Chapter 36 #2
“It is real,” Katherine said. “I’ve seen it, through Moire’s eyes.”
“The witch possessing you?” Jennifer asked.
“Sort of,” Katherine said, not explaining she didn’t mean sort of like possession, when she meant sort of like a witch. After all, Moire was sentient magic.
“She wants to sacrifice Caleb to help Tara ascend?” Kenzo clamped his jaw. “So, how do we stop her?”
“The True Witch doesn’t just want to open the Gate of Hell to sacrifice Caleb,” Katherine said with a shaky stance.
It took everything she had to breathe, to think, to speak.
“She wants to unleash an army of demons big enough to slaughter everyone she deems unworthy of living in the new world order she’s planning. ”
I trembled, drawn into Katherine’s fear, and realized with Theodore, she could control hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of demons.
“Okay, I get why Tara was taken,” Carter said, mind puzzling together the jigsaw pieces of information much like the others did. “She’s, like, special because of all her branches.”
“She’s not special because of her branches,” Gael said, ready to explain in thorough detail how Tara was so much more than her magics.
“Anyway,” Carter continued. “What I don’t get is why Caleb’s been taken.”
That was a difficult thing to explain. They had a right to know, to understand, especially if they had a role to play in rescuing him. That said, Caleb and Tara had only recently learned the truth. Who even knew how they processed this family secret?
“Caleb’s related to Tara,” Katherine said.
“What?”
“They’re siblings,” Katherine continued.
“But they’re like the same age,” Gael said. “Aren’t they? So, how are they siblings?”
“Twins.”
“Oooooh, duh.” Gael slapped his forehead. “But, like, not the identical kind.”
“Who cares about the why?” Kenzo snapped, burying the confusion he had for this revelation. “When is The True Witch planning this deranged sacrifice?”
Katherine shrugged, still trying to piece together many of the memories left behind from Moire.
“I don’t know when Amara will attempt to sacrifice Caleb,” I chimed in, “but I believe it’ll involve a celestial event.”
“What’s that?” Gael quirked a brow while King Clucks bawked at him. “Oh, those silly little star alignments.”
“Cl-cl-cluck.”
“I do pay attention in class,” Gael scoffed. “It’s just they’re rare.”
“They’re more common than most people realize,” Jennifer said with a glum sigh.
“The levels of magic offered for rituals and spells vary. The bigger the cosmic event, the more people it draws, thus more witches attempting to harness the energy of the celestial event. The smaller ones might go unnoticed by most and offer less magic to draw upon.”
“I didn’t realize people still channeled celestial events,” Jamius said, thinking to some of the texts we’d covered in history. “Thought that stuff was super old school.”
“The True Witch is very old school,” I said. “Ancient, in fact.”
“Right,” he sighed.
“And a lot of witches still practice the old ways,” Layla added, thinking of the celebrations her grandmother had dragged her to every New Year’s, every All Hallow’s Eve, and a few other holidays. “They just don’t do them much here.”
Right. Globally, witches in other nations had stronger connections to their history of magic—even though they lost access to it for centuries, they didn’t lose their customs or traditions. America, however, didn’t have the same reverence for rituals.
“So, we just gotta track these celestial events, make sure we find Tara and Caleb before one of them happens,” Gael said.
“But which one will she use?” Gael asked, spikes shrinking sheepishly. “What if there’s like one tomorrow? Or next week?”
“We’ll cross-reference possible dates, find the soonest event, and aim for rescuing Caleb by then.” Kenzo practically snarled.
“And Tara.” Gael and his familiar squinted.
“She’s not at risk of being thrown into Hell,” Kenzo growled.
“She’s still in danger,” I said.
Kenzo scoffed. “Yeah, from her family.”
“She didn’t choose her family,” I said.
“Neither did Caleb,” Gael added. “Seeing as he’s part of Tara’s family, too.”
That quieted Kenzo. Much of his disdain for the Whitlocks became all the more complicated, now knowing Caleb was one of them.
“How are we even going to track them down?” Melanie asked.
