Professor Maddox takes one look at the majestic objects in our hands, then she and Doc get to work, calling on their water and Moon magick to cast a powerful illusion spell.
“It’s only temporary,” Doc says when they’re done. “We’ve managed to essentially jam the magickal signature—to anyone who comes looking, these will look like useless props. But we’ll need to do something more permanent to keep them out of enemy hands for the long haul.”
“Add it to the list,” Ani says, glancing back at the prisoners.
“First things first,” Doc says, hands on his hips, his eyes stern.
I wait for him to say something profound and leaderly, something about how it’s time to dig deep and shore up our courage and prepare for the long, hard road ahead. But then out of nowhere he just grins and says, “Group hug?”
Everyone cracks up at that. But before the love fest can begin in earnest, I make Doc go find me some clothes—preferably something warmer than the skimpy karaoke outfit I first showed up in. Ditching the blanket, we get dressed quickly, then bring it in for some much-needed hugs with the whole group, our embrace a wordless promise that we’ll always have each other’s backs.
It’s a balm on our weary souls, and an infusion of energy for the long night still to come.
Nineteen
STEVIE
With everyone relatively safe and accounted for, including the two formerly gun-toting witches who may or may not be working for the dark side, it’s time to talk strategy. Sleep is a seductive mistress, but for now, we need to power through our exhaustion and figure out next steps. One slip-up, one careless mistake, and we’ll draw the Dark ones right to our doorstep.
There’s a good chance we already have. But considering the crazy impossible odds we’ve already faced down tonight, I’m choosing to believe luck is on our side.
Doc puts the two traitors in the protective custody of Professors Broome and Maddox, with Nat and Isla assisting on the trek back to campus proper. Professor Maddox offered up the basement of her store, Time Out of Mind, where they’ll be secured physically and magickally until Doc can figure out how to question them.
After the professors whip up a protective potion and spell for us to use on the Arcana objects, Doc sends them on their way, promising to check in with them after the five of us deal with the sword and pentacle.
As much as I’d love to keep that blade under my pillow at night for just such an occasion as slashing some Dark Arcana nightmares, it’s not safe. Until we can retrieve the wand and chalice, and figure out what to do with the whole creeptastic set, we need to hide the sword and pentacle and protect it with the strongest Arcana magick we can muster—something to keep the Magician and his evil cronies totally off our scent.
We all agree the Fool’s Grave is the best place.
Plan set, we take a few more minutes to collect the rest of our things, scanning the area to make sure we leave no trace behind.
I follow after Baz, eager for even a few minutes alone, desperate to know what happened back in that cathedral.
We head just out of earshot, keeping the others in view.
Before I can ask a single question, he gathers me into his arms and kisses me.
“I have never been so happy to see another human being in my life, Little Bird. Goddess, you’re a miracle.”
“Me? You’re the one who brought back those souvenirs. I had no idea you could dream-retrieve.”
“Neither did I.”
I wait for him to say more, but he just releases me, lowering his gaze to the ground and kicking at a rock. He’s still smiling, but his energy feels unbalanced, like he can’t decide whether he feels relieved or terrified.
“How did you find the pentacle?” I ask.
“After you found the sword, an idea started worming into my mind. I knew it had to be in the Forest of Iron and Bone, but I had no idea where, and no idea how the hell we’d get there before we woke up.”
“Everything was so unstable there.”
“Exactly. But then, as you were squaring off with the Magician and Kirin and I were figuring out how to deal with him, the idea came to me. As long as my earth magick followed the same rules in the dream realm as it did back home, I could probably use the rocks to do a teleportation spell. So once I was sure you and Kirin were safe, I rained all hell down on the Magician, grabbed the sword you dropped, and magicked myself the fuck out of there, straight to the Forest of Iron and Bone.”
“But how did you survive that collapse? You were all the way across the chamber. Baz, I saw the ceiling come down.”
“Me and rocks… Well, let’s just say I know how to keep myself safe underground.” He kicks at the rocks again, blowing out a breath. “Anyway, once I was out of immediate danger, I set out to finding the pentacle, knowing I’d have at least a little time before the pancake formerly known as the Magician resurrected and tracked me down.”
“Where was it?” I ask. “The pentacle, I mean. How did you find it?”
