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He gazed around at the crystals covering nearly every surface. Hesitantly, he took a step back. “Forgive me. I wandered off the Black Circle trail and got lost. I will be on my way.”

It was evidenced in his eyes that he knew he stumbled upon something he shouldn’t have. Surely he would go running to the priestesses to report what he’d seen here.

“I can’t let you do that,” I stated. He’d seen too much.

The old man spun around and took off through the woods. As if he could outrun me. My sister’s body slumped to the cot as I abandoned my spell in pursuit of the man. His cat had scurried away through the trees, and I didn’t know where it’d gone.

Didn’t really matter—the cat wasn’t the problem.

Old Man Keller was a Mentalist. I could feel that from dozens of yards away. He had telekinetic powers. Just one twist of my wrist, and I could easily draw his magic into me. He shot a terrified glance over his shoulder. He withdrew a wand from his coat and aimed it at me, but nothing came out. I’d already drained his power. At my command, a telekinetic spell burst out of me, and he tumbled to the ground. His head hit a rock, and the forest went silent.

This had gotten messy, and I didn’t like making messes.

I hadn’t touched him, and no one knew what power I possessed, so there was no way to trace his death back to me. I used the telekinesis I’d stolen to levitate his body back onto the Black Circle trail far away from my house. It was better to leave him there where others would find him, because a missing person would only launch an investigation. This way, the authorities would write it off as an accident, and they wouldn’t go looking for a killer.

I couldn’t be making silly mistakes like this. I had immense power, and I had to use it to my advantage.

I returned to the tomb and cast a strong protection spell around it. The ward would only let through those whom I wanted to be there. Then I placed a powerful spell over myself. I was so strong now, stronger than any witch I knew, that if anyone tried to sense my power, they’d feel nothing beyond my own Alchemy magic. My wards would keep them from sensing anything deeper, and it would work every time, because there wasn’t a witch powerful enough to break through them.

I knelt down and pushed my sister’s hair out of her eyes. “I won’t make a mistake like that again. I’ve got it all under control. I promise.”

And I did… I was in full control.

I took my research outside the coven with the Omnimotus Curse. I sold my services to a group of Elementai in California. Their tribe was in the midst of the war, and I knew the right group would be willing to work with me. The curse couldn’t be used on other witches, and it was best to keep my research outside of Octavia Falls anyway so that my own people would remain unaffected. The last thing I needed was to draw any attention to what I was doing. We already had one cursed child in captivity, along with a dead witness. The priestesses would undoubtedly launch an investigation if strange things continued to happen. I had no such reservations about causing mayhem amongst another group of supernaturals.

The Omnimotus Curse was an ancient one used in times of war. It acted like a virus, traveling from one person to the next, though in the Elementai’s case, I focused the curse on their Familiars. It infected one’s magic until it became poisonous to the victim, resulting in death. Once a Familiar died, its bonded partner could no longer go on living, which made it the perfect spell for the Hawkei to get their hands on. Witches had used the Omnimotus Curse in ancient times to steal the magic of other supernaturals, and that’s exactly what I needed to learn how to do, so I could figure out how to better control my powers. In exchange for the curse I cast, my contact funneled back information about how the spell interacted with the population.

I thought I understood the mechanics. Emmett and I, along with the witches we’d hired to assist with the spell, went through with the ritual. A young boy died.

The spell didn’t take. I had all this power, but we hadn’t timed the spell right.

Didn’t matter. We could try again.

I continued my research with the Omnimotus Curse, but the Elementai learned how to reverse the effects of the magical virus before my research could be completed. I had no choice but to continue stealing magic from my own people, learning how to manipulate it to my will to complete the spell Emmett and I set out to perform all those months ago. I stole a bit of magic here and a bit more there. People knew something was up, but there was no way to know I was the one draining their powers.

Meanwhile, Nadine Evers had shown up in town, and I was completely thrown for a loop. I hadn’t given any thought to what would happen to her after I cursed her parents. She was an adult now, so I figured she’d be off at some college this fall. I just never thought it’d be my college—the very school I ran.

I felt an obligation to take care of Nadine, because I was the reason she was here in the first place. The poor girl knew nothing about magic. Her mother had never told her. I figured if I took her under my wing and mentored her, then perhaps I could make up for cursing her parents. It was the least I could do, after all.

