Page 105 of Autumn L.A.W

“Middle ground,” Magda said.

They couldn’t trust her because she had lied, cheated, and stolen before. But they wouldn’t keep her tied to a bed.

They needed to call Bas and admit their need for her help, as much as it galled them. They also had to let Chad know they weren’t ready for any new jobs. Anything requiring more than one or two L.A.W. members would have to wait. Victoria was their priority now.

Eight witches with double the strength of ordinary witches were more than enough. But with one woman carrying the wrong DNA, thus non-magical, the whole coven was less stable and vulnerable.

Duke didn’t look thrilled. “Hate to say it, but this isn’t over. We still need the original spell-caster.”

A collective groan circled the room.

“Of course we do,” Crystal said sarcastically. “Because anything else would be convenient.”

Rayna crossed her arms, already shifting into strategy mode. “We start in Long Island. That’s where this mess kicked off. Odds are, she’s still lurking in the area.”

“Fantastic,” Joell muttered. “Let’s go hunt a mystery witch with a body-snatching hobby. What could possibly go wrong?”

No one answered. Because historically? Everything.

The witches nodded in agreement, knowing they had to track down the powerful sorceress to reverse the original spell and restore their unit’s fighting strength. Knowing the mansion would return to Long Island soon, and the sorceress might be in that vicinity, they brainstormed and came up with a plan.

By morning, the mansion had settled back onto Long Island as if it had never left—no mountain air, no Tennessee twang, just coastal calm and a faint salty breeze that had been politely installed overnight.

“Alright,” Rayna said, clapping once. “Field trip. We have to find this other sorceress.”

No one argued.

They spread out across the kitchen, coffee in hand. No charts. No whiteboard. Just instinct, experience, and the shared understanding that somewhere on this very large island, a sorceress with questionable hobbies was living her best life.

“We split up,” Sahara said, “and cover more ground.”

Magda nodded. “There’s nothing much north of here, is there?”

“Well, she’s not going to hide in the middle of Hicksville,” Rayna said. “Witches sisters, use your inner magic scanners. Anyone that powerful will leave a trace.”

“I’ll go North,” Sahara confirmed.

Joell stretched like she was about to go for a jog instead of hunting a body-snatching sorceress. She made a fist and waved her thumb between Crystal and herself. “South is ours.”

Crystal grinned. “Road trip. I’m in.”

“That leaves East and West,” Rayna said, glancing at Victoria.

Victoria lifted her chin. “I’ve got it.”

No hesitation. No pity.

“Good.” Rayna gave a quick nod of approval. “I need to check on my pets, but I’ll circle back and join Victoria later. Try not to start a magical turf war without me.”

“No promises,” Joell said.

Lioness leaned against the wall, arms crossed, already slipping into that distant, focused look. “I’ll stay here, keeping eyes on all of you with my remote viewing.”

“And keeping us all coordinated, I hope,” Crystal said. “We don’t want to waste time by overlapping.”

Lioness smirked. “Think of me as your extremely efficient GPS.”

“Perfect,” Joell said.