Page 52 of Evergreen

Cass was already moving. I watched as his hands came up, as his magic began to crackle and surge around him, his weather magic responding to the danger like it had been waiting for this moment all along.

“Do it,” I gasped, still gripping his arm. “Do whatever you need to do. Just stop them.”

The sky above us darkened in seconds. Clouds rolled in from nowhere, thick and roiling, and I watched as Cass’s eyes went completely black, not just the pupils, but the entire eye. His magic was taking over, channeling through him with a ferocity that made my own power recoil in awe.

Lightning split the sky.

It wasn’t a warning strike. It was a direct hit on the nearest bulldozer, and the machine erupted in sparks and flames. The operator screamed, jumping from the cab as the whole thing went up like a tinderbox. But Cass wasn’t done. Another bolt, and another, each one finding its target with surgical precision. The kind of precision that Professor Blackwood had been teaching him during his spare time.

The kind of precision he’d been perfecting for weeks.

A second machine exploded. Then a third. The operators were scrambling now, abandoning their equipment and running. The air smelled like ozone and burning metal, and I could hear them shouting, see them pointing at the sky like they thought it was the end of the world.

Maybe it was. Maybe this was what happened when you tried to destroy something sacred. When you tried to kill the very heart of the earth itself.

Cass’s hands were shaking as the last machine sparked and died, its operator long gone. The storm was still raging overhead, but it was beginning to dissipate now, having served its purpose. And it seemed like my Sparks had finally found a way to channel all that wild, chaotic power into something absolutely terrifying.

“Linden…” Cass collapsed to his knees, the adrenaline crash hitting him all at once. I went down with him, pulling him into my arms as he started to shake. His magic was still crackling across his skin, still responding to the aftermath of what he’d just done. “Are you okay?”

I brushed the hair from his forehead. “I’m all right,” I nodded. “You saved the grove. You saved⁠—”

But Cass went limp in my arms, his eyes fluttering closed. He was out cold, his heart still racing in his chest. I held him close to me, trying to keep him warm as I surveyed the devastation. Several of the machines were currently on fire, black smoke filling the air. In the distance I could hear sirens, probably fire trucks heading this way. The far west side of the grove had been destroyed, torn up and cut right down to the bare earth. It was a gruesome sight. Some of the trees there were planted back in my great-grandparent’s time. They were older than the nearby town, had seen the rise of the industrial revolution, and several wars since. And now, they were dead, cold and lifeless on the ground just waiting to be turned into garbage for people to slap on their knick-knack shelves.

I was furious, more so than I thought possible. How could someone do this? What right did they have to come into my home and destroy it? This land belonged to me and my family. Why had this happened at all?

But then, just as the anger began to boil, I felt something familiar. Magic. Close by. The same signature I’d felt all those weeks ago at the gas station, then again in the grove. It was moving towards us from the wreckage, coming over the rise.

I looked up and I saw him standing there in the sunrise, his black suit a harsh contrast to the white snow and the flames rising up behind him. The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he wasn’t a creature like me. He was a witch. And he looked pissed.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” the man barked as he headed our way. “Calling up a storm like that? Destroying all my equipment? You’re going to pay for that, you know!”

I tightened my grip on Cass, my body shielding his unconscious form as the man approached. My magic flared instinctively in response to the threat, golden light dancing across my skin as a warning. I didn’t know who this asshole was, but I knew he was responsible for what had just happened to my grove.

“Your equipment?” I said, my voice low and dangerous in a way I’d never heard from myself before. “You were destroying my home. My family’s sacred land.”

The man stopped a few feet away, his dark eyes narrowing as he took in the scene. Behind him, I could see a few more figures emerging from the smoke and ash. They all wore the same black suits, all moved with the purposeful stride of people who believed they had the right to be here.

“Your home?” He laughed, a harsh, brittle sound that made my skin crawl. “This land was zoned for commercial development six months ago. We have every legal right to be here.”

“You don’t have the right to destroy my home,” I spat, carefully adjusting my hold on Cass to make sure he stayed safe against my chest. His breathing was still steady, thank the gods. Just exhausted. His magic had burned through him like a wildfire. “This grove has stood for centuries. It belongs to my family.”

“No it doesn’t,” the man said, pulling out his phone. “My company purchased it three years ago. And your little weather witch friend just committed property destruction and assault. I have witnesses. The fire department is already on their way, and in a moment, the Elder Council will be too. I’d suggest you think very carefully about your next move.”

My stomach twisted. What the fuck was he talking about? My parents owned this land and passed it down to me. We had every right to attack his equipment.

“Who are you?” I demanded, trying to buy time while my mind raced. This man had to be lying.

“Jackson Rose,” the man said, his smile turning predatory. “I represent Rose Development. And you, green beast, are about to learn what happens when you fuck with the wrong witch.”

The sirens were getting closer now. I could hear them wailing through the forest, getting louder with each passing second. I looked down at Cass’s peaceful, exhausted face, then back at the destruction surrounding us. The burned-out machines. The fallen trees. The evidence of what we’d done.

But I stood my ground. I knew I was right. This was my home. If anyone was in the wrong, it was this asshole.

I wasn’t going anywhere.

Chapter 23

Cass