Nadine was persistent and headstrong, a bit like me, to be honest, but she didn’t give me any trouble. There was one night I thought she and her friends might be on to something, but they suspected nothing.

I’d dug up the grave of a recently deceased woman—Emily, I think her name was. Didn’t matter the name. I just needed a body to practice a spell on. I’d nearly damaged my sister’s body with the failed ritual we performed, so Professor Carlisle and I agreed that we needed to perfect our rituals before performing them on Nicole. A fresh body was the best option, because I could disturb the earth without anyone noticing. We were trying all different kinds of spells, and we were getting so close.

I reanimated Emily’s body through necromancy magic on Halloween, when the magic would be stronger. Then Nadine and her friends had summoned her . Why they had to summon her of all spirits, I didn’t know. Her body was called toward their spell. I turned my back for one second , and she was gone. Then Nadine comes knocking at my door speaking of a zombie. I thought I’d exposed myself then and there, but I’d played my part of the headmistress so well they couldn’t see the evil staring them in the face.

I’d told them I’d handle it, and I did just that. I ended the spell and put Emily back in her grave. Nadine and her friends wrote it off as a Halloween prank.

I didn’t give Nadine much credit then, but as the months passed—along with another failed ritual and a second dead child—I realized I was sorely mistaken. I was powerful enough now to send my magic across a distance, so that I could stay at the school while my colleagues performed the ritual, giving myself a rock-hard alibi. But Nadine had quickly befriended another student, Lucas, who’d been investigating the missing children Professor Carlisle had taken. The two of them couldn’t stop digging. It was difficult to get away with something so outright bold, but it was necessary, and I had the power to cover it up. The authorities hadn’t been able to trace anything back to us, and so, I didn’t think Nadine and Lucas could, either.

Then the two of them showed up at Pinewood Manor the night we were to perform the ritual a third time. We’d learned from the first two failed attempts, so we were confident we’d get it right this time. I’d been mostly hands-off on this one, as I’d hired Professor Carlisle and a group of witches to handle it all for me, but I would not let another trial go to waste. We’d already killed two kids trying to get this perfect, and the circumstances had to be just right.

I regretted blowing up the mansion that night, but when I saw Lucas and Nadine outside the manor when I arrived, I knew I had to cover my tracks. If they dug any further than they already had, I would be exposed. Professor Carlisle and the other witches were identified as the perpetrators of the crime, and I was heralded a hero for getting there just in time to call for help.

No one knew I had anything to do with it, or that I had any connection to our waning magic. My powers were growing, and with the destruction of my operation, I had become desperate. I was trying to do it all on my own now, and to do that, I needed more power than I had ever stolen before.

As my power grew, it became more and more unmanageable. Magic flooded into me at all times, and I had to constantly be funneling it into my crystal stores to keep it under control. I couldn’t stop it now. The effects of my power became so apparent that the coven gave it a name—the Waning, they called it. Every bit of magic that a witch lost to the Waning was magic they lost to me .

Amongst the chaos came the unveiling of the truth of Nadine’s powers. She was cunning like me, and she’d spent a semester convincing everyone she was an Alchemist. Even I had fallen for it. I hadn’t thought to examine her magic with my own, because there was no reason to do so. It was clear that Nadine and Lucas were going to do whatever it took to bring the Waning to an end.

So I kept them close. Nadine’s Curse Breaker powers were similar to the abilities I’d obtained from the demon, only I could handle more power than she could. I could manipulate and cast spells with the power I stole, whereas she couldn’t. My issue was regulating how much magic I took at any given time. I’d been researching Curse Breaker powers for months now, trying to understand the mechanics of magical manipulation. I’d taken all the Curse Breaker books from the school library to pursue my research. Nadine nearly caught me, as she’d been looking for the books herself. At the time, I thought perhaps she was considering raising the dead, as I was. Couldn’t put it past her, after what happened to her parents.

Once I found out what she was, I wanted to know more. I’d never had access to a Curse Breaker like I did now. I continued mentoring Nadine and pushing her to the limits of her power, on the off chance that her magic was enough to finally raise my sister. If nothing else, she could teach me how to master my own craft. All those lessons—pushing her with transference, and making her transfer necromancy power into a dead mouse—was all to learn more about her magic so I could use it for myself.

