“Come on.”

  They run to Gabriel, who’s bent over Francisco. There’s blood on his face and hands from his efforts to stop the bleeding. Veda drops next to him. Francisco is breathing, only barely.

  “Hiram, Veda, take over. I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?” Hiram looks at Gabriel like he’s lost his mind. “Fight her?”

  The ground quakes as the tornado sparks and splits, no longer under Hiram’s control. Ariadne emerges through it, bleeding from numerous cuts. Her face shifts from her own to a familiar blond. Seren. “Hey, y’all.”

  “Shit,” Gabriel breathes. “Not her, too.”

  “Yes, her, too,” Ariadne mocks.

  “This would be an excellent time to have unlimited magic,” Hiram mutters.

  Veda’s obviously stunned, costing her an extra minute before she casts a spell that sends a familiar bolt of light into the sky. It strikes a tree, slicing it in half. Hiram holds his breath, thinking it’ll fall just right, but Ariadne opens her hands.

  A shock wave explodes, sending them all to their knees. The tree splinters into thousands of pieces that hang in suspended animation.

  “That was cute.” Ariadne’s smile turns crazed. “My turn.”

  Hiram yanks Veda toward him as an ugly fireball flies past her head. He overcorrects, and she falls on top of him, her elbow jamming into his ribs. Another curse speeds over their heads. A third slams into the ground, blasting chunks of grass and dirt skyward. Hiram shields them in time, his amulet pulsing green as debris ricochets off the dome he’s cast over all of them.

  They’re sitting ducks.

  Hiram glances around for Gabriel, who is moving on the ground, clearly in pain. There’s a gash on his head from debris, but he keeps muttering healing spells for Francisco. The dome extends over both, too.

  “How long is this shield going to last?” Gabriel asks over Ariadne’s attempt to rip it apart one spell at a time.

  “Two minutes. Maybe three.” Light explodes against the side of it. The shield shakes but holds. Hiram winces. “Or less.”

  “Shit. Everyone is at least ten minutes out.” Gabriel panics when his partner goes still. “Francisco!”

  Veda is a deer in headlights, but snaps herself out of it. “A—a cauterizing charm. Kauter. It’ll hold as long as you need. Low stakes.”

  Gabriel nods, dazed, as he mutters the incantation. “It worked!”

  Another flash of light crashes against the shield. Then a third.

  Hiram scans the area, but he can’t see Ariadne. He casts a spell to make it possible for Gabriel to pick up Francisco as if he’s no heavier than a box of shirts, but his amulet doesn’t absorb all the consequences of the spell. The rest is an electric shock that hurts like hell as it courses up his arms. It’s worth it when Gabriel hoists Francisco up, ready to run with him the first moment it’s safe.

  “The greenhouse,” Veda suggests. “It was built to withstand a storm.”

  And one is here.

  “None of us can fight her alone,” she says gravely, gesturing at the shield. “When that falls, she’s going to obliterate us all.”

  Veda sounds like she’s in a dream. Or a nightmare. The dome cracks, crashing around them. Trees are wrenched from the earth, floating into the sky.

  Through the fog and smoke, Marlene appears with the trickster pendant back around her neck. Her features blur and reform again. She’s back to Seren. Then Ariadne. Then Everett. Veda’s face takes its place for a split second before they all blur together while burning white builds in her hand like a charge. Pure power. Hiram can’t stop it. He braces himself, hands on Veda, his promises to Antaris fresh in his brain. He—

  The light is extinguished by a bolt of darkness that strikes Ariadne in the chest.

  Hiram turns in the direction of the curse.

  Everett yells, “Run!”

  The collision of magic is deafening.

  Its thunderous clap shakes the ground, and the acrid sting of power burns Hiram’s nose like sulfur. Running toward the greenhouse, he’s right behind Veda when Gabriel speeds past them both with Francisco in his arms. Spider lilies explode into fire and ash beneath their shoes.

  Once inside the greenhouse, they slam the doors shut. Hiram casts every locking spell he knows to keep Ariadne out, but it sounds like Everett is keeping her preoccupied outside. There’s no time to look around. Gabriel lays Francisco on one of the empty tables. His skin is pale and streaked with blood, body trembling violently.

