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“No, I swear,” she says. “I couldn’t read her intentions, or I’d have stopped her myself. She must have cast a spell on me or found a way to cloak it in herself.”
“She was using her ancestor’s wand and strands from her broom,” Ronnie tells her.
“The ancestor who owned that wand was trying to come through,” Jessie says. “She…” She shakes her head, “Didn’t want this. Didn’t want it at all. It’s like I’m getting a belated message. She was trying to communicate with me. As soon as I was in the circle I knew there was something trying to breach it. I know now it was her.”
“Why isn’t there any blood?” Dani asks, still holding Aunt Mimi. “There’s like… no blood.”
“She’s not dead,” Lucinda announces, suddenly leaning over Aunt Mimi. “My wand put her into a state of pause. She pulled it as I was collapsing, I saw her eyes flash, saw it move to her and knew she did it. She knew it would help. Before I pull it, I don’t know how it’ll affect what she gave to Greyson. We need to figure that out first or it could hurt him to abruptly break the link.”
“How long is she okay like this?” Dani asks.
“She knew what she was doing, girls. She knows how that dagger works,” Lucinda assures. “We were spelled still by Aviva, but your aunt magicked this to herself, knowing what it would do so she could pass the torch to Greyson who was outside the circle. He was close enough to breach it and we all know only a member of one of these three covens could breach it.”
Greyson clears his throat. “She initiated me into the coven last night at Rye’s. She told me she needed to spell her power to come to me in the event of her death. She told me last night she wanted contingencies in place before meeting with the SCC. She told me what the necklaces in my pocket would do, incapacitate witches. She told me earlier today that if anything went sideways, I should step in and break the circle, and that she’d get a message to me to let me know to help. She also told me she was wearing a partial cloak so she’d appear weak if either of the SCC witches were reading her abilities tonight.”
“She’s definitely not dead?” Dani checks again, looking as distraught as the rest of us feel.
“She’s not dead. I promise,” Lucinda assures. “And that was smart. She incapacitated me first, as the perceived strongest in the circle beyond Erica. Mimi had more time to do what she needed to do as she was an afterthought to Aviva.”
“Definitely not dead? Because she feels like she is,” Dani adds.
“She doesn’t,” Greyson corrects. “I feel her through this link. She’s just… at rest.”
“Huh” Dani asks.
“She’s not dead,” Lucinda insists. “We need to keep her like this while we assess the link and figure out how to keep both her and Greyson safe. I’ve never linked like this through this wand, but I know someone who might know. Sergei. I’ll call him and get guidance.
“Why should we trust you?” Greyson asks.
“Lay your hands on me, Veronica,” Lucinda states.
Ronnie crawls to her and grasps her hands. And then she shakes her head, crying harder.
My sister feels what she touches. She feels it deeply and I can see she’s feeling it right now.
Lucinda stares at the sky with a hollow look on her face as Ronnie weeps and then pries her hands out of Lucinda’s, shaking her head.
“She’s not lying,” Ronnie croaks out, then dashes tears off her face.
Grey clears his throat. “Let’s get you all out of here. Get her home while we figure this out.” He lifts Aunt Mimi into his arms and begins walking back the way we came. My sisters, Lucinda, and I quickly gather all our implements. Riley picks up Aviva’s wand and hucks it into the river with disgust on his face. He does the same with her cauldron.
“Damn it! You shouldn’t have done that!” Lucinda yells. “That needs to be carefully-”
“I give no fucks,” he hollers.
“It needs to be carefully handled. Not only is it an artifact, it’s evidence.”
“Ask me if I give a shit!”
“What if Aviva finds it? Or someone else gets their hands on it, Riley?” Jessie asks.
“It’s gonna come back to us. I see it,” Vivica softly says, eyes glassy with tears.
“In a bad way?” Dani asks.
“I don’t… I don’t know. I see it coming back though.”
“Is Aviva dead?” I ask.
“I think so,” Vivi says.
“I think so, too,” Jessie echoes.
“Don’t know. The water sucked her in and then the rapids took her downstream mighty fast. We’ll organize a search party in the morning, I suppose,” Riley says, wrapping an arm around me.
“Maybe a couple of us oughta look tonight, in case she made it,” Joel suggests.
