“All part of the enchanter gig.” Milo smiled. “Ben will understand.”
“Will he? I worry. He was excited about me chaperoning. He hasn’t really made any friends yet. He keeps to himself most days, and I don’t know, I just thought—”
“How about I go? I can move my cases around tomorrow.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Plus, who doesn’t love the zoo?”
“They’re not going to the zoo.”
“Yes, they are. Ben’s been talking about the animals all week.”
“They’re going to Familiar Rescue Haven.”
Milo’s smile fell away as his mind registered the name. It wasn’t a field trip I would’ve planned for a bunch of elementary students, but I supposed there was some healthy benefit to showing them the less sunny side of life. Although I definitely didn’t want to be there for all the questions the kids would have about death.
Chicago ran the only shelter in the state for familiars who lost their witch partner. Since their familiar bond couldn’t relink with a new witch, they were often abandoned by the grieving family. More so out of necessity than cruelty. The fees for a familiar were pricey, and without their witch partner, their magic became finicky. Hence, why so few havens were properly funded to take on animals with magic. That and some were quite exotic, which meant more expensive to house and feed.
“So, then it’s settled.” Milo squeezed my shoulders. “I’ll be the chaperone and you’ll be the mighty enchanter.”
His mind whirled with ideas on the reversal of our roles.
“You’re still an enchanter. You’re just making time for Ben, whereas I’m abandoning him.”
“Ouch. You make working sound so cruel. Bettering the future. Keeping everyone safe. Stopping witch extremists. None of that sounds like abandonment to me.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
With that, Milo dragged me out of the Global Guild detainment facility, and we went home. It was impossible to relax. I found my telepathy returning to the detainment facility,unable to breach the protective barriers put in place, but already jumping at the opportunity for work. It made sleep difficult.
The Celestial Coven was making their move. The True Witch was making her move. Theodore Whitlock was making his move. I had to outsmart them all, stop them in their tracks, and bring an end to this vile group.
I sluggishlyprepared to return and examine Winston’s mind while Milo and Ben prepared for the field trip. Ben didn’t even miss my absence; he was too wound up about all the animals they had on their roster. His teacher had shared the website and gave them a project before and after the field trip. Ben had made a pamphlet of all the animals he could squeeze onto the paper, along with a sentence about each one. Some of his words were bigger than his actual drawings. We needed to work more on his penmanship.
“Have fun,” I said as they raced out of the house.
After finishing my coffee, I returned to the Global Guild detainment facility and sat alone in the secured room where they held Winston.
Thanks to my mind shatter, he remained unconscious. They kept him strapped to a bed surrounded by enchantments all the same. Despite all that, a small patrol of guards remained close, ready in case Winston attempted anything.
I dove into his mind, searching for names and faces of other members of the Celestial Coven. I searched for intel on The True Witch. I hunted down information about their hideouts.Anything and everything Winston kept locked in his memories.
“There we go.” I stepped through the muck of his inner core, a place in ruins. That was my doing. I had no idea how the witch originally envisioned his mind, but I’d shattered such representations, leaving floating debris in every direction.
His mind was rocky islands filled with broken memories. I merely needed to find the correct pieces and stitch them back together.
I telekinetically dragged two zigzagged hunks of rock closer to one another, preparing to reunite the memories. A silhouette of a woman in a witch’s hat stood tall on one rock while a blurry version of Winston stood on the other.
“This must be your recruitment.” I felt the truth in that. An itch from the cloaked memory, the whispers right on the edge of his thoughts, but I couldn’t put the rocks together. “Dammit.”
Just beneath the memory lay a broken sigil. A hidden trap missed by the divination squad.
“Oh, come on.” I huffed.
I grabbed hold of other broken memories locked on rocky debris, only to find more shattered traps waiting to be activated. It turned out that the witches Wadsworth sent to disarm any pesky enchantments only found active ones. There were still plenty of traps awaiting someone to trigger them. These broken sigils weren’t nullified when shattered. They had parameters in place to reactivate when pieced together.
“So, Amara planned for my investigation.”