  “Seven minutes away,” he says grimly.

  Veda all but stumbles over to Francisco, voice numb when she says, “He’s going into shock.”

  Another loud bang from the battle outside makes her freeze. A tree sails over the roof. Wind pounds against the glass. Hiram bumps into Veda. She looks at him, terror in her eyes like he’s never seen before.

  “What does he need?” Hiram asks clearly.

  “Pressure on his wound. And warmth,” she says automatically. “There’s a cloth in the cabinet by the door.”

  Gabriel rushes off. Veda, too, returning with a pair of scissors she uses to cut Francisco’s shirt off. It’s no wonder Gabriel was struggling to heal him. It’s more than a cut. It looks as if she took a knife and carved a symbol—an Imprint—into his chest.

  “I—I can’t cast right now,” Veda says.

  “Tell me what to do.” Hiram studies the wound. Parts of it still ooze blood until Veda directs him to cast the spell, his voice drowned out by the battle outside. Gabriel returns with the blanket. She covers Francisco with it and whispers the next spell for Hiram to repeat to warm the blanket. Slowly recovering from the consequences of using so much magic outside, she checks his pulse, closing her eyes, counting.

  “How much longer?” Veda asks.

  “Four minutes,” Gabriel announces.

  A flash of light turns everything white. Deafening silence follows.

  The sky clears. The sun is out. The world has returned to normal. Only, when Gabriel opens the door to check, Hiram nearly vomits from the smell of darkness. The nausea is so bad, he can’t escape it, even after Gabriel closes the door. He doesn’t get a chance to recover before Gabriel bursts back in. “I need some help.”

  With Francisco stable and Gabriel looking faint, it falls to Hiram and Veda. His stomach rolls as he runs behind Veda—not toward Moab’s body, but to another figure lying in the grass, writhing in pain.

  Blood soaks the grass beneath Everett, and there’s something sticking out of his stomach. A strangely shaped stone. Hiram doesn’t need medical training to know there’s nothing that can be done.

  Everett knows it, too. “I . . .” he whispers, sputtering blood. “I’m finally . . . free.” He’s dying, but his mind is clear, sharp. Veda is still determined to help, but he whispers, “Stop.”

  Veda looks like she’s about to be sick.

  “She . . . she . . . cursed. My bones are stone.”

  Hiram can’t imagine the pain his brain has blocked from him.

  “I . . . that night. That wasn’t—”

  “I know.” Veda rests her hand on his forehead gently. “I know that wasn’t you. It was her.”

  “The Dalneau Bridge . . .” Everett says. “Rest of the truth . . . there. Did you . . .”

  “We figured out what you’ve been trying to tell us. We won’t let her get away with this.”

  Relief explodes on his face and tears roll down his cheeks. “I . . . I can rest?”

  “Yes.”

  As if waiting for permission all along, the light in Everett’s eyes extinguishes.

  Twenty-Three

  The world races, but Veda stands still.

  Investigators swarm every inch of the school grounds and the surrounding forest. Scene analysts preserve what evidence they can. Medics rush Francisco to the hospital; even as they load him up, he’s demanding they find Marlene. The real one.

  Everyone who passes Veda asks if she’s okay. She isn’t.

  A bottle of water appears in her line of sight. She’s about to brush it off when she notices the onyx ring. Hiram has his own bottle and sits down beside her on the edge of the fountain. After he spits the first mouthful to clean out his mouth, they drink in silence, the quiet lasting only as long as their water.

  “Gabriel?” she asks.

  “Terrorizing everyone who isn’t letting him leave. In addition to the media showing up, the FCD’s higher-ups are here with questions. I’m trying to find out what they want to talk about that’s more important than finding Ariadne or, better yet, the real Marlene and Seren.”

  “They probably want to talk about the wolves in their henhouse.” Veda pauses. “I do have enough tact to not say that in front of him.”

  “Do you?”

  It’s oddly playful with the chaos surrounding them: People are running around, news reporters are setting up, and medics are only at bay because Veda bares her teeth. The combination forms a cacophony of incoherence. In that moment, they sit with the crushing realization that the Botanist has been steps ahead for months, maybe years. Changing Veda’s statement sent them on a wild-goose chase, leaving Ariadne to work uninterrupted from the inside, and banking on the distrust of the Oracle Council as well as Veda’s.

