“Jared?” I ask, diving down to my bag. Hasan and I came up with this plan to close the rift on the way here, and we have no idea if it’ll work. Gemma shakes her head.
If he’s in the spirit world, he’s dead. There’s no way he could have survived any longer. Hell, I barely survived the five minutes I was in there. A deep, throaty growl comes from inside the rift, sending a chill down my spine.
“Hurry, Ace,” Gemma tells me, hands trembling. I grab the last mixture of herbs, invoke their powers, and step over the salt circle. Standing in front of the rift, I summon the fire and burn the herbs. “I bind the tear and seal the rift. I bind the tear and seal the rift.” I chant the same thing over and over, using everything I have inside of me to heal the hole in our world.
The rift sparks and sizzles then starts to get smaller. And smaller. I feel like I’m running uphill and need to stop to catch my breath. I let my hands fall and my eyes start to flutter shut.
And the rift gets bigger again. I need to keep doing the spell, but I have nothing left.
Then Hasan steps next to me, putting his hand under mine. He lifts it up and starts chanting along with me. I turn to him, eyes meeting, and take a breath.
“I bind the tear and seal the rift,” I say along with him. My heart is racing. I’m exhausted. But I can do this.
Gemma hops over the salt line and stands at my other side. She puts her hand on my shoulder and stretches out her other hand toward the rift.
“I bind the tear and seal the rift,” we say at the same time. The rift gives off one final spark and then shimmers into nothing. I fall back, collapsing against Hasan. He gently lowers me to the ground, brushing my hair out of my face.
“We did it,” Gemma breathes, looking around in disbelief.
“We got rid of the ghost,” I say. “But I didn’t find Jared.”
“Ace,” Gemma says sympathetically. She crouches down and puts her hand on mine. “I’m sorry.”
“You win some, you lose some,” I say distantly, trying not to feel. I failed the kid. Here I am, wanting to teach him and guide him in the right direction so he didn’t end up under the shadow of someone using magic for the wrong reasons…and he gets kidnapped and killed by a ghost.
“Ace!” Jac’s voice booms up from the bottom of the waterfall. I turn my head and watch him fly to us, holding something in his arms.
“Is that him?” Gemma jumps to her feet. Jac lands with grace, gently cradling Jared’s limp body in his arms. “Is he—”
“He’s alive,” Jac says. “But barely.”
Gemma goes into nurse-mode and rushes in, checking his vitals the best she can. “He’s freezing.” She takes off her jacket and puts it over Jared. “Was he in the water?”
“On the edge of it.”
I pull my phone from my bag to call 911. “Take him down to the parking lot,” I tell Jac. “Put on the charm once you land. An ambulance will meet you there and we’ll be right behind you.”
Jac nods and takes flight. Hasan jumps into the air to find Tom and Gil, and Gemma madly scrambles to gather up our supplies as I call for help. The ambulance will be here soon, and Hasan picks me up, saying it’s faster to fly down than hike.
“Hope you’re not scared of heights,” Gilbert tells Gemma, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“I’m terrified.” Her eyes widen and she holds onto him for dear life.
Gil grins. “Then close your eyes.”
* * *
“How is he?”Hasan asks as soon as I walk through the door.
“He’s fine. Physically, I mean. Mentally…that’s another story.” I take off my shoes and drop my purse on the ground. I rode in the ambulance to the hospital with Jared, and had Gemma take the guys home in the car. Keri and Roger got there in record time, and thanked me over and over for finding their son.
Jared came to once he was warmed up, and we didn’t have a chance to talk about anything. I pressed the same story over and over to the EMTs, the ER nurses and doctor, and again to Jared’s parents, hoping he’d remember it and stick with the lie that he went out on a hike, leaving his phone at home on purpose for a social media break, and got lost in the woods. Lots of people get lost in the woods, and he’s just lucky I remembered him mentioning wanting to go exploring.
“And you?”
“I’m fine too,” I assure Hasan, though no one in this house looks convinced.
“You went into the rift.”
