“You didn’t use the runes?” Aiden asked, more for Isa’s sake than his own.
“No,” Opal said, sounding a bit calmer. “They’re garbage. All together, I mean. They don’t mean anything.”
Isa swore quietly under his breath.
“They don’t, do they?” Opal asked, quavering.
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Aiden said. “I need to know the sequence of events, Opal. And specifically, why Emily is in the circle with the vessel.”
“You don’t have time for that,” Isa said. “She needs to go get help.”
“I can’t go for help,” Opal cried, obviously hearing Isa. “I’m holding the containment spell. If I drop it, it expands.”
“I’ll call the Academy,” I said. “I need a phone.” I gestured blindly toward the cluster of witches and sorcerers behind me.
“No!” Opal cried. “They’ll expel us. Please, Emma. Please. Please.”
“She’s right,” Ocean cried from the hall.
“Aiden?” I asked, gripping the edge of the chair.
He swallowed, then nodded. “I can handle it.”
Sky pushed into the room, crowding against me. “Does she have salt?”
“No,” Grosvenor called from the doorway. “They need to modify the break spell, and —”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Khalid snarled. “It was the backlash from the break spell that —”
“Sky is right,” Ocean interjected. “Salt will neutralize anything. And ask her if there is running water nearby —”
“That would be fine,” Khalid said. “If it was a witch spell. It’s not.”
“Well, it was a witch spell that triggered it!” Sky cried.
The witches and sorcerers kept talking and fighting, getting louder and louder. Magic writhed throughout the study.
The video on the iPad screen froze.
“Aiden?” Opal whispered. The audio glitched. “Aiden?” she asked again, plaintively.
Everyone was shouting suggestions, fighting with each other over the best course of action. I was a heartbeat away from draining them all.
“Enough!” Aiden roared. His power contracted, as if folding in on itself. “Out! All of you.” His magic slammed through the study, shoving everyone back but me.
Then, propelled by that push, they tumbled out into the hall and through the front door. Most of them were wide-eyed. Isa looked seriously pissed. The door closed behind them with a loud bang.
I was gripping Aiden’s shoulder. I eased my hold. The screen of the iPad was black.
“Aiden,” I whispered.
“Give it a second, Emma.” His voice was raw. “She’ll call back.”
I kneeled down beside him, pressing my face against his shoulder while awkwardly holding him and the chair.
The iPad screen flashed.
Aiden shuddered with some suppressed emotion, reaching over to accept the call.
Opal’s face filled the screen. She looked livid — which was far, far better than terrified. “Was that them?” she spat, then curled her lip. “Your family?”
“Those were people I’m related to by blood, yes,” Aiden said.
Opal narrowed her eyes as if assessing his words. Then she nodded. “Okay. Well, they’re a bunch of know-it-alls.”
“Yes.”
“If I had salt or running water, I would have used it already.”
“I know.”
She huffed. Then, losing a bit of steam, she whispered, “I know this shouldn’t matter, but this is going to get us all kicked out, and Emma …” She darted her gaze to me, then back to Aiden. “Emma is going to think that she isn’t a good guardian, and then I’m going to lose all of you, and Paisley and Christopher, and all because Emily had some stupid idea about some stupid box, and … and …” She gulped for air.
I leaned forward so that my face filled the smaller screen, the screen that Opal was looking at. I stared into the young witch’s tear-filled eyes. “Never,” I said. “You will never lose us.” It was a ridiculous promise, but I couldn’t bring myself to undercut it once I’d voiced it. “Aiden is going to help you get Emily out of the circle, and make sure Jack is okay.”
Opal nodded, still not quite believing me.
“I love you,” I said, trying not to tear up myself.
“I know.”
“Okay.” I eased back so that I wasn’t blocking Aiden from the screen.
“How did Emily get in the circle?” he asked as soon as Opal’s attention flicked to him.
