Nadine’s spirit turned a corner, and relief flooded her features when she saw me. She raced down the hall and fell into my arms. When our spirits touched, she felt solid. I squeezed her as tightly as I could.

Nadine drew back to look me over, as if searching for injuries that might’ve imprinted onto my spirit. “Are you hurt? Is Marcus with you?”

“We’re not hurt. We were knocked out by a hex, and we’re still asleep.”

“Do you know where you are? Is there another child there with you?”

“I didn’t see one. We’re in the crystal cave. It’s right next to the cemetery, near the entrance but deeper into the forest, close to Monica’s fake grave.”

Nadine’s eyes widened. “It’s on her property… Lucas, have you seen Verla yet?”

“She’s here with me, but she’s been knocked out, too. She must’ve been hit by the same hex Marcus and I were. Professor Warren’s got her on a cot in the cave. How did you know she’d be there? Is he planning on hurting her?”

Terror filled Nadine’s features. “Lucas, that’s not Headmistress Verla. That’s her sister .”

I thought of her pale complexion, how I’d noted that she looked ill. It only occurred to me now that she didn’t look sick at all… she looked dead . Only, she looked like she’d only died hours ago, not years.

“Professor Warren isn’t trying to raise his wife from the dead!” Nadine exclaimed. “It’s Verla trying to raise her sister! Keller pointed us to the father of the missing infant, but Headmistress Verla is the mother. The child Old Man Keller spoke of is Verla’s son, Allyn. We can only assume she’s been hiding her child all these years to use in this ritual?—”

I cut Nadine off with a horrible gag. A burning sensation filled my nose, like I was inhaling water. I clutched my belly and dropped to the ground on my knees.

Nadine took a frightened step back. “I’m coming for you, Lucas!”

Then the mansion and my wife disappeared from view. My spirit snapped back into my body, and the appalling sensation of choking on something intensified.

My eyes shot open, and my heart slammed violently as I shot upright. I doubled over, spewing liquid all over the stone floor. Whatever it was tasted disgustingly bitter and smelled as vile as sewage. I gagged and spit across the ground, then wiped my chin.

“Welcome back, Lucas,” a sinister voice said from beside me.

Slowly, I turned to see the cloaked figure crouched next to me. They held a potion vile in their hands, and it sizzled with a gross-looking green liquid. Surely that’s what they’d shoved down my throat to wake me up. It was probably some counter-potion to the hex.

The figure lowered their hood, and the sliver of moonlight filtering in through the rocks met the eyes of Headmistress Clarice Verla. Beside her, Odin stepped forward and meowed.

I shot a glance to the cot, where the corpse of her sister lay. The two of them looked so much alike, with the same chestnut brown waves in their hair, straight nose, and high cheekbones. Only, as I peered closer, I noticed Nicole Verla had a dark freckle on her neck that Clarice didn’t have. It was hard to tell beneath her pale features, but Nicole’s skin was slightly smoother, and she appeared several years younger than Clarice. I didn’t understand how her body had been so well preserved after all these years.

“Don’t look so frightened,” Headmistress Verla said calmly. She stood and walked over to the table, where she placed her potion vial. “If you simply do as I say, you and your son will walk out of here unharmed.”

The second she had her back turned, I was already moving. I lunged for the cradle the same time I tried to get to my feet, but my legs failed to move under me.

Verla whirled around and thrust her palm toward me. I was dragged across the floor by an invisible force. She brought her hand downward, and her power pinned me to the ground.

“You think I’d capture you and then just let you walk out of here?” Verla demanded. “Your legs are bound, and there’s no breaking free of my spell.”

As I desperately fought against her magic, my gaze darted toward my son.

Verla noticed. Slowly, she walked over to him and began rocking his cradle. She stared down at him fondly, but every move she made sent a shiver over my skin. She was being deliberate, to show me how vulnerable my child was. It was a threat that made me sick to my stomach. She’d already touched him when she laid him into the cradle. She must’ve. I’d make sure that was the last time she ever laid a finger on him.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve cast a slumber charm on him. He’ll be asleep for hours.”

“If you wanted to keep me bound, why’d you wake me up?” I gasped under the weight of her magic.

“Because I need you awake for this, Lucas.”

She released her magical grip on me. I sucked in a greedy breath as I pushed myself upright again. I’d regained control of my upper body, but my legs felt like they were tied together by ropes.

“How did you do that?” I asked warily. “You don’t have telekinesis.”

Verla gestured around the cave to the hordes of crystals. “I have access to all witch magic now. I can perform whatever spells I want.”

I pressed my palms to the stone floor and dragged myself a foot away from her. “That’s impossible.”

Verla gave a wicked laugh. It was strange, because she appeared so much like the caring mentor I always knew, but there was a crazed expression in her eyes I’d never witnessed. “I assure you it’s very possible under the right circumstances.”