Nadine was in control of her magic, but I had completely lost control of my own. No matter how much I tried to contain it, my power continued to grow and become more unpredictable with time. I could no longer control whose magic I stole or how much. It no longer took any conscious effort. Magic simply flowed into me, and I drained witches to the point where they couldn’t regain their magical stores for days on end. The coven looked for reasons their magic was disappearing, but so many people were pointing fingers that no matter where they searched, they couldn’t trace it back to me. I continued my work, and the Waning grew worse at my hand.

Nadine had the power to sense magical signatures, but she couldn’t feel my power past the spells I’d put in place to ward off witches like her. She’d almost seen it once, the night of the Burning. Things had gotten out of hand, and I was going to stop this horrible witch hunt the priestesses had started. I funneled the magic of other witches into me in an attempt to stop them. The magic was so strong that my chest began to glow. I could still recall the fear I felt when that happened, because I thought for certain someone would notice what was happening and I’d be identified as the culprit behind the Waning. The priestesses wouldn’t hesitate to burn or hang me like the others. I heard Lucas call my name near the tree line that night. He wanted me to escape with him and his friends. I didn’t turn in their direction.

I wanted to help—I really did. Even with the monster I’d become, there was a part of me that still cared. I didn’t want the priestesses to do to others what they’d done to Nicole, and though I had hidden intentions of my own, I still wanted to stop them.

I’d gotten close to Nadine. She was the child I never got to have. Even though I wished to use her powers to my advantage, I never wished to hurt her in the process. There was no reason I couldn’t raise my sister and a child. I was a powerful woman, and I could easily have it all—my sister, a daughter, and perhaps one day, even a lover.

Nadine trusted me when she told me of her pursuit of the Oaken Wands, and about the Nex demon lurking inside the school. There was no reason she shouldn’t. If anyone wanted to keep the Oaken Wands out of the priestesses’ hands, it was me. The closer I was to the Oaken Wands, the better, because they were the only items in the coven that I knew of that were stronger than me. In the hands of the wrong person, the Wands could expose me completely.

But in my hands? I could use them to stabilize my power and finally cast the spell that would bring my sister back. If Nadine and her friends wanted to risk their lives for these Wands, then I’d let them, if it meant I could get close enough to use the Wands for myself when the time was right. Then, after I raised my sister, they were free to use the Wands to end the Waning and drain me of my power. I wouldn’t need it anymore once Nicole was with me again.

There were steps I had to take and strategies to consider. I couldn’t control how much magic flooded into me these days, but I could direct it. I targeted my powers at the priestesses’ supporters known as the Executors. I kept their magic drained as much as I could, in order to slow the priestesses down.

At other times, I had to thwart suspicion off myself. It was my understanding that Nadine and Lucas’s operation called The Coven’s Shield had taken a witches’ vow, but that was before I discovered what they were doing. They trusted me so dearly that they didn’t ask me to do the same, which worked out in my favor, because I certainly couldn’t keep their vow. I could, however, get past the ward to their secret hideout, because I did intend to help them beat the priestesses, but at the same time, I had to take calculated measures to protect myself. When I joined their operation, I agreed to assist Nadine in searching for patterns within the Waning. I knew she’d look to fit the pieces together either way, and as long as I was watching her closely, I could divert her attention and lead her in a different direction.

I was having to do that more and more these days. When the demon known as Professor Leto showed up at the school, I could tell immediately that something was off about him, though I couldn’t put my finger on it. His magic just wasn’t the same as other coven members. Then I learned of what he was, and I knew if anyone was powerful enough to sense what was going on with me beneath the surface, he’d notice my magic went beyond this realm. He’d sense the demon magic in my blood sooner than anyone else, and so, I kept my distance. Making an enemy out of Professor Leto was not an option.

Time and time again, I had to twist the truth to keep anyone from suspecting me. I convinced Nadine to brew a potion with me to wipe out the priestesses’ magic, because under normal circumstances I’d never be able to brew such a potion on my own. With Nadine’s magic involved, it appeared legitimate. I changed the formula, though, and together, we brewed a poison that would kill the priestesses. It was necessary, after all the lives they took and the pain they caused.

But the priestesses suspected poison, and they forced Hector Lawson to taste-test the wine we’d planted. My poison killed him instantly.