“We set the candles and called up a circle using them as anchors, and tried Jack’s break spell first …” Opal’s bottom lip trembled. “I knew chalk wasn’t the right thing on the slatted floor …”
“It’s okay. The containment circle looked solid when you showed it to me.”
“Yeah, just … I’m feeling tired.”
“Did you use blood?”
“No.” Her voice cracked, then she firmed it. “You told me not to.”
Aiden nodded. Blood-triggered spells were forbidden at the Academy. “Just the chalk?”
“Yes, but it’s spelled to me. It was the main project in spellcasting this month.”
Aiden hissed slightly.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
“It’s fine,” Aiden said steadily. “But it means the circle is perpetually drawing power from Opal.” He started sketching a rune on a blank page on his notebook. “So Jack cast the break spell, and it hit the vessel and backlashed?”
“We didn’t think it could breach an elemental-called circle.”
“Elemental?” I asked quietly.
“The candles,” Opal said. “Green for earth, blue for water, you know. And then set at the corresponding points, like east, south.”
Aiden flipped a page and drew another rune. “So Jack went down, and Emily stepped into the circle?”
Opal looked away from the phone for a moment. I could hear a quiet whisper, likely Emily. “She’s afraid to move at all now. When she moves the spell tightens.”
Aiden nodded as if he’d already known that. “It pulled her into the circle?”
Opal nodded. “She says yes.”
“It attacked Jack, but only compelled Emily?” I asked.
“No,” Aiden said, flipping to another blank page and starting another rune. “It’s not that complicated. It was Jack’s own spell rebounding that took him out. I’m going to have to ask him what he used, because its sounds ridiculously powerful.”
“Jack is ridiculously powerful,” Opal said mournfully. “But he has a hard time focusing it.”
“It’s the secondary spell tied to the vessel that grabbed Emily, because she’s the necromancer.” Aiden drew a fourth rune, then flipped back through the notebook, making slight additions — mostly thickening lines — to all four sketches. “The secondary spell is designed to stop someone from opening the vessel. So we need to tell it that Emily isn’t a threat.”
Opal held up a piece of chalk. Even in the low light, it was haloed in light-blue magic. “Runes?”
Aiden grinned. “Yes, runes. One for each of the candles, and —”
“Try not to move them?”
“Right. And don’t touch the circle you’ve already chalked.”
He held up the first rune he’d drawn so it filled the smaller camera view. “You remember this one?”
“Grounding,” Opal said. “For the earth candle?”
Aiden nodded his head, smiling. Then he whispered to me, “We’re in so much trouble.”
“She’s very smart,” I whispered back as neutrally as possible. And clearly failing, given the grin Aiden flashed at me.
“I can hear you whispering,” Opal groused.
Aiden laughed. “See the wide section in the center? That’s where the candle goes. And leave the line on the bottom corner for last.”
“I know,” Opal said pissily. The camera moved as she set it down on the floor.
We waited in silence.
> “Got it,” Opal finally said, picking up her phone again. “Next?”
Aiden flipped a page in his book, holding the second sketched rune up to the camera.
“I don’t know this one,” Opal said quietly.
“It’s a focal. You add the upper right circle last.”
“For the … white candle? Air?”
Aiden grinned again. “Yes.”
Opal grunted, shifting her position off-screen.
I wanted to pepper her and Aiden with questions. I wanted to know how dangerous this was. I wanted to know how much danger Opal was in. But I knew none of that would be helpful, so I kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t even amplify Aiden without risking shorting out the iPad by increasing his magic. But he didn’t need amplification to sketch his runes and talk Opal through the spell they were setting together.
“Got it,” Opal finally said.
Aiden flipped a page in his book and held it to the camera.
“A … sun? Sunlight?” Opal asked, confused.
“Never a bad idea when dealing with a necromancy-based spell,” Aiden said. “But see the crosshatching?”
Opal made a thoughtful sound. “The X’s? Seven on each side, with space at the top and bottom.”
