Chapter 21
Persi disappeared upstairs, and emerged half an hour later having washed her face and changed her clothes. No one asked for details about what had happened in the lighthouse. There would be time for that later. For now, we were focused on the night ahead, and what we were planning to do.
We waited for all the shops to close downtown, and then my mom took Jess to Shadowkeep to restock her supplies. Jess returned gushing about how the Shadowkeep inventory could rival the one the Durupinen used at Fairhaven.
“Fairhaven sounds amazing,” I said to her. “I hope I can see it one day.”
“Oh, we’ll definitely have to get you over there for a visit,” Jess said, grinning. “You know most of our secrets now. And there’s no better place for a spirit witch to practice her craft.”
Rhi called us all together at that point for a planning meeting around the kitchen table. The two grimoires lay in the middle of the table, ancient and exuding their own unique airs of magical power.
“I’ve been wondering about the Vesper grimoire,” Jess said. “You mentioned that Sarah used it to try to help the Darkness gain control of the Geatgrima—sorry, the Source. But you don’t know what spell she used?”
“Nobody does,” Rhi said. “Well, I suppose Mary Vesper might have, but she took that secret to the grave, and I don’t think she’d tell us even if we tried to contact her with the spirit board.”
“We couldn’t try even if we wanted to,” I reminded her. “Spirit contact is cut off. That’s what we’re trying to fix.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Rhi said.
“Well, that will be one of the things we try to get out of her once we have her where we want her. If Sarah really is still around and she answers our summons, she’ll be drawn into the circle, and she’ll be trapped there,” Jess said.
“Then we can question her and figure out what she’s done to the Gateway, and therefore how we might be able to reverse it. ”
We began to formulate our plan. Of course, my mother wasn’t happy until we’d worked out every single logistical possibility. She came up with scenario after scenario—“Well, what will we do IF”—over and over again, until they became so far-fetched that I had to put my foot down.
“Mom, next you’re going to ask what we do if aliens descend in a spaceship and abduct us,” I cried. “We are as prepared as we can be! At some point you will have to accept that we can’t plan for every single variable! It is literally not possible!”
My mom flushed, and raised her chin defiantly. “Well, excuse me for wanting to be prepared.”
“You’re very thorough,” Jess said, smiling kindly at her.
“But I promise you, I have a lot of experience with ghosts. Yes, even ghosts as dangerous as Sarah Claire,” she added, as my mom made every indication of interrupting.
“In fact, I just finished dealing with one in Scotland that makes Sarah Claire sound like a fluffy little bunny rabbit. You’ve taken a huge leap, trusting me as far as you have.
I’m just asking you to trust me far enough to solve this, okay? ”
My mom hesitated only a moment, and then nodded.
“Sorry about that,” I said to Jess as we all got up from the table. “She’s like… crazy overprotective. It’s the whole reason we left Sedgwick Cove in the first place.”
“Don’t apologize,” Jess said. “I think it’s sweet.
Besides, it’s probably good for me, having someone like your mom around to ask those kinds of questions.
I’m more of a charge-ahead-and-make-it-up-as-I-go kinda gal.
Drives my sister crazy. This is better. Well, maybe not as fun, but definitely safer. ”
She grinned, and despite my nerves, I grinned back.
It was agonizing, waiting until midnight, but finally it came.
We set out up the shore road, Rhi driving my mom’s car, and the rest of us cutting as quietly as we could through the woods up to the Playhouse.
Rhi had a basket of baked goods and a thermos of hot chocolate on the front seat beside her.
The plan was for her to tempt the police on duty to have a snack and then, when they’d passed out from the sleeping potion she’d laced the food and drink with, we’d be able to enter the cavern unnoticed.
Jess, Persi, my mom, and I waited in the trees, shivering with the cold, until finally we saw Rhi flagging us down from the parking lot.
We hurried out to meet her where she stood beside the car.
Sure enough, Maeve and her fellow officer were slumped on the ground snoring, their expressions peaceful, half-eaten cookies on the pavement beside them.
“I don’t like this at all,” Rhi said, bouncing anxiously on the balls of her feet. “There’s going to be hell to pay when the Conclave find out what we’ve done.”
“And they’ll forgive us as soon as they realize Xiomara and the rest of the spirit witches have their powers back,” Persi snapped. “Come on, Rhi, pull yourself together. There are things worth getting in trouble for.”