“You’ve been behind the Waning all this time,” I accused. “How are you doing this?”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as I get what I want.” Her gaze flickered toward the corpse on the cot, and I noticed a familiar sadness in her features, one I’d felt myself far too many times.

“You want your sister back,” I said gently. “I get it. I lost a brother, too.”

“You have no idea what I’ve lost!” Verla spat. She appeared unsteady as she placed her palms on the table next to her. Her tone dropped to a near whisper. “I’ve lost more than you could ever know.”

While I kept her talking, I slowly inched my hand behind myself to reach for a crystal. If I could just access a bit of Mortana magic, I could cast a defensive spell to buy myself enough time to get Marcus out of here. I just had to keep her talking.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I told her genuinely. “But turning to dark magic isn’t the answer.”

“You wouldn’t know the first thing about dark magic.” she snarled. At the same time, heartbreak flashed in her eyes. It was a bit terrifying, because I had so much sympathy for her that it was hard to wrap my head around the evil she planned to do.

My fingers inched closer and closer to a nearby crystal. “I don’t understand how you could be stealing our magic all this time. You fought so hard to end the Waning with us.”

“I fought to destroy the priestesses,” Verla countered. “The Waning won’t end until I get what I want.”

Verla turned toward the Oaken Wands on the table. It was like she couldn’t bear to look at me, because if she did, she’d have to face what she’d done. When she wasn’t looking, I lifted my hand to grab the nearest quartz point.

Before my fingers could curl around it, Verla whirled toward me. My arm reacted like it was attached to an invisible string. My palm slammed into the sharp point of the crystal, and I cried out in pain as the rock pierced my skin. Blood sprayed across the stone floor.

I yanked my hand back to see there was a deep, jagged wound in the middle of my palm. My fingers trembled as I pressed my hand to my hip to slow the bleeding. Warm blood soaked into my jeans.

“Don’t make me hurt you again, Lucas,” Verla warned darkly. Her piercing gaze made me shudder. As much as it terrified me, I preferred she kept her attention on me rather than Marcus.

It was true that Verla had lost so much, but I couldn’t let my sympathy for her cause me to underestimate her. She’d been behind the Waning all this time, which meant she didn’t adhere to the moral compass I thought she did. As much trust as I’d put in her in the past, it was clear I didn’t truly know what she was capable of, and I couldn’t be sure of what measures she’d take to be with her sister again.

“You didn’t bring me here to play games,” I stated coldly. “If you can cast any witch spell you want, then what do you need me for?”

“Raising the dead isn’t any typical witch spell,” Verla stated. “I need the Oaken Wands. The others were easy to obtain, but the spell the Reaper Order put on the Mortana Wand has bound it to the reapers. As much as I’ve tried to pry it away from you while you were passed out, the spell that’s binding it to you is not one I can break. I’m incredibly powerful, but so is the Reaper Order.”

I slid my bloody hand down toward my pocket, feeling for the Mortana Wand there.

Verla picked the other Oaken Wands up from the table. “These Wands can amplify my power, and I couldn’t let you leave town without them.”

“Bullshit,” I growled. “The Wands wouldn’t respond to you. They choose who they work with.”

Verla chuckled viciously. “They’ll work with me if I make them.”

I thought of how the Oaken Wands had stopped responding once the Waning had taken over for good. That could only happen if Verla had completely overpowered them. I didn’t know how she did it, but somehow, she’d grown more powerful than all the Oaken Wands combined.

“However,” she continued, “without the fifth Wand and the one I need most, I cannot complete the spell.”

“You can’t expect me to hand it over,” I told her. “The Reaper Order bound the Mortana Wand to the reapers. You’d have to be one yourself for me to give it to you.”

“Then you’ll do the spell with me,” she demanded harshly. “I have all this power, but reaper magic is specialized, and without proper training, I’ve failed to utilize it properly. I need reaper magic to move my sister’s soul across realms. You’ve raised the dead before. Do it again!”

I shook my head in defiance. “This isn’t the same. I’ve never brought back a spirit that has already moved on. You’re asking for power that transcends witch magic entirely, something only the gods can accomplish. You still have a chance to restore the magic you stole, but once you do this, you can’t take it back. You don’t know what consequences this could have. It could destroy the coven completely.”

“The coven has already been destroyed!” Verla shouted. “I don’t care if I have to destroy you, too.”

“So kill me,” I said. “I won’t do the spell.”

Verla scoffed. “Killing you won’t do me any good, but perhaps the blood of a demigod would…”

Verla pointed an Oaken Wand at Marcus, who still lay soundlessly in the cradle.

“No!” I shouted. The broken tone of my voice seemed to shatter my heart completely. “I’ll do it!”

Verla smirked as she lowered her Wand. “Very good, Lucas. I see we can work together.”