“Yes. And not touching each other.” Aiden’s tone became strained. He deliberately relaxed his shoulders. “Do you see?”
“Yep. So … like light, but combined with the crosshatch …”
“Clarity,” Aiden said. “Insight. Your dream walker abilities will naturally let you trigger this one.”
“Around the blue candle? Water?”
“No. Red. Fire.”
“Really?”
“Opal,” I said, a warning tone in my voice.
“Okay, okay.” I could hear her shifting around, then the quiet scratching of her chalk on the floor.
“Hey, Aiden,” Opal whispered quietly as she worked. “You’re going to help me clean this all up, right?”
He huffed out a laugh. “I don’t know, little witch. I wouldn’t mind having you around here full time.”
“Aiden,” she protested, “I promised Emma.”
Aiden reached for me, not taking his eyes from the screen. I twined my fingers through his, aware of my own heart hammering in my chest.
“Done!” she said.
Aiden relaxed further, as if he might have been a bit worried about Opal drawing the clarity rune.
“Okay,” he said, flipping to the final sketch and holding it to the camera. “I think you know this one already.”
“The eavesdropping rune? How does that help?”
“Well, it’s flipped, yes? And see the diamond pinned in the upper-left corner?”
Opal made an agreeable noise.
“And if you pair that with the blue candle?” Aiden asked. “What do you get?”
Opal grunted, stymied.
“Reflection.”
“Oh!” she cried, as if she’d just put it all together. “Sneaky!”
“Leave off the diamond for now,” Aiden said. “Emily? Can you see Opal at the blue candle without moving?”
“Yes,” Emily gasped off-screen, breathless.
“As Opal draws one side of the diamond, you loosen your hold on the vessel, holding it just with the fingers of your dominant hand.”
“Okay.” Emily’s whisper was barely louder than the sound of Opal’s chalk.
“The spell should begin to retract, drawn back to its benign state. Then as Opal starts to draw the second half of the final diamond, you will slowly lower the vessel to the floor. You will release it at the exact moment Opal closes the diamond. Okay?”
“Okay,” Opal said.
“Okay,” Emily whispered.
“Ready?” Opal asked. She’d set the phone down again. The screen pointed up toward darkened rafters.
“Where the hell are they?” I whispered.
“Abandoned building,” Aiden whispered back. “Did you see the other spent candles and spell paraphernalia?”
I hadn’t. I’d only had eyes for Opal.
“Probably a building just off campus. I bet the Academy actually owns the land, letting the students cast there while thinking they’re rebelling.” He scoffed. “Witches.”
Opal leaned over the camera. “This is going to work, right?”
“You know what to do if it doesn’t,” Aiden said calmly.
Opal bit her lip.
“Opal,” he said firmly. “You shield yourself. You run for help.”
She nodded. Then her face disappeared. “Okay,” she announced. “Final point.”
The iPad screen glitched.
Then it froze.
I sprang to my feet.
Aiden grabbed my wrist. “Give it a moment.”
A garbled sound came from the speaker of the iPad. It took me a moment to recognize laughter — peals of on-the-edge-of-hysterical laughter.
“Probably not dead, then,” I said, gripping Aiden’s hand too hard but unable to relax.
A boy groaned in the background. “What is going on?” Jack had been woken, no doubt by the screaming.
The microphone was muffled for a long moment. Then Opal’s voice came through clearly. “Emma?”
“I’m here, but we can’t see you.”
“Yeah, I think I …” The audio glitched. “… phone … screen … back …”
The audio died.
Aiden grimaced.
We waited a moment longer. The iPad flashed the words Call Ended.
I groaned. “The magic fried her phone?”
“Seems like it,” Aiden muttered. His tone was suddenly tense, furious. He pushed back his chair as he stood. Then he strode into the hall, heading for the front door, hands clenched at his sides.
Grabbing the iPad just in case Opal found another phone and tried to call back, I followed.
