The memory of swearing my oath in this room swims forward in my memory—nervously reading from a worn leather book, promising to protect magic at all costs. Well, I did, and look where it led me.
“Now.” Fiona’s triumphant voice cuts through the haze. “We’ll convene to discuss the length of your imprisonment—”
“Fiona, this is wrong!” Natalie barks.
“Quiet!” Fiona snarls.
My head spins as they argue, the verdict knocking me off-balance. This can’t be it. They never gave me a chance to reverse what I did or…
An idea sparks, and I blurt it out before I can second-guess myself. “I’ll fix it.”
My voice brings the room to silence. Fiona stares at me.
“Let me catch all the magic I set free,” I say. “If I can return it to the coven, will you waive my prison sentence?”
Fiona laughs. “Harness bio magic? You think you can do what Trackers spend their whole lives training for? What took us acenturyto contain?”
No, my inner voice says—but I have to try. “We don’t know the extent of my ability, do we?”
She studies me. The fact that she hasn’t immediately shot down the idea gives me a thread of hope that I desperately cling to.
“Katie,” Natalie murmurs, but I put a hand out to silence her.
“Give me a year to harness it all,” I say, trying not to sound like I’m begging. “If I fail, imprison me. But at least let me try to reverse what I did.”
Fiona scrutinizes me over her nose before looking at the jury.
My heart slams into my ribs. She’s actually considering it.
Finally, she tilts her head. “Very well. Since you were so eager to prove yourself useful to the coven, here’s your chance. But you don’t get a year. You have two months. By the end of June, you will harness all fifty-six instances of bio magic you set free and return them to us. If you don’t succeed: imprisonment in our cells. Jury?”
Murmurs pass over the witches, and several of them nod. Sky goes pale, her eyes huge.
Two months?
A jitter rolls through me. The whole reason Natalie and I freed it was because of how hard it would be to recapture it. Skilled witches like Natalie’s dad dedicate their entire careers to the task—and I can’t even do magic.
I’m delaying the inevitable—but I have a shot now. At the very least, I have a few more weeks of freedom. A few weeks with Natalie.
Fiona’s eyes glint with the cold satisfaction that she’s finally brought me to justice. “We’re in agreement, then. Five years’ imprisonment when—sorry,if—you fail. And if you try to flee or hide…you know we’ll find you, don’t you?”
I dip my chin. She’s playing with me, but I won’t let her see my fear.
Five. Years.
I’ll be in my mid-twenties when I get out. I can’t ask Natalie to wait for me that long. And what’ll I tell my family and friends? They’ll all move on without me while I sit in a cell during the best years of my life. My degree and career plans, my entire future, all gone.
I’d planned to introduce Natalie to my parents and sisters soon. I’ve lain awake at night imagining how it would go—Pearl interrogating her with no filter, Mom fussing over her. Now that’ll never happen.
I have to run, to disappear into another city and change my name. If that would even work.
The jury stands, murmured conversations growing louder as everyone gets on with their day. As if they haven’t shattered someone’s entire future.
“N-Natalie,” I stammer, unable to breathe through the panic.
This wasn’t supposed to be the outcome. I never thought it would come to this when I freed those chimeras—I just did what needed to be done.
She bends down in front of me, her strong hands grounding me. “You won’t face this alone, okay? I’m going to help you.”
