Ember bounced on the balls of her feet, her magic shivering along her skin, as if feeding off her nervous energy. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans for want of something to do. The light of the full moon lit up the backyard like a floodlight, highlighting the numerous people milling around. The shifters, minus Tate, had shifted and headed into the woods. Like her, they’d needed to shake off that excess adrenaline. Josephine had said everybody needed to be ready by nine; something about the moon being exactly where they needed it for the spell.

Ember just wanted to get it over with. She knew she should be excited, but she felt like she was heading towards her execution, like she was just waiting for the noose to tighten around her neck. Kai and Tristin felt it too. Now that their magic was back, so was that spark of connection between them. It wasn’t strong, but it always seemed like a small silver thread linked the three of them, and when they were close enough, energy hummed through them as a whole.

Ember growled in frustration checking her phone for the tenth time. Five minutes until nine. The waiting was torture. It wasn’t like Ember didn’t understand the need for accuracy during a ritual—she was painfully aware—but they had been prepping for hours; at this point, there couldn’t be so much as a single rock out of place.

Miller gave a five-minute warning to the others, and they began taking their seats on the porch until the only people still left in the yard were Ember, Tristin, Kai, and Mace. Even Astrid had decided to stay for the ritual. Josephine had explained that preparation for rituals didn’t usually allow for an audience, but Ember couldn’t even begin to fathom why. They weren’t Las Vegas magicians; they weren’t making an elephant disappear. They couldn’t spoil the illusion; it was real freaking magic.

“Luv, you’ve worn a path in the grass. Another pass and the tiny alpha is going to make you reseed her lawn.” Ember stopped abruptly, leveling a glare at Mace. It rolled off him. “Your magic has got mine quite riled up. Are you all right?”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “No, I’m not all right. The idea of merging any part of myself with my cousins’ squicks me out. It’s weird.”

“And illegal in most states,” he said.

She clenched her jaw, glowering at him. “You’re not funny.”

He waved a hand. “Oh, please. I’m hilarious.” When she only rolled her eyes, he moved towards her. “You have to calm down, luv. Save your energy for the ritual.”

“I can’t calm down. This is weird. After we do this, there’s no going back. If it even works. Which it might not. Oh, God. This might not even work. What if it doesn’t work? What if this was all for nothing? What if an unforeseen amount of evil demons tear our town apart?”

For a fleeting moment, his smile faltered, but then he recovered, grinning at her. “It will work. I know it will…But even if it didn’t, panicking over it won’t change it.”

Her magic was happy for Mace’s return. As always, it stretched from Ember, reaching for his power, wanting to play. Ember’s hand skated over his as she’d done so many times before, but instead of cold skin, all she felt was a weird vibration, like putting your tongue on a battery or sticking a fork in a light socket. She flinched, pulling back, her heart-pounding. Her magic grew agitated, making her skin crawl. She started to sweat. Her power hated not having Mace on her leash.

“We’re ready.”

Ember jumped at the deep voice just behind her, turning on Miller. “Don’t sneak up on people like that!”

Miller frowned at her. “How could I sneak up on you? I’ve been right here the whole time.”

“That’s the thing about you witches. You’re very good at doing shady things right underneath people’s noses,” Mace said, his apparition growing stronger, as if his anger strengthened his energy.

Miller watched Mace. “Well, you would know all about doing witches’ dirty work, wouldn’t you?”

Mace took a step forward. “Speaking of, how is my former employer? Still in your swamp dungeon while the oracle pokes needles into some wax doll’s brain?”

“You are only here because my sister allowed it,” Miller reminded him. “She could have left you to rot in that vessel. She could have left you to pay for your sins.”

“She could have, yes, but then your little prophecy would be for naught. Shall we think about how many shifters died because you denied Ember her magic? Keeping me bound and trapped in that vessel probably cost Wren his pack.”

Miller’s face contorted. “I will not be talked to like that by a soul-eater. You’re no better than a vampire.”