“I—I don’t want to kill anyone,” I stammered.

“Why would you assume we’d be doing that?” she asked innocently.

“Because you’ve tried this ritual before. We’ve already figured you killed Caleb Thomas and Issac Miller to raise your sister, but it didn’t work. Why should this time be any different?”

Verla scoffed. “I abandoned that ritual a long time ago, as it proved ineffective.”

“Then where’s your child?” I demanded. Old Man Keller said it was all connected, so she must plan to involve her kid somehow.

“I don’t need one. I’m stronger now, stronger than I’ve ever been, and I have the Oaken Wands. Do you understand how much power it takes to siphon the entire coven’s magic before they can even feel it for themselves?”

I thought back to what Old Man Keller said, about how magic was still out there and we were being overpowered. We’d never lost our connection to Alora like we thought. It was all her .

“You weren’t there that night at the Protection Tree, after the Golem War,” I realized. “And you certainly weren’t getting people to safety like you said. How’d you cut us off completely like that? You’re draining us like batteries before we even get a chance to recharge.”

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s power that even a demigod would struggle to manage.” Verla shot a glance at Marcus. “Luckily, I have access to one, should I need him. But I do hate involving children.”

“You aren’t going to touch him,” I snarled.

“Not if you behave,” she assured me.

Verla flicked her wrist, yanking me to my feet like a puppet on a string. My toes dangled, scraping along the rock as she dragged me across the cave toward her. She grabbed my hand forcefully, and blood dripped across the ground.

Verla clicked her tongue. “We can’t work like this.”

She conjured a potion vial, then popped the cork and poured it into my palm. A stinging pain like fire seared my hand, and my scream filled the cavern. I could hear my skin sizzling. I didn’t want to look at the damage she’d caused, but I forced myself to anyway. In the center of my palm was a tender red wound that was missing layers of skin. The bleeding had stopped, as if Verla’s potion had cauterized the skin shut. It hurt like hell, but I’d stopped dripping blood over her precious cave.

“Now, take the Mortana Wand out of your pocket,” Verla ordered, like I was some child who needed explicit instructions.

I shot another wary glance at Marcus, and the fear trembling through me was the only thing that got me to comply. I withdrew the Wand, and a greedy smirk crossed Verla’s features.

“We’re going to do this together,” Verla stated.

“How? I can’t cast a spell, even with the Wand. You’re overpowering it. It can’t access magic.”

“I will share my powers with the Wands, and you will direct the power of Death magic into my sister. If you try to do anything but what you’ve been instructed to do, your son will die.”

She was so cold about it that I had to assume she wouldn’t hesitate. She’d already killed other children, and even Marcus’s demigod powers wouldn’t save him now. Verla was already just as strong as he was, if not stronger.

“Come now. We’ll bring her back together.” Verla picked up her bowl of herbs and carried them over to the cot where her sister lay. In her other hand, she clutched the four Oaken Wands.

She dragged me over beside her, then lowered me to my knees next to the cot. It was eerie staring down at the pale face that looked so much like Headmistress Clarice Verla, but wasn’t her at all. Her sister had been dead for years, but Nicole’s corpse appeared remarkably preserved.

Verla sprinkled the herbs over her sister’s body, then lined the Oaken Wands from Nicole’s sternum and down her torso, each point touching the end of the next Wand in line. Verla grabbed my hand hard —which really fucking hurt—and forced me to place the Mortana Wand above the others, over Nicole’s heart.

“Don’t move,” Verla warned.

A chill spread throughout the cave as Verla stood and planted her feet in the center of the cavern. She raised her hands and began chanting a spell in Latin. “ Sub luna et in hoc antro, sororem de sepulchro suscitabo. ”

Her power was so immense and strong that the earth immediately responded to her command. The ground shook, and crystals rattled against one another as dust rained down from the rocks overhead. A distant, animalistic hiss filled the air. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but the chill tingling over my spine told me it was exceptionally evil.

Verla repeated her incantation again. I wasn’t fluent in Latin, but we used it enough in our spellwork that I caught the rough translation. “ Under the moon and in this cave, I raise my sister from the grave. ”

All around us, crystals began to glow with intense power. All colors of the rainbow lit up the cavern and shimmered off the stone. Verla’s chest emitted a bright white light, and tendrils of magic swirled out of the thousands of crystals to connect to her body like powerful ropes. It was so magnificent and bright that I had to shield my eyes.

Her power pulsed through the Oaken Wands. I could feel it because my fingers were still tightly wrapped around the Mortana Wand laid over Nicole’s chest. The power reverberated through the Wands so strongly that if I weren’t already on my knees, I’d have collapsed. I wasn’t the one working the spell, but magic still pulsed through me from head to toe. It was more magic than I’d ever felt at one time, as if someone had shoved a high-voltage powerline straight into my chest. Every muscle in my body contracted against my will, and my limbs shook violently. An ungodly pain rippled down to my bones.

