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I grabbed the water bottle and took Lucas’s hand. “Come with me?”
We walked off, but instead of heading toward the spring, I started toward the moss bed.
“The spring’s that way,” Lucas said.
I lowered my voice. “I know Cooper didn’t want us to bother, but I think we should bury his bones before we go. It’s the respectful thing to do. I know if we don’t make it, I’d want someone to come bury us. I just want to do one last thing right.”
Lucas shivered. “Isn’t it best that we respect his wishes?”
“He’s requesting we leave him alone so he doesn’t burden us.” I stopped when we reached Cooper’s bones, and I got sad looking at them. “Though, I suppose we shouldn’t touch his bones without his permission. But maybe we could say a few words. No one else has ever done it for him, and I think he deserves at least that much.”
Lucas nodded. “He does.”
I cleared my throat. “Cooper, I admire you. You’ve stuck around in this stairwell for so long, trying to protect people when you didn’t have to. You’ve followed Mother Miriam’s teachings in an incredible way, by protecting the coven even after death. She’d be proud of you, and I hope that one day you get to meet her.”
Lucas drew a deep breath. “What can I say? Coop, I haven’t known you long, but I like to think that we’d be friends if we’d gone to school together. You’ve really helped keep our spirits up these last few days. I wish you the very best.”
“Thank you both.”
Lucas and I spun around to see Cooper standing there. Neither of us had realized he’d followed.
“No one has ever thanked me for what I’m doing down here,” Cooper said. “Hell, I’m not sure anyone really knows I exist. To know that what I’m doing is appreciated… well, it means the world.”
“Of course it’s appreciated,” I told him. “I don’t know what we would’ve done down here without you.”
“That means a lot.” His voice cracked. “You can bury my bones if you’d like.”
“You deserve to be laid to rest,” Lucas said. “We’ll be gentle with them.”
Lucas and I gathered Cooper’s bones and took them over to the boulder where we’d already upturned the earth. We reverently arranged the bones and covered them with dirt. It was a shallow grave, but a grave nonetheless.
Lucas stared down at the grave once we’d finished. “I hope this helps, Coop. We’re going to miss you once we get out of here.”
If we got out of here.
“You’ll visit us, won’t you?” Lucas asked.
Cooper chuckled. “If I ever leave my post, I’ll give you a call.”
“I’m counting on it,” Lucas said.
It felt like a sad moment, but it was strange that Cooper was still there with us. He refused to move on, and though I knew our effort was appreciated, I didn’t feel that we’d truly laid him to rest.
“You should clean up,” Cooper suggested.
I got the sense that Cooper wanted to be alone at his grave. Lucas and I headed off toward the spring to wash the dirt off our hands, and Cooper hung back. By the time Lucas and I returned to the oak, Cooper was already back, though he was much quieter than before. Our friends had cleaned up our stuff.
“You were gone a while,” Talia remarked. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded. “We just had to say goodbye.”
The tree groaned, and the leaves above us rustled. We all turned to look, and my heart stalled in my chest. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
A tree branch twisted, until the end of the branch touched the trunk of the tree. A hole formed before our eyes, and the tree reached inside of itself to retrieve the Wand. The branch stretched toward me, offering us the Wand.
I hesitated. How was this possible?
Lucas nudged me. “Take it, Nad.”