  “I’m not heartless,” Veda says, cutting her eyes at him. “They were fooled. Gabriel more than Francisco. They considered Marlene and Seren friends. This isn’t an ‘I told you I had a reason not to trust you all’ moment.”

  Hiram hums in agreement.

  Veda notices how pale and shaky he looks. “Still sick from the smell?”

  “Yeah, but a medic gave me something to help.” Hiram scrubs a hand over his face and winces. “What about you? Still shell-shocked?”

  “I’m coming out of it.”

  “You did great out there,” Hiram tells her. “Francisco wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”

  “You did the casting. I—” She’s disarmed by the way he looks at her. “We wouldn’t have made it without you. Who taught you how to fight?”

  “I was a sick kid, and not everyone kissed my ass because I’m an Ellis.” Before he can say more, blue eyes slide away, his body stiffening. “Part two of this shit show is about to begin.”

  Ruth has arrived in her van, blowing the horn like a battle cry Gabriel doesn’t hesitate to answer. He breaks off mid-conversation and runs, escaping to the full van. The elderly woman peels out of the parking lot like she’s being chased by enforcers. Hiram stands and extends a hand. “Shall we?”

  Their destination is a bungalow in a quiet neighborhood on the west side of Proventia. Before Hiram can turn off the car, news reports of a fire at the Federal Crime Division emit on the radio.

  “She’s insane,” Veda says.

  “Motivated,” Hiram corrects. “I think I’m going to take Antaris out of town for a bit.”

  “Smart.”

  Dozens of cars and people are outside. Veda doesn’t realize this is Marlene’s house until an unfamiliar woman runs past them and announces, “They found her alive, thank the Cosmos! Everyone who can stay, please do. The home needs a restart.”

  Inside is tightly packed with people, but the crowd thins as they walk farther into the house. The first familiar face is a distraught Everly. “She’s been here this entire time, and I knew nothing.”

  Veda’s worry grows the closer they get to the back room. A hush falls, and as soon as she steps into the doorway, she understands why. The room looks and smells horrible. Marlene lies on filthy sheets, unrecognizable. Asleep or unconscious, Veda can’t tell. Matted hair. Loose, sunken skin. There are pinpricks dotting her arms, cuff marks on her wrists. Gabriel is on his phone, shaken and furious. Ruth holds her niece’s hand. Hiram grips Veda’s shoulder.

  “No hospital will take her, because she’s a Seer.” Gabriel is visibly shaken. “The closest Seer-friendly hospital is in Portland. The drive alone would kill her.”

  The weight of Hiram’s hand on her shoulder disappears. “Excuse me for a second.”

  Veda glances back, watching him pull out his phone as he slips out the back door. She doesn’t know where to start, but asks someone nearby for a warm, soapy towel. When it’s brought, she kneels beside Marlene and gently dabs her forehead. The cloth comes back streaked with dirt and blood. Marlene groans at the touch. Veda keeps going, washing her neck and checking the needle marks on her arms. They look red and swollen, signs of infection, which is exceedingly rare in Seers.

  “What was she given?”

  “The Liquid Curse,” Ruth replies. “There’s a vial left in the kitchen.”

  Veda is struggling with seeing Ruth, but right now it’s about Marlene. “Khadijah’s clinic? Who’s on duty?”

  “They don’t have anyone to spare, and Marlene needs more than the clinic can provide.”

  Veda pockets the vial. The Liquid Curse is illegal because it cuts someone off from magic. Likely given to subdue Marlene, and possibly injected to keep her too weak to fight back. Veda doesn’t want to imagine her trauma, but given the length of time she’s likely been dosed, it could take weeks or months for her to fully recover.

  “I don’t—”

  Hiram reappears in the doorway. “Take her to Stillwater Medical. They’ll take her.”

  Ruth frowns. “That’s a—”

  “Trust me,” he says, earnest and firm. “Take her.”

  A long silence passes before Ruth whispers, “Okay.”