It was more magic than a single person should be able to handle, and if she didn’t stop now, it would tear me apart from the inside out. I didn’t understand how she managed to control such power without killing herself.

I wasn’t able to give it much thought, because the power of the spell seemed to turn my brain off completely. I couldn’t be sure what was going on around me, because all I saw was the blinding glow of the crystals. All I heard was the evil hiss growing louder in my ears. The only sensation on my skin was pain like a thousand needles piercing me from every direction. It felt as if the magic was trying to rip my soul out of my body.

Then I felt Death magic—a power so familiar to me, but entirely different all the same. I knew the chaotic tingle of Mortana magic that flowed through me daily, and I was familiar with the void of death I so often sensed. But this power was deeper and more intense than any spell I’d ever cast before. The void of death seemed to open like a chasm in the earth, splitting so wide the fissure of the emptiness spanned entire realms… realms in which evil existed on the other side. The hiss filling my ears turned into an evil growl, like that of a monster that wished to claw its way through the chasm.

“Verla, stop!” a voice shouted.

It was so far away. I couldn’t be sure I hadn’t imagined it to disconnect myself from the agony tearing through my body.

Something seemed to snap within me, and a deafening crack filled the air. Throughout the cavern, hundreds of crystals fractured simultaneously, and many crumbled into pieces that skittered across the stone floor.

All at once, the magic ebbed away. I gasped as I sagged back on my heels. The glowing crystals around the cavern dimmed, and the earth stilled. I looked down to see I was still holding the Mortana Wand. Horrified, I yanked my hand back, tossing the Wand to the ground at my feet.

“Nadine,” Verla said in a shaky tone. “You shouldn’t be here.”

My whole body shook as I turned toward the entrance to the cave. I thought I must’ve died and gone to Alora, because Nadine was standing there. I couldn’t be sure of how she found me, until I remembered I’d told her where I was while astral traveling. It’d only just happened, but the memory already felt distant. Verla’s spell had really fucked with my head.

“Verla, please, you have to stop this!” Nadine insisted. She was alone, and I didn’t understand why she’d come here without backup. She had no magic to defend herself, no weapons, and no reinforcements. She was going to get herself killed.

Then I heard a soft meow outside the cave, and I realized our friends were here with her, but they’d let her approach Verla alone. Nadine believed she could talk Verla down.

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with, Nadine,” Verla growled. “Leave, before I make you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Nadine stated boldly.

While Nadine kept Verla talking, I quietly gathered the Oaken Wands. Nadine had interrupted Verla, and her spell had failed, but Verla was still more powerful than they were. If she got distracted, however, we might be able to claim some of our power back with the Oaken Wands.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Nadine.” Verla’s voice wavered. It was strange to witness, considering the powerful threat she was. She was willing to risk all of witch magic and let hundreds of people die—hell, she’d started an entire war with the Waning—but deep down inside, there seemed to be a part of her that still cared. I didn’t know what she could possibly care about as much as her sister… until I realized the only other person she ever loved was Nadine .

Verla had stopped her spell because she didn’t want Nadine getting hurt. As she stared at her, Verla’s shoulders sagged. Her hands shook in hesitation, like she wanted to bind Nadine too, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She had loved Nadine like a daughter, and even now, that was clear as day. All these years she’d spent away from her sister, she’d found another precious bond in Nadine.

“I know you’re hurting,” Nadine said gently. “I understand the pain of loss?—”

“You understand nothing !” Verla shouted.

“I know you don’t want to hurt Allyn,” Nadine replied. “The way you talked about him after Dean died, I know you love him. You can’t kill him.”

Verla gave an evil—yet tragic—laugh. “You’re right. I can’t kill him, because Allyn is already gone. How do you think I amassed such power?”

Nadine’s eyes filled with horror, and the final pieces fell into place. I saw the moment she accepted Verla for the truly vile being she was. She had loved Verla as if she were her own mother, but now, she had to face the reality that she never truly knew her at all. Nadine always saw the best in people, and it was something I loved dearly about her. But she had so much compassion that she couldn’t recognize evil when it was staring her in the face. Nadine thought she could talk Verla down because she knew what it was like to lose someone, but Verla had already made her choices, and no amount of sympathy could undo them.

“You already killed him,” Nadine accused hollowly. “When? How long did you let him live!? Tell me the truth!”

Verla’s bottom lip trembled hopelessly. I thought she’d do anything to raise her sister, but clearly, Nadine had an impact on her even I couldn’t comprehend. “You want to know the truth, Nadine? The truth is I’m sick of lying to you. If you want to know what happened, you can have the truth.”

Verla waved her hand, and we were all sucked into a vision that pulled us several years back in time.