“My family has connections with the state divination unit,” Layla replied.
“Yeah, because some lost and found witches can do what the Global Guild never managed,” Kenzo countered.
He wasn’t wrong. Divination units usually focused on stolen items or people skipping bail. They had great successes with simpler tasks, but pinpointing someone or something that hid itself with wards or enchantments… They wouldn’t be much use.
“Then tell the Global Guild witches to get off their asses.” Layla folded her arms, then shot Milo a glare. “Maybe if we knew someone who ranked among them.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Gael pointed a judgy finger. “Watch that attitude. You don’t talk to Enchanter Evergreen that way.”
Oh, Christ. Gael was about one bawk away from starting a full-blown argument with Layla because she insulted his hero.
“Well, do you have a better idea?” Layla snapped her teeth.
“Ba-bawk.”
“Riiiiiight.” Gael’s apprehension washed away, and he smirked. “I grabbed Tara’s familiar.”
What?
“I didn’t want the butterfly or whatever to like suffocate or starve, so I went to her place and grabbed it.”
Right, Gael had retrieved it from the Whitlock Estate after Tara’s abduction.
“So?” Layla rolled her eyes.
“So, familiars share a bond that no magic can hide,” Gael explained. “King Clucks always knows where I am, and the same goes for me. Our magic is linked no matter the distance, the location, the whatever. Tara’s familiar will be able to give us a precise location, no problem.”
“That’s fantastic,” I said, almost smiling. “But how are we going to talk to Tara’s familiar?”
None of us exactly shared the telepathic connection with the animal.
“Ba-ba-bawk.”
“Right? What an idiot.” Gael grinned, then pointed a thumb at his rooster. “King Clucks will just translate. Duh.”
“Then it’s settled,” I replied.
“Go get her familiar,” Kenzo demanded. “The sooner we do this, the sooner—”
“Well, wait.” I raised my hands. “We need to find them, yes, but we need a plan, before rushing into—”
“I have a plan,” Kenzo snapped. “Kill The Bitch Witch and her psycho cunt son, then save Caleb.”
“And Tara,” Gael added, smiling with his sharklike teeth.
“Whatever, if there’s time.” Kenzo shrugged.
“I mean, we got time for a plan.” Gael shrugged, kicking his foot against the floor as his rooster puffed his chest.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Tara’s familiar is still cocooned,” Gael answered. “Until it evolves or whatever, we can’t really communicate.”
“How long until it turns into a butterfly?” Layla asked.
“It usually takes one to three weeks,” Jennifer answered.
“Not the case here,” Gael said, to which King Clucks bawked. “Tara’s familiar has been cocooned for months now. Plus, King Clucks here spent much longer in his chick state and the whole molting phase than most birds. The familiar bond warps timelines.”
Right, because animals who bonded to a witch ended up with altered lifespans to match that of their witch partner.
“So, back to fucking square one,” Kenzo grumbled.
“We’re not at square one,” Milo replied, stepping back into the conversation. “We have a plan, we have ideas, we are making contingencies. Finding Tara and Caleb through the familiar bond is one plan. The Global Guild is a second. Dorian’s manifestations are a third. We have options.”
Everyone nodded, a few minds wandered with weird thoughts of hearing my first name—only really thinking of me as Mr. Frost. Most minds focused on their concern for Caleb and Tara.
“Now, let’s brainstorm,” Milo said, taking a seat. “Stuff the arguments. We don’t have time for them.”
A consensus was met mentally, and everyone did their best planning for ways to help bring an end to the Celestial Coven once and for all.
Something about their fates being intertwined brought relief and dread in equal measures.
While working with them would ensure we located Tara and Caleb, it also all but guaranteed they’d be thrust into the most dangerous fight of their lives.
Every fiber of my being didn’t wish to drag my students into a battle with the Celestial Coven, with Theodore Whitlock—again.
I’d follow these bounds that linked us together, I’d believe in Milo when he said he’d help create the best outcome for everyone, but I’d still hunt alone. If I got lucky, I’d track down Amara independently and finally put an end to the vile witch.