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Nadine furrowed her brow. “It’s not working. I can’t feel anything.”
“It must be the Waning,” Helena said. “My powers were gone when I woke up.”
“Mine, too,” Grant added.
I tried to cast a simple orb, but my magic was gone. It made sense that the Waning was taking a toll on all of us; the coven was more divided than ever before.
Nadine’s features paled. “What are we going to do? Without my powers, Everly’s life is in danger! I can’t break this curse!”
Verla drew her shoulders back. “My magic is still working. I know a powerful brew that can counteract magical infections. I’ll get to work on it immediately.”
She left the room, and everything fell silent as Helena worked on redressing the wound. I wanted to hurl when I saw the black lines spiderwebbing down Everly’s leg. We were so far out of our league here; it wasn’t even funny. We needed to get Everly to a doctor, but the coven’s doctors would sooner hang us than help us.
Nadine squeezed Everly’s hand. “We’re going to fix this. I promise.”
I heard whispers coming from the kitchen, and I followed the sound. I realized the voice was coming from Verla, even though she was alone.
“Everything all right in here?” I asked. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
Verla’s features fell. The cupboard she’d been looking through hung open. “I—I’m out of scaleweed. It’s the main ingredient in the brew.”
“So we’ll get some more,” I offered. “Helena’s got a garden full of herbs.”
Verla shook her head. “It’s a rare magical herb that doesn’t grow in Octavia Falls. It comes from merfolk societies and grows underwater. It’s a type of seaweed with healing properties that combat magical injuries.”
“Where can we find this herb?” I asked.
“Avery’s Apothecary was the only place that sold it, but the shop owner… he died a few weeks ago, and the place shut down. Everything’s shutting down.”
“Maybe there’s still stock left in the building,” I suggested.
“And what exactly do you plan to do?” Verla demanded. “Steal it?”
“If that’s what we have to do,” I stated.
Verla pursed her lips. “That’s out of the question. If you’re caught, you’ll be arrested or hanged. If I go and I’m caught, the police will be here to search my place within minutes. You won’t have time to escape. We should have left last night.”
“We didn’t, so what are we going to do? Let the infection spread? Everly could die.” It was cruel. We couldn’t let that happen.
Verla lowered her voice, so no one down the hall could hear. “There are two lives here that matter above anyone else’s, and that is yours and Nadine’s. You are the ones the prophecy speaks of. I will not do anything to put either of you in danger.”
My blood chilled. I couldn’t believe she would suggest such a thing. “I don’t accept that. I won’t let Everly die just to protect myself. It’s not what The Coven’s Shield stands for.”
“The Coven’s Shield needs to get comfortable making tough decisions,” Verla insisted. “We can’t save everyone, Lucas. So please, let me save who I can. Right now, I can save you and your friends. We’re gathering our things, and we’re leaving. Now.”
Verla didn’t give me a chance to argue. She breezed out of the room. End of discussion.
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t walk out of here knowing Everly’s infection could spread before we recovered from the Waning. Everly could die as soon as we made it to the safe house. Verla thought she was saving me, but maybe I didn’t want to be saved at the expense of someone else’s life.
I snuck down the hall, to where I’d seen Verla hang her purse last night. No one heard me reach into her purse for the keys or sneak out the front door. I sped out of the driveway before anyone noticed me missing.
The streets were deserted when I made it into town. After what happened yesterday, I didn’t blame people for staying inside. I slowed the car as I neared Avery’s Apothecary. A group of guys gathered in front of the jewelry shop next door. The front window was shattered, and they grabbed expensive jewelry off the displays. The sign out front read All Casts Welcome.
They weren’t shy about exactly what they thought of the situation. One of the guys—a Mentalist, by the looks of it—moved his hands through the air and used telekinesis to carve obscene words into the shop door. Two others threw a rope over the sign above the door and yanked on it. A skeleton tied to a noose rose into the air, and my stomach clenched.
The last thing I wanted was to run into these guys. I circled around to the back and parked on a secluded street. I had no plan but to get in and out as fast as possible. As long as I was gone before the cops showed up, it didn’t matter. I was already a dead man walking the moment I set foot in town.
I kept my hood up as I crossed the parking lot. The back door to Avery’s Apothecary was made of glass, and I could see that the lights inside were turned off. The shop was completely deserted like the others surrounding it. This place was a complete ghost town.