Rhi nodded, though she still looked like she wanted to cry with guilt as we all worked together to pick up the two officers and move them into their cruiser.
Once we had shut the doors on them both, we moved swiftly for the Playhouse.
Rhi took her lookout position by the front door so that she could keep an eye on the parking lot, in case anyone arrived or the officers started stirring.
My mom stayed with us as far as the hole in the side of the building, and then stayed posted beside it, in case anyone tried to enter that way.
“You shout for me if you need me in there,” she said, her tone sharp with anxiety.
“Of course, Mom,” I said.
“I’ll be right next to her,” Jess assured her.
“And I’ll be there, too,” Persi said.
There had been no arguing with Persi. She demanded to be inside, where Sarah was going to be; and no one dared say no to her, not with the state she was in. Still, Jess was eyeing her warily as we made our way into the cavern.
The cavern should have been dark, but there was a strange glow from the Geatgrima that bathed the whole space in an eerie, bluish light.
Persi had been here before, but now that she understood what the Source was, she didn’t seem able to take her eyes off it.
She walked in a wide circle, taking it in from every angle, with an expression of awe on her face.
Then, that expression twitched with a spasm of emotion.
“Is this where… did Bernadette…” she choked out.
“It is the place her soul would be naturally drawn to, if it were working properly,” Jess said gently. “But as it is damaged right now, I don’t know if she would have been able to Cross here.”
Persi nodded, struggling to keep her face under control. Jess threw me a look, and I went over to Persi.
“Is this going to be too difficult for you?” I asked her.
She whipped her head around to glare at me. “Of course not.”
I waited for her to meet my eye, as defiant as her gaze was. “This is important,” I said quietly. “We’re only going to get one shot at this. You need to be focused. For Bernadette.”
Something sharp in Persi’s eyes melted. The defiance drained away, and only quiet determination remained.
“I know. I promise,” she said huskily.
I turned back to Jess. “We’re ready. What do I need to do?”
Jess waved me over to her. “You can help me set the circle. Come on over here.”
I joined Jess about ten feet away from the Geatgrima.
We set to work—or rather, she set to work, and I handed her the things she needed to do that work: chalk, candles, gemstones.
It was remarkable how much our magic had in common, even though the incantations and rituals surrounding it were very different.
I tried to commit as much of it as I could to memory, but she worked swiftly and quietly, and in the end, I gave up and concentrated instead on making sure I had whatever she needed ready in my hand.
At last, she stood up and inspected her work, looking satisfied.
“Okay, the circle’s ready, but we still need the bait to set the trap. Wren?”
I handed her Casting bag back to her, and pulled my own backpack from my shoulder and onto the ground. I extracted the grimoires and held them out to her.
“And we’re sure the protective spell on the grimoires will hold?” Jess asked, looking down at them with wary eyes.
“Yes,” Persi said, because she was the one who had cast it. “She’ll be able to see them, but she won’t be able to touch them.”
“Good, good,” Jess said. “Okay, set them in the circle, Wren, and let’s get this show on the road.”
“Like this?” I asked, setting them down and adjusting them arbitrarily.
“Perfect,” Jess said, and then stilled my hands by placing her own on top. “Seriously, Wren. You can’t screw this part up. If it’s inside the boundary of the circle, you did it right.”
“Right, sorry,” I said, backing away and rubbing my sweaty palms on my jeans. “Now what?”
“Now, I summon her, and we see if she answers. There’s definitely some lingering spirit energy here, and it’s not coming from the Geatgrima. If I’m not mistaken, she’s been here very recently. Once she’s trapped in the circle, we can question her. Go take your spot and wait. You too, Persi.”
Persi jerked out of a kind of trance, tearing her eyes from the Geatgrima and hurrying to join me behind a wall of jungle-like vines that still hung like a curtain from the ceiling of the cavern. By parting them slightly, we had a clear view of Jess, the circle, and the Geatgrima itself.
My pulse boomed in my ears as I watched Jess settle herself out of sight beyond the boundary of the circle.
She knelt down, closed her eyes, and began to concentrate.
As she did so, I felt a ripple of energy expand outward through the cavern.
Beside me, I felt Persi shudder and knew that she felt it, too.
I had to remind myself to breathe as we waited.
We didn’t have to wait long.