“Stop it!” Ember cried. “Both of you. Knock it off. We get it; you’re mortal enemies. That doesn’t mean a whole lot anymore. We have things to do…So let’s just do this.”

The others watched, bodies tense, waiting to see what would happen next. Miller and Mace squared off, staring each other down before Miller finally conceded. What would he have done, anyway? The others relaxed as the tension passed, but not Ember. Ember’s magic was tuned in, feeding off their power and energy.

The wolves broke through the trees, eyes glowing and partially shifted, sweaty after their hard run. All but Donovan. Donovan hadn’t run with the others. He hadn’t shifted at all since his return. He sat on the porch, far away from the group, headphones over his ears and his eyes shut. He kept his injured arm in the pocket of his hoodie, hiding the stump while his other hand tapped out a beat on his thigh.

To a stranger, he would look like just another loner teen listening to music, but the pack knew he was struggling. He still refused to talk about the Legionaries. Even Evangeline didn’t know. They’d kept them apart until the day they’d escaped. Evangeline probably wouldn’t have said anyway. It wasn’t her place.

Whatever the Legionaries had done to Donovan had shaken him like nothing ever had before. He wouldn’t eat. He couldn’t look at meat; the smell of it had him running for the bathroom. Isa had donated all the meat in the house to a shelter in Wolf Creek and made it clear it wasn’t to come back into the house until Donovan was ready. But it wasn’t just that he wasn’t eating. He never touched anybody first anymore. If one of them touched him or comforted him, he didn’t pull away, but he didn’t engage either. Sometimes, he almost seemed to forget what happened; he would be laughing or joking around, but then something would happen, some switch or thought or memory that only Donovan was experiencing and he would just…fade away. Sometimes it was mid-sentence. Some flashback would hit him, and he’d just wander away, find some corner of the room, slip his headphones on, and disappear.

If, for no other reason than that, Ember vowed never to trust Miller and Josephine; they were constantly sacrificing Donovan for their cause. The first time they’d almost killed him physically; this time, Miller’s reckless disregard for his nephew had cost Donovan…everything.

Ember shook off the thought. She needed to focus. They needed to get this finished. In the center of the backyard, the witches had created a circle made entirely of stones, ranging in size and color. Inside the circle was another smaller circle made up of black stones, and within that circle was a symbol, the Triquetra. Only she, Tristin, Kai, and Mace remained by the rocks. Harlow was in the house with Tate and Miller, and Josephine stood halfway between the house and the ritual space. Everybody else was on the porch…watching.

“Get the girl; we losin’ the moon,” Josephine said. “We don’t got much time.”

As if on cue, Harlow emerged from the house. She wore a long, white dress with a rope tied in the middle. Her long platinum hair looked almost silver in the moonlight. She was stunning. Ember could feel the magic crackling in the air. The more the light shifted over the stones, the more energy coursed through the space.

When Harlow was halfway, she faltered, her gaze stuttering from the ritual space to them and the moon before she turned on her heel and began to walk back towards the house. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this.”

Josephine took a step towards the girl, but Miller put a hand on Josephine’s shoulder, shaking his head no. Isa came down from the porch and pulled the girl towards the house. “What’s wrong? What can’t you do?”

“I can’t do this. Any of this. I can’t. I’m not strong enough. I don’t have enough energy. Even with the moon. And I won’t use blood magic. I won’t. Not again. I won’t.”

Isa was nodding as Harlow unraveled, her hands going to the belt at her waist, picking at it with her fingernails, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I know you need me to do this. But it won’t work. I’m not what you think I am.”

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay,” Isa crooned, frowning at Miller and Josephine over the girl’s shoulder.

“We’re losing the moonlight,” Miller murmured.

Aaron stood up from where he sat on the second porch step. “What if you had help?”

