A canine comes through the trees—not fully one of us, but enough. His mother was magic. He calls to us. They are here.
I break free from the roots and stand, and my sisters and I change course, following the canine.
There!
The ritual is underway. Our sister is dissolving, joining the blood of the older witch.
“Nat, keep breathing!” Sky’s voice pulls me back to my body—my knees on the ground, the blinding pain everywhere. The vision of Sophia dissolves, of Wyatt leading the chimeras to her, of the dark forest… And in its place is Natalie’s graying skin, the blood, the people crowded around her.
I can feel the threads of magic connecting everything—witches, chimeras, the earth beneath our feet. I can sense the fear behind Fiona’s anger, the love driving Sky to protect her sister, the confusion and wonder in Hazel’s transformation… And Natalie. Her life force, draining away.
She’s about to die. The fragile strands tethering her to this world are fraying, closer to snapping altogether by the second.
Help her,I plead silently, hoping the chimeras can hear me as I can hear them.She doesn’t deserve this.
I pour everything I am into the plea—all my love for Natalie, all my fear of losing her, all my desperate hope that we can still fix this mess.
For a moment, nothing happens. Then a small shape detaches from the forest—Lucy in her kitten form, padding toward us on silent paws. Her eyes glow as she approaches Natalie and sits back on her haunches, her tail swishing.
The air grows thick with magic, heavy and electric. It presses against my skin, fills my lungs, makes my hair stand on end. Lucy begins to shimmer, becoming more powerful with each frantic beat of my heart.
“Katie, what’s it doing?” Sky asks, her voice strained through her tears. Her fingers close around my arm, cold and sweaty, the terror of losing Natalie plain on her face. After all they’ve been through together, losing their mom, nearly losing their dad, risking their lives to protect the public from dark magic, they’ve always had each other.
I shake my head, unable to explain what I don’t understand.
Natalie’s breaths quicken, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her eyelids flutter like she’s dreaming. Her life force isn’t as weak anymore. It pulses in the air, wrapping around me.
Do I dare to hope? I lift her sweater, which is soaked and torn. The wound in her side gapes open—but it’s getting smaller. Tissue is stitching closed by an invisible hand. Blood stops flowing.
“Lucy,” I whisper, gratitude overwhelming me.
Slowly, color returns to Natalie’s cheeks. The bluish tinge fades from her lips, replaced by their natural pink. It’s like her body is regenerating blood—and maybe it is. Her breathing deepens, steadies.
I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Can hardly believe what I’m seeing.
Her eyelids fly open, and she gasps, gulping down air like someone breaking the surface after nearly drowning. “What happened? Where’s Katie?”
I grab her face, tears streaming down my cheeks and neck. “I’m here. Are you okay?”
She stares up at me, confusion giving way to recognition. She reaches up to cup my hand against her cheek. “Katie. Don’t cry.”
I can barely breathe, choking back a sob as her warmth seeps into my palm.
Lucy backs up. The heavy press of magic recedes like a tide, the air seeming to grow cooler and thinner.
Thank you,I tell her silently, knowing I’ll never be able to fully express my gratitude.
She blinks, then turns and trots back into the forest.
Natalie tries to sit up but falls back with a groan, her face contorting in pain. “Feels like that boulder really did land on me.”
“Stay down,” I say, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
She grunts and sits up anyway. “I can still fight. I just— Shit, is this all mine?”
She gawks at the pool of blood.
“Yeah,” I say thickly.