I thought Nadine had caught me. Then she told me the priestesses suspected William Connor of planting the poison. He was our ally who’d placed the wine in the Imperium headquarters to begin with. I knew the second they confronted him, he would know the truth—that I had been the one to brew it.

I had to take him out before he could speak to the priestesses. Furthermore, I had to blame the poison on him, as Nadine wouldn’t believe any other explanation. I went to his house that night, and he was dead from a broken neck before the priestesses even arrived. It looked like an accident, and even the priestesses couldn’t cast a spell to reveal that I’d been there.

The more out of control my magic became, the more the lies grew. The night in the town square, when the coven had tied up Nadine, Lucas, and our ally Everly Hall to torture them, I had truly come to help. I brought the three of them back to my home, only to discover the next morning that Everly had been hit by a curse that was quickly spreading throughout her body.

Nobody else had access to their magic. At that point, my power was so out of control that I siphoned the powers of anyone who came near me. They still hadn’t picked up on my connection to the Waning—it was centered around the school, where I spent most of my time, and always affected people after they’d spent time around me. Still, no one suspected a thing that night when I announced my magic was still working, and that I could brew an antidote to Everly’s curse. I intended to help her, but then I discovered I was missing the proper ingredients.

My fingers curled around the edge of the counter. “Everything is out of control, Nicole,” I whispered. I was so used to talking to her now. “I can’t contain this power. You should be here right now, because you’d know how to help.”

“Everything all right in here?” Lucas asked, startling me as he came into the kitchen. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

“I—I’m out of scaleweed,” I told him. “It’s the main ingredient in the brew.”

He shrugged. “So we’ll get some more.”

I forbade him to do that. It was time to leave Octavia Falls, and if any of us returned to town, there was no telling what the priestesses would do. Everly’s life was of no consequence in comparison to Nadine’s. I’d already killed so many people. I was willing to let Everly die to keep from exposing ourselves. I had to get Nadine out of town, and I couldn’t do that if I had to go into town for supplies.

Then Lucas defied my orders and went into town anyway, where he was arrested by the Miriamic Police Department. Nadine followed after him, and she was locked up as well. I couldn’t believe they’d be so stupid.

I’d retrieved the ingredients Lucas had stolen and returned home to brew the antidote… but while I’d been gone, Everly had been snooping around. She’d found Nicolas’s journal, in which I’d taken notes and added entries about my research. Everly discovered I was trying to raise the dead and confronted me about it.

“This is dark magic,” she accused. “You can’t do this, Clarice!”

I gave a wry laugh. “I assure you I can.”

I really didn’t want to kill her, and I didn’t have to. She was nearly gone anyway. The curse she’d been hit with in the town square had almost run its course. It would be only a couple more hours before it took her life, and I would let it, because as long as I didn’t cast the spell myself, her death couldn’t be blamed on me.

I’d miscalculated the timing, though. Nadine and Lucas were put on trial after their arrest, and when we returned to my house afterward, Everly was crawling across the floor, trying to call for help. She died in Nadine’s arms, and nearly exposed me to Lucas with her last thought.

Don’t trust anyone.

“Obviously we can’t trust the coven,” I said, because once again, I had to divert suspicion off myself, and someone else had to take the fall for this. It was all too easy to accept this was the coven’s doing, as they had already intended to kill her that night in the town square.

The lies didn’t end there. When Nadine and Lucas were brought to court, it was revealed that the potens crepitus spell was used to explode Pinewood Manor the night our ritual failed and my associates were killed. It was a powerful spell that historically could only be cast by multiple Cast members. I was so powerful at that point, and had access to magic from multiple Casts, that it wasn’t difficult to perform the spell on my own. But no one could possibly know that. I carefully curated my questions and coached my witnesses to divert any suspicion away from myself, convincing the coven that the attack was the result of a fail-safe spell my employees had cast on their own.

All the lying was getting exhausting. It seemed that no matter what I did, cataclysm followed. The night following the court trial, the school was attacked by angry coven members. I tried to help by siphoning magic from the mob, to stop the assault, but I couldn’t control the flow of magic. My choice to fight back triggered the Waning on the student populace, and I began siphoning power from within the school itself. I’d completely fucked up the space-bending spell that expanded the school on the inside, and the rooms began to fold in on one another. It only got worse the more I tried to fix it.

