Chapter 39
I continued chasing holiday festivities during the break, anything to distract myself from Caleb and Tara’s abduction. There was nothing to be done, not yet. The Global Guild had no leads, Milo had no leads, I had no leads.
All the same, I continued sending manifestations out into the world in hopes one would stumble onto the Celestial Coven.
It merely made my day-to-day activities exhausting.
I walked in a fog, exerting more magic than usual.
I doubled the number of projections searching the world, each returning without the faintest trace.
Ben proved very distracting during these long days, wanting to try something new and holiday themed every day. When I wasn’t taking him to see Santa or some Christmas-themed land, I was meeting Vanessa for a playdate with her twins.
Whenever I was home, I was burning baked cookies, poorly decorating them, or doing something not on theme. Usually, I let Milo take the lead on the cooking side of things, but Ben could be insistent.
I also got stuck with cleaning up a lot around the house—especially when it came to the tree itself. It turned into a disaster zone for Charlie and Carlie to terrorize. They each managed to break at least one ornament a day.
Still, it made for a strong distraction from the absence of Caleb and Tara. They were out there, lost somewhere in Amara’s clutches. Who knew what hell she had planned? Sadly, I did know. Literal Hell.
I researched celestial and cosmic events coming up. From constellation alignments to passing comets, all the way to magical symphonies planned with the ebb and flow of magical planes.
We had months to plan, according to online searches.
And that was if Amara could make use of the nearest comet scheduled to fly by.
It’d be years before a bigger event came to pass.
Something told me Amara wouldn’t wait that long.
For a woman who’d patiently plotted for millennia, she seemed pressed to reach the end of her plan, which meant she’d ensure Tara ascended into this divine goddess soon.
And I wasn’t comfortable leaving Caleb and Tara in Amara’s care for months on end. I’d seen how she treated Theodore, how she broke him until he behaved. My students wouldn’t suffer under her deranged plots.
The more I dwelled, the longer the days lasted.
As the night rolled around, I tucked Ben into bed and prepared to join Milo on the couch. Watch a few episodes of something dreadful and pass out.
A haunting hum echoed in my ears, like a faint ringing. I knew this sound, this voice. Pausing in the hall, I focused on the whisper. Words were impossible to catch, but I knew someone was speaking, calling out.
This link held strong like something I shared with Milo. Only foreign and foul.
“Theodore,” I whispered.
I channeled my telepathy, reaching out to link with all my roaming manifestations. None of them had found him, nor had a trace or trail led to the wicked warlock.
Still, he reached out, contacting me in the faintest way. A desperate plea for help or a devious ploy? If I had to guess—both. It was Theodore Whitlock, after all.
Following the hum, I trailed the edges of the psychic plane, knowing somewhere out there I had a literal beacon with Theodore’s location.
“What’s going on?” Milo asked, staring at me from the couch.
I must’ve looked ridiculous, taking odd steps, pacing in circles, and craning my neck ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of Theodore’s voice.
“I think I know how to find the Celestial Coven.”
Milo quirked a brow. “How?”
“Through Theodore.”
“Absolutely not, that psychopath will—”
“Will lead me to Caleb and Tara.”
“And how exactly will you track him?”
“I’ll follow the breadcrumbs he’s left me.”
Milo’s expression turned pensive. For Theodore’s mind to call out to me from literally anywhere in the world, it meant we shared a connection.
I didn’t need to explain the bond between Theodore and me, though it was nothing like what I shared with Milo.
My bond to Theodore was through trauma, pain, and suffering.
Since diving into his mind during the kidnapping, his connection to me had only amplified. Honestly, I didn’t believe I’d rid myself of Theodore’s sadistic thoughts until he’d finally died. One could only hope.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I know I don’t. I want to.”
“We have months to track them,” Milo said. “You don’t have to take on this burden of scouring the globe on your own.”
“I don’t want to wait months. I’ve been sick to my stomach with the days and weeks that’ve already passed. Leaving Caleb and Tara locked away in Amara’s clutches for… I can’t.”
“Okay, I understand, but you need to be on your guard.” Milo’s thoughts twisted to the trap I’d mentioned, the one which Amara used to immobilize me during her attack on Chicago.
“I won’t interact.”
“All the same, Theodore could be luring you simply for Amara to spring some new trap on you.”
“Doubtful,” I replied. “He’d never help her with anything. Their mutual disgust for each other is one thing we can count to our advantage.”
Milo didn’t respond, merely kept his worries buried beneath his surface thoughts.
“My only goal would be to find a location; I’ll leave putting a stop to the Celestial Coven and all the glorious rescue plans to you and the Global Guild.”
Part of me hoped that if I followed this thread, we could resolve things without involving my homeroom coven.
But another part knew the fates of lives had become cemented.
We were all bound, and something told me this wouldn’t come to a conclusion until my students and I all faced off against Theodore Whitlock again in a final showdown.
Still, that didn’t mean those vile witches could keep Caleb and Tara.
“So, how are we doing this?” Milo asked, running his thumb along the golden band of his engagement ring.
Damn, that little gesture practically took the air out of my lungs.
We.
We were a we. We’d always be a we moving forward.
“We’re not doing anything,” I said, attempting and failing to lighten the mood. “I’m not even doing much.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m calling back all my manifestations, and creating one manifestation,” I explained. “It’ll be infused with a bit more strength simply to defend against any possible traps or tricks.”
“Plus, the added benefit of a quicker search with one enhanced manifestation over a pack.”
“Precisely.”
Not that it’d do much good if I didn’t have a trail to follow.
“I’m going to contact the Global Guild,” Milo said. “Let them know we might get a location soon.”
“One can hope.”
I summoned a manifestation, an extension of my mind, and broke him off from my core self. He followed the tune of Theodore’s soft hum and disappeared into the psychic plane. With any luck, we’d find and retrieve Caleb and Tara before the new year.