Leaving the door open behind him, Aiden made it to the front patio before I caught up to him. He strode to the top of the steps, surveying the witches and sorcerers arrayed on the front lawn. The two witches were on the left. Grosvenor stood directly in front of the stairs, with the other two sorcerers on his right. The curse breaker was either playing mediator, or was placing himself in the position of stepping in between the others.
Neither Cerise nor Kader had made an appearance. Aiden’s push apparently hadn’t included either of them.
Aiden’s power churned, boiling around him. I set the iPad just inside the door, hoping to protect it from whatever magic was about to be flung around. I stepped out onto the patio.
The dark-haired sorcerer’s siblings and cousin all stared up at him, a range of expressions on their faces. The witches showed concern. Grosvenor was neutral. Khalid was livid. Isa, disdainful.
“This is my home,” Aiden growled. “My sanctuary.”
“We were just trying to help,” Ocean cried, jabbing a finger toward the older sorcerers. “Their advice was —”
“My family!” Aiden shouted.
The wards covering the house flexed — then punched slightly outward.
Sky stumbled a step back, rubbing her arms and gazing at her brother balefully. Khalid hissed.
Isa’s lips twisted. “Brother, there is no need —”
“There is a need.” Aiden’s tone was vicious, on the edge of unhinged. “You’ve all been bickering like children since you arrived. You interfere where you are not wanted or needed. What if Opal had been the one in that circle, and your arguing had combined to short out the iPad? I’ve never seen such a malicious suppression spell, and I wasn’t even in the goddamn room with it!”
My heart was suddenly thudding in my chest again. I had the terrible urge to run. To run across the yard, climb into the Mustang, and then not stop running until I had Opal safe in my arms. Aiden had been so collected, so calm for Opal, that I hadn’t known —
“That child is mine!” Aiden roared. “Mine and Emma’s.”
Ocean sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
“I w
ill sacrifice every single one of you to ensure the safety of my family.” Aiden’s tone was low and deadly. He looked at each of them in turn. “I’ll let Cerise have Kader. And I’ll let Kader have the rest of you.”
He stepped down, crossing between them without another word, heading for the barn.
I hesitated to follow, just for a moment.
The wards on the house shifted, flickering outward. Aiden had wordlessly invited everyone back inside.
“Is she okay?” Sky whispered. “Opal? Emma? Is she okay?”
They all looked at me, unmoving.
“Yes,” I said, stepping back to grab the iPad, then following Aiden. “I believe so. Aiden talked Opal through redirecting the suppression spell, but her phone was damaged when she triggered it.”
“Redirected,” Khalid sneered smugly, his gaze on the witches. “With runes.”
“No,” I corrected. “He built off the containment spell that Opal had already erected, using her witch magic combined with runes tailored specifically to her.”
“Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to trigger them,” Isa said quietly. Khalid’s shoulders stiffened at the minor rebuke.
I turned my back on them all, following Aiden toward the barn.
Chapter 7
I slowed as I entered the barn, wanting to give Aiden space if he needed it. I’d thought he might have been heading up into the loft to the pentagram to kill his father himself. Or to kick Kader off the property, damning everyone to his death curse — possibly including himself.
But the dark-haired sorcerer wasn’t in the loft. The power of the pentagram thrummed lightly through my teeth and bones, though, so Kader was no doubt utilizing it. And if the elder sorcerer needed to spend so much time suspended in magic that was fortified daily by four other powerful sorcerers, he was in bad shape.
Kader hid his magic well, but perhaps that wasn’t all due to skill.
I brushed the thought away, focusing on where I was needed. Where I needed to be.
Aiden was leaning on the workbench situated under the stairs to the loft. Hands spread wide on the plywood top, head bowed over the pepper and basil plants under the grow lights.
Not really knowing what to do or say, I reached around the stair post, grabbing the spare set of keys for the Mustang that hung there. With the keys cupped in my hand, I closed the space between us.
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