As I walked the school halls in search of a solution, I came upon Nadine and her friends, though I couldn’t reach them. They appeared to be trapped inside a mirror, though from their perspective, I was the one who was trapped.

“The mirror itself may not even exist. We’re simply communicating from two spaces at the same time,” I determined. Space-bending magic was tricky that way.

“How do we fix it?” Nadine demanded.

I was horrified she would suggest such a thing, because if she tried to fight against my power, it could destabilize the spell completely, and the whole school would collapse in on itself.

“Nadine, I beg of you. Don’t try to fix this. Fixing it will only make it worse!” I warned.

“Then what do we do!?” Nadine yelled.

“Get to a stable room and stay there,” I instructed. “I’m working on finding us a way out.”

The mirror shattered, and Nadine and her friends were lost from me.

There was nothing more I could do but let the space-bending spell die completely. Students would die, but I could no longer save them. I used what power I could to get myself out of the school.

I was relieved when I discovered that Nadine and her friends had found a way out as well. I got them to the safe house outside Octavia Falls like we planned, and thanked my lucky stars that they were still alive. Despite everything that had happened and all the lives that were lost, I still loved these people.

But I feared I was doing more harm than good. I agreed to visit the Midnighters over the summer, because I thought the vampires might have insight on resurrection that could further my research. I secretly returned to Octavia Falls often to check in on my sister and test rituals that I hadn’t tried before. None of them worked.

I’d hoped to gain more insight into the location of the Mortana Wand on my travels, because if any of the Wands were going to prove useful to my mission, it was the one that could control Death magic. I wanted that Wand above all else, though I desired them all. The more Wands I had, the better I could control my power. I learned nothing of the Oaken Wands while I was gone.

I clearly hadn’t learned much of anything at all, because the moment I returned, I was right back to telling lies and hiding secrets.

Nadine and Lucas gained a lead on the Oaken Wands in Hok’evale , and they requested my help in casting a spell to learn more. I had to decline, because my magic was so out of control that I knew it would only fuck up the spell. Then they’d start connecting the dots.

“I won’t be of any help,” I lied. “I had to use magic to cover my tracks when I went to meet up with Hattie earlier today, and I haven’t been able to cast any spells since. I took every precaution to prevent being followed, and it drained my reserves.”

We’d known for a while now that there were Oaken Wands in the Abyss, but I’d urged Nadine and Lucas to ignore the Abyss and pursue the Mortana Wand instead. When I learned that we might find a lead to the Wand I desired in hell, then I was more than willing to get on board with the plan.

It was during that spell—which they used to track down the reaper Edgar Nowak—that I learned Lucas had raised the dead once before. I watched the scene play out in the crystal ball, replaying the night of Nadine’s Evoking Ceremony. Lucas had fought off a reaper that had already claimed Nadine’s soul, and he’d brought her back to life. I realized I didn’t just need the Oaken Wands. I needed a reaper like Lucas.

No one seemed to realize this was the first I was hearing of what happened that night with the reaper, as they all appeared to know already. I kept quiet, as to not give myself away. I had to be careful with my plans, because it was becoming increasingly more dangerous to return to Octavia Falls. I would wait for Lucas to obtain the Mortana Wand. I hoped that by the time we defeated the priestesses, I could convince him to raise my sister by his own volition.

I’d slipped under the radar so long, I didn’t think anyone would notice. But Nadine’s grandmother did. The more time I spent with Helena, the more wary she became around me. Helena never said it, but I could see it in her eyes that she was starting to worry. I didn’t think she suspected me of anything just yet, but it was only a matter of time before she’d put the pieces together.

It killed me to get rid of her, because she’d been like a mother to me all these years. I loved Helena, but I loved my sister more.

I was the one to send Helena outside the boundaries of the safe house’s ward. I hadn’t cast the spell that killed her, but I’d convinced her to walk into danger, and she had died just as I intended.

She didn’t know what I’d done, for I had been so cunning that even she hadn’t caught on. I didn’t think she was even aware yet of what was amiss with me, just that something was off. Even if she came back in a séance, she didn’t know enough to tell anyone anything. I was almost certain she’d already spoken to Nadine about it, though they’d written it off as something else. I intended to keep it that way.

