Vivienne’s face contorted with real fear. "No, please?—"
But Aurelia and Eleanor ignored her.
They set to work, silent and sure. Amethyst dust, a new pattern of sigils painted on Vivienne’s exposed skin. Her forehead, her palms, and the center of her chest. Eleanor drew symbols with a brush dipped in Zaden’s blood, her hands steady, every move precise.
Chanting started, low and old, words that didn’t sound right in any modern language. The air in the room twisted, dense and sweet, then bitter. At first, Vivienne thrashed, but she couldn’t move in the circle. She couldn’t even blink. The shell had melted back enough for her to scream, but the only sound was the whoosh of power torn loose.
The spell built and built. My ears popped with the pressure. Zaden held Bryce now, shielding him from the worst of it. I hugged both of them, clinging to their heat.
Then, all at once, the power snapped. The world went silent.
Vivienne dropped. She was no longer crystalline, just a heap of ordinary flesh in a pile of blankets. She curled on her side, gasping. Her eyes held no shine, no magic, not even a spark of defiance.
Eleanor looked at the rest of us. "She’s done. She’ll never use magic again."
Zaden exhaled. Ashton did too. Even Aurelia looked ten years older.
"Get her out," Ashton said. "And don't come back."
Zaden handed Bryce back to me, and he and Drake lifted Vivienne between them, not exactly gently. She didn’t resist. We marched her up the stairs, through the silent house, then out the front door.
Dawn was just breaking over the ridge, pink striping the clouds, the world washed clean.
They brought Vivienne to her car, dropped her in the driver’s seat, and left the door open.
Aurelia crouched, her voice sharp. "You come back to this town, and we’ll finish the job."
Vivienne didn’t answer. She stared at her hands, still shaking.
Zaden snapped the car keys into her lap. "Go," he said. "And never look back."
She started the engine, driving away with none of her old drama. The taillights flicked out at the end of the lane, gone forever.
Silence crept in, heavy and final.
Bryce sagged between us, not quite asleep, but settled at last. He watched the road for a long time, as if waiting for monsters to come back.
When nothing did, he looked up at me, then at Zaden.
"We’re safe now?" he asked, just a murmur.
Zaden wrapped him up, strong and proud. "Yeah, bud. We’re safe."
I bent down and kissed Bryce, then Zaden, then squeezed them both until my arms hurt.
The sun came up over Beck Manor, shining on a world that maybe would let us catch our breath.
Chapter 29
Krystal
The world lookeddifferent in the morning. I woke to the rare quiet of a house where no one was screaming, or crying, or threatening to freeze a person’s soul in a crystal coffin. The sunlight through the window was soft and directionless, like someone had turned down the contrast on reality. For a long minute, I didn’t move, savoring the fact that my body ached in all the normal places, no scorch marks, no fresh bruises, no evidence of magical warfare.
I lay there, listening for the telltale signs of catastrophe, Bryce’s bedroom door slamming, the low rumble of Zaden’s voice, even the pop of a lightbulb giving up under magical duress, but the only sound was the slow tick of the kitchen clock and the distant warble of a morning talk show through thin walls.
When I finally padded into the kitchen, Bryce was already up, perched at the table with a bowl of Lucky Charms balanced between his forearms. The wolf plush was at his side, its matted snout buried in the crook of his elbow. He wore the same NASA t-shirt as yesterday, but his hair was freshly combed, parted with a wet precision I’d never seen without strong adult intervention.
"Hey," I said, and meant for it to come out gently, but my voice cracked.
