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“It’s imperative we keep the Wands out of the priestesses’ hands, because they’ve shown they’ll only use the Wands to control people,” I added. “We can use the Oaken Wands to restore the magic we’ve lost and end the Waning. Once the Waning is over, the priestesses will no longer have control over the coven, and our people can make choices for themselves again. They can choose to unite on their own, instead of this false union the priestesses are forcing that’s only dividing us further. This divide will get worse with the more Wands the priestesses obtain. They’re ruling by fear, and if we eliminate the threat by ending the Waning, people’s hope will be restored, and we can work together again. The coven can choose who to put on the council, to build a better future. The only way to stop the priestesses’ tyranny is to give the coven’s power back to its people.”
“So how do we get to the Abyss?” Grant asked. “Our Malovian contact is dead, and that was our ticket to hell. We can’t just waltz into the fae capital and ask them where to find a portal to the underworld.”
“Nadine and Lucas have been working on getting past Malovia’s wards with portals all summer,” Miles pointed out. “Why can’t they just portal us to one of these entrances?”
“Nadine and I can combine our powers to get into Malovia, but we don’t know where we’re going from there,” I replied. “Roaming around Malovia is dangerous, because if we stay too long there’s a big chance we’ll be spotted and killed. Not to mention Malovia is crawling with monsters, and we aren’t familiar with the terrain. We have to know exactly where one of these entrances are before we show up, and we need someone to show us the way. Entrances to the Abyss aren’t exactly tourist destinations. We need a guide.”
“Lucas is right,” Verla agreed. “We can’t spend more than twenty-four hours in Malovia, or we’ll surely be found out and executed. Even just getting in to deliver a message could prove deadly. It’s not the same as Grant and Talia meeting their contact at a remote location. We can’t simply portal into their capital city of Dolinska. Even if our portals didn’t set off alarms, our presence would. They’ll smell that we’re witches and hang us before we make it a block. We need a powerful ally on our side who has authority in the city, so they can help us if we get into trouble. If we’re going to do this, we need protection. To outsmart the fae, we need a fae on our side.”
“Establishing new contacts could take months,” Onyx pointed out. “The priestesses could summon a demon and get the Wands before we’re ready.”
“They will not,” Hattie spoke up. “Rumor has it, the priestesses do not wish to summon another demon, as their last attempt failed. Professor Leto did not deliver an Oaken Wand to the priestesses as promised, and they’ll want a sure thing before they take such a risk again. The priestesses need to be in control to maintain their power, and demons aren’t controllable.”
“Then they must not know there are Wands in the Abyss,” Chloe said. “If they did, they would’ve already made a deal.”
“As far as I understand, they do not know where to look for the other Oaken Wands, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to track them down,” Hattie said. “I do not know the means in which they will do this, but I do know they won’t stop until they have all the power of the coven in their hands. Octavia Falls has changed in just a few short months. You would be surprised to see how quickly people have converted to the priestesses’ side. The religious group they call Miriam’s Chosen was only the beginning. The members are following them blindly, going so far as to hand over their businesses and their properties to the Imperium Council in exchange for false promises. The Chosen believe that this is the road to salvation.”
Nadine grimaced. “That’s horrible. The priestesses can’t keep taking without giving anything back.”
“That’s exactly what they’ll continue to do, unless we stop them,” Verla stated.
Grant cracked his knuckles. “I say we curse them.”
“If we could, we’d have done that by now,” Verla said. “Their wards are as strong as ours, if not stronger. To curse the priestesses, our powers would have to outperform theirs, and that takes energy away from us that we need to use for other purposes. Our focus needs to be on the Wands. If we’re going to establish new connections in Malovia and get to the Abyss before the priestesses, we need to act quickly.”
“There’s a fae couple on the throne who we’ve met before—Ethan and Emma,” I pointed out. “If we can get close enough to speak with them, they can help. I believe you know them, Hattie.”
The fae had come looking for Hattie the night we ran into them outside Octavia Falls’ border last November. Emma said Ethan had been possessed by a forest demon, and Hattie had since exorcized the demon.
Hattie gave a light nod. “It’s true that I have met Emma and Ethan, but things are different now in Malovia than they were a year ago. It will be impossible to get in contact with the monarchs. However, their court may prove useful. I know someone connected to them who will help. She’s a dark magic sympathizer. I haven’t attempted to contact her yet because her enemies already have eyes on her, but we’ve run out of options. If I can get her a message, I’m confident she’ll help us, but it will take time to make contact from the outside. The Malovian Revolution has taken over the country, and slipping a message past the fae’s borders won’t be easy. The messages will have to be coded, because if discovered by the wrong people, she’ll be killed for speaking with witches. It will require several messages so that even if these notes are intercepted and decoded, the full message remains unread. I have to be extremely careful.”
“Then let’s get her a message, whatever it takes,” Nadine said. “In the meantime, we need to develop a spell that will disguise our scent once we’re in Malovia. Like Verla said, the shifters will smell us the second we arrive. We’ll have to blend in, even if it’s only for a short time.”
Grant conjured a bundle of herbs. “I have just the thing. It’s wolfsbane. Talia and I got it while we were traveling. Some shifters are allergic to it, so we brewed it into a tea to help cover our scent when we crossed the border.”
“Wolfsbane, as in monkshood?” Chloe asked. “That plant is poisonous.”
Grant shook his head. “It’s a different herb called wolfsbane—a fae plant. It affects shifters, but it’s safe for witches. There are no side effects. But it only affects the wolven Faction, and there are three other Factions of fae shifters—dragons, griffins, and alicorns. If we’re to cross through the city, we’ll need something stronger. Onyx and I can research how wolfsbane affects wolvens and locate similar herbs for the other Factions. It will take time, but we can brew a potion that will help disguise our scent.”
“We’ll need to disguise our outer appearance, too,” Talia added. “The fae dress differently than we do, in regal dresses and elaborate, colorful cloaks. Helena’s got a sewing machine in her room, and there are extra blankets and curtains in the linen closet that we can repurpose into cloaks.”
“What about weapons?” Miles asked. “Iron is deadly to the fae. We might want iron weapons on hand in case we’re discovered.”
“No,” Verla said. “They’ll sense the iron, and it will give us away immediately. Our own magic shall suffice as a weapon. A scent-concealing potion and physical disguises is all we need, and we must be ready with them once it’s time to move.”
I nodded firmly. “Then let’s get to work.”
I knew what I was asking my friends to do, and it was risky. If anyone wanted to back out, I wouldn’t blame them, but nobody did. We were all on the same page. It didn’t matter the risk, because there were two Wands in the Abyss.
We couldn’t afford to lose them.
Chapter Four
NADINE
I stood in a damp room shrouded in darkness. I could feel the floor beneath me and sense the walls boxing me in, but I saw nothing. An eerie silence sent a shiver down my spine. Immediately, panic swelled within me, though I wasn’t sure where it had come from. It didn’t feel like my own.
I cast a witch light, and I found myself standing in a long hall with a concrete floor and stone walls. Several doorways stood in front of me, and I wasn’t sure which to investigate first. I didn’t know what it all meant.