I’d said all those nice things about Helena at her funeral to gain more of Nadine’s trust. Most of it was true. The bit about Helena standing next to me while I gave Nicole’s eulogy was nothing more than a bold-faced lie, seeing as Nicole never got a funeral. I didn’t even know why I said it. I supposed I was so used to telling lies now that it was second nature. It made Nadine cry, so I guess it worked.

As long as no one extracted the information from my mind, I could keep up this ruse, and no one would be the wiser.

Chloe and Talia developed a technique called teleinsight, but I had already prepared for this. The Midnighters worked in mind manipulation, and I had spent months learning from them how to ward my mind so I would remain undiscovered. I let Chloe and Talia try to read my mind, in order to convince them I had nothing to hide. But I didn’t let them see anything. I convinced them it was all for their benefit, and that I could teach them the same technique.

I let Nadine and her friends hold on to the Oaken Wands while I bided my time for the Mortana Wand, when I could use the Wands and a reaper to raise my sister… until time ran out too soon. Lucas obtained the Mortana Wand from the Reaper Order, but we didn’t get a chance to return to Octavia Falls before the priestesses kidnapped Marcus. By the end of that night, the Oaken Wands were cursed, and their powers were useless.

I was powerful, but I couldn’t control it well enough to combat the power of the Master Wand. Once again, I had to wait until Nadine found the Curse Breaker Wand to restore the power of the Oaken Wands I’d waited so long for.

My plans kept falling apart, and like my magic, it felt as if I was constantly forcing shattered pieces back together. I tried my best not to take powers from Lucas, even though there were times I couldn’t control it. His powers had to be ready when I needed him.

When the priestesses arrived in Octavia Falls with their golem army and Lucas revealed they’d found the Curse Breaker Wand, I panicked. I hadn’t anticipated how quickly everything would move once the final Wand was located. I worried that together, the Oaken Wands would be strong enough to steal my power, so I had to use everything I had to raise my sister that night before Nadine could end the Waning.

I told Jonathan I was going to help across town, but in truth, I returned to my sister’s tomb. I used everything I had—all my research and all my power—in a desperate attempt to bring her back with one final spell. It would be stronger than anything I’d ever done before, because I was stronger than ever before.

Then I felt the Oaken Wands opposing my power. Nadine was already trying to cast the spell to end the Waning. I couldn’t let them do that, because without this power, bringing my sister back to life was hopeless. While Nadine and her friends cast their spell to end the Waning, I was fighting against them.

And I won. It was simple.

The Oaken Wands couldn’t overpower me, because I had overpowered them first. Nadine assumed they were useless now, but in reality, they were just as strong as always… I just happened to be taking all the power of the coven before the Wands could cast the spell. The coven’s magic was mine now…

And it still wasn’t enough.

Nadine and her friends planned on leaving town, but I couldn’t let them take the Oaken Wands with them. If my power alone wasn’t enough to bring my sister back, then I needed the Oaken Wands to do it. I was the most powerful witch that ever lived, and the Oaken Wands were our strongest relics. The Scelus demon had promised that if I used my power properly, I could achieve my desires. This had to be the answer, because there was no more powerful witch magic than the Oaken Wands in the hands of the strongest witch in history. When used together, the Oaken Wands could stabilize the coven’s power, and it was exactly what I needed.

I really didn’t want Nadine getting involved, so I waited until her back was turned. Then I stole the Oaken Wands, along with the reaper who would make all the difference.

I prayed that was the last deception I had to make. Years of pursuing my sister’s revival had really weighed me down, and I was ready for it all to be over. I was sick of fighting the priestesses and trying to keep power from their hands. I was done with the heartache that came with deceiving the ones I loved dearly. I didn’t enjoy killing people to keep my secrets.

So many people had died at my hands—Faith and her husband, Henry Keller, Hector Lawson, William Connor, Everly Hall, Helena, and so many unnamed faces. Hell, I’d even given up my own son.

And I just… let it happen. The coven had broken me, but they couldn’t stop me. It was as my sister’s prophecy foretold, and the priestesses refused to listen.

They should have heeded her warning. The witch’s fate my sister spoke of had been her own, for her death had marked the beginning of the end.

And now, the end had finally come.