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My stomach sank. I never intended for any of my friends to get hurt like this.
“I know it’s tough,” I said gently. “We should’ve done better, and you never should’ve gotten stabbed. But we started a revolution. We can’t protest for change without taking risks.”
Mandy pursed her lips. “Do you know what it feels like to be stabbed in the gut by a ghost, Nadine?”
I understood that Mandy was mad, and I wanted to be there for her. I opened my mouth to respond, but Lucas beat me to it.
“Are you seriously going to ask Nadine that?” Lucas fumed. “She just recovered from a kidney transplant. Hell, we both did. We know what it’s like to recover from your insides being sliced open. And we’ve given you the space to recover, but it’s time to get back to work, just like Nadine and I did.”
I placed a hand on his to calm him down, but he didn’t stop. Oliver’s fur bristled as Lucas continued.
“We know what it’s like to go through tough shit, Mandy. Nadine’s been sick for years, and no matter how sick she got, she’s out there doing what she has to do. You’re choosing to sit here and give up, when we’re out there doing the work despite everything that’s happened.”
“I’m not giving up!” Mandy insisted.
I sighed. “Of course not. We know how hard this must be for you, Mandy.”
“Hard for me?” she balked. “Nadine, this is taking a toll on everyone. The fact is that if you keep pushing this, more people like Amy are going to die.”
“We knew that going into this,” Lucas said harshly. “We’re doing what’s necessary to save our magic and save our people. So what are you going to do, Mandy? Go back on your vow?”
“I will never side with the priestesses,” Mandy promised. “If you want my help, go to the Protection Tree. Don’t expect me to help any more after that.”
“Mandy—” I started.
“Please, Nadine,” she snapped. “Just go.”
I could see that Mandy was in a lot of pain, and I didn’t want to make it any worse. She’d been through a lot, but she was still on our side. She’d come around eventually.
I took Lucas’s hand, and we left her room with our cats following. I stopped in the hallway and turned toward Lucas. “You were a jerk to Mandy, you know that?”
“I was defending you. She was being insensitive. You’re the last person she should have said those things to. Yeah, of course Nadine doesn’t know what it’s like to be in recovery,” he said sarcastically.
“Mandy’s hurting,” I reminded him. “She needs us to be there for her right now.”
He crossed his arms. “She doesn’t want us around.”
“Maybe because we waltzed in there with an agenda,” I shot back. “Mandy needs her friends right now, not The Coven’s Shield.”
Lucas frowned. “What do you want me to do? Because the only thing I can do right now is give her space. She’s clearly pissed at us.”
“We’ll give her space for a while,” I offered. “But when she’s ready to let us back in, we’ll be there for her, all right?”
He sighed. “All right. We need to do something, though. Let’s check out her lead with the Protection Tree.”
As Lucas and I left the school, I worried what Mandy might’ve found at the Protection Tree. Had someone vandalized it? Carved nasty words into the trunk? Broken branches off? Burned the tree to the ground?
When we emerged from the path into the park, the tree looked perfectly fine. There were no marks, and all the branches seemed to be intact.
“I don’t get it,” Lucas said. “Was this Mandy’s way of saying fuck you?”
I furrowed my brow as I took in our surroundings. Something wasn’t quite right about the Protection Tree. All around us, spring was in full bloom, filling the forest with beautiful shades of green. The Protection Tree had barely started budding.
“No, look,” I said, reaching for one of the low-hanging branches. “It’s weeks behind the other trees. It’s dying.”
Lucas’s features paled. “Our magic supports the Protection Tree. With the Waning, the magic’s not getting replenished fast enough.”
My stomach dropped. “The Protection Tree fuels the spell that’s keeping Octavia Falls safe. The priestesses reinforce it, but that only does so much. The real source of the protection spell comes from inside the tree—and that magic originates from us.”