  Gabriel is the first to move. Veda warns against using magic around Marlene until her own restarts, but it doesn’t take long before Marlene is packed into Ruth’s van, Everly in the front seat, and Gabriel in the back. Veda expects everyone to clear out, but is reminded how deeply community centered Seers are. Knowing the FCD won’t investigate, the crowd descends on Marlene’s house, cleaning it from top to bottom, removing trash and furniture. When Hiram has to step out because of how overwhelming the magic becomes while they cleanse the air and talisman, Veda follows. A truck pulls up. The same woman who left earlier has returned with a new bed, mattress, and couch.

  You could have this, too, a little voice reminds Veda. Distracting herself, she looks to Hiram, only to find him checking his phone; his satisfied smirk makes Veda suspicious.

  “Gabriel messaged me. Stillwater took Marlene. Like I said.”

  “How did you do that?” The hospital is quasi-public, exclusive, and notoriously anti-Seer.

  “I threw three things at the problem: my money, my name, and the threat of unrelenting litigation.” Hiram shrugs. “Those always stick.”

  Despite being so tired her bones ache, Veda doesn’t fall asleep right away. It’s after two in the afternoon when she and Hiram return to where their day began: his house.

  After filling Khadijah in on where Marlene is being treated and making sure she doesn’t want her to come with, Veda grabs spare clothes from her bag, showers in the guest bathroom, and eats a haphazard meal with Hiram and Antaris. She crashes on the couch under the weight of an excruciatingly long and stressful day, then wakes in the darkness, covered with a warm blanket, a spare pillow under her head. Her phone is on the coffee table with dozens of missed calls. It rings again before she can start checking messages.

  Veda sobers. Skipping the greeting, she says, “Is Marlene . . .”

  “I’m leaving the hospital now.” Khadijah sounds numb. “How are you? Need me to pick you up?”

  “I’m alive, apparently.” Veda sits up and scratches her head, yawning. “And yeah. This sofa is more comfortable than mine, but I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

  “Fair enough. Give me a bit.” A heavy pause passes. “How are you?”

  Sad. Overwhelmed. Contemplative. Exhausted. Resigned. Fucking terrified. “Fine. You?”

  “Same.” Khadijah’s silence is momentary. “I feel like a fucking idiot for not noticing that she wasn’t who I thought she was. Gabriel filled me in.”

  “Ariadne knew Marlene well enough to fool a lot of people. She fooled me, too, with Seren. I bet she’s not even a real person.”

  “Actually, Seren is her mother. Or at least, Ariadne used the trickster pendant to assume her identity. She was part of the Great Vanishing. Rules for obtaining identification were relaxed for Mages, so she was able to take advantage. Gabriel told me his superiors unblocked her Imprint, and they’re learning everything about her past now. They used her picture and confirmed what Ruth said, that she was a friend of Grace Fowler’s. A few of her old friends identified Ariadne from the picture Hiram sent. The timeline we have right now puts her meeting Grace about six months after she disappeared. They thought she was on the run from abusive relatives or an ex. Grace ‘lost’ her trickster pendant a few years later.”

  Veda can’t process the layers of information, and chooses another topic. “How’s Marlene?”

  “Awake. Traumatized. Angry. In a lot of pain. She can’t feel her magic, and she’s scared, even after we explained it wasn’t going to be gone forever. I was fully prepared to cuss out everyone on her medical team, but the care she’s getting is much better than I anticipated. Apparently that has to do with Hiram’s threats.” She pauses. “I have to thank him, don’t I?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Damn it,” Khadijah grumbles. “I’ll text you when I’m outside.”

  Veda hangs up and closes her eyes, hanging her head back. This is when she hears a door open and close, Hiram emerging from the hallway. He’s not his usual self. The one she’s been learning more about the last few weeks. His beard is a little unkempt. He’s wearing loose black sweats and a black shirt.

  “Antaris asleep?”

  “Yes.” Hiram shuffles to the kitchen. “After you fell asleep, I explained what I could. He was stressed but okay. I think. We had dinner, and he wanted to sit in here with you, but fell asleep while listening to a book. The walls in his room are trees, so he’s having a good dream.”

  “That’s good,” Veda replies. “I just found out a lot from Khadijah now.”

  As she recounts everything, Hiram collapses into the kitchen chair, looking worse for wear.