Harlow eyed him warily. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we all have to work together as a coven to keep the Legionaries from body jumping, right? So why don’t we all help you perform the ritual? No blood magic. Nothing bad, just the moon, the stones and us?” He pointed to Mallory. “Okay? If it doesn’t work? It’s on all of us, not you…okay?”

“What about Quinn?”

“Not Quinn,” Evangeline said. “There’s too much darkness in him. We don’t want any of that filtering its way in.” She winced in Quinn’s direction. “Sorry.”

Quinn shrugged and nodded. “I get it.”

“What do you say?” Aaron asked again, taking her hand.

Harlow fumbled and then said, “Okay.”

Aaron nodded, smiling at her reassuringly. “Okay. Mallory?”

Harlow swallowed hard. “I-I need the three of you to enter the stones but don’t disturb them. Sit around the inner circle, around the symbol of ascension, legs crossed, palms open on your knees. When I tell you to, take hold of each other’s hands and don’t let go until I say so, no matter what happens.”

Ember felt like she was going to throw up. As soon as her foot landed within the stones, it felt like every molecule in her body was being agitated at once. Kai and Tristin seemed to feel it too. Their eyes were glowing; she was sure hers were as well. Mace stayed outside of the circle but close enough to ensure Ember retained her magic for the ritual.

Aaron and Mallory flanked Harlow, Mallory eerily quiet, as always. She hadn’t uttered a word since she’d arrived, the exact opposite of her brother. It made Ember nervous, but Neoma seemed completely taken with the girl.

As the moon shifted overhead, bathing the stones in its light, Harlow began to chant in a sing-song voice. It wasn’t like any of the spells Ember had heard before; something about it seemed to vibrate within her, just like the stones. As the chanting became more rhythmic, Ember felt a strange lightness settling deep within her, something that was growing, changing, shifting. It made her hair stand on end, Tristin’s too. It pulled the breath from Ember’s lungs and made her feel woozy and strangely euphoric. Harlow suddenly clasped Aaron’s and Mallory’s hands, and Harlow’s words became theirs as if against their will. As they all watched, Mallory shifted into her brother’s form and then back again, over and over. Aaron’s eyes rolled up inside his head, his tattoos moving along his body. All the while, that strange vibrating euphoria intensified until Ember thought she might just float away. All at once, the chanting stopped, and Harlow looked at them. “Now.”

The three grasped hands and Ember’s head fell back as the atoms in her body seemed to separate and fly back together.

And then it was gone.

Ember blinked at Kai and Tristin, and she knew they’d felt it too.Were still feeling it.

Are we okay?

“We’re fine. I think,” she told Kai.

“What?” he said, looking startled.

“You asked if we’re okay. I think we’re okay. Tristin, are you okay?”

“Ember, he didn’t say that out loud,” Tristin said.

Ember went numb. “Do it again,” she whispered.

Can you hear me? It was Tristin that time.

I can hear you. Ember had a terrible thought. Holy shit. Does that mean we can now hear all of each other’s thoughts because, no. Just no.

Ember suddenly became acutely aware of everybody staring at them. Harlow, Malachi, and Aaron all watched them curiously. Finally, Harlow said, “You can let go now.”

Ember realized they were all still clasping hands. They all let go. Miller and Josephine approached them. “How do you feel?” Miller asked.

“Weird. Good. Like I could run to the moon and back, actually,” Kai said, getting to his feet. “So now what? How do we know it worked?”

“I ‘spect we’ll find out soon ‘nuff,” Josephine huffed, before turning and wobbling into the woods, her wooden walking stick sinking into the dirt as she went.

They exited the circle, the others milling about, feeding off all that excess energy pounding through the air.

“How do you feel, luv. Are you all right?”

“I’m better than all right. I feel…invincible,” she said, holding her hands before her, calling her magic to her until sparks emanated from her fingertips. She laughed. “Look. Look at it. It doesn’t hurt or anything,” she had a thought then. “It’s not hurting you, is it? My energy boost isn’t filtering something horrible through you, right?”

He smiled. “No, luv. I feel fine. I promise.”