She shrugs. “It sucks, but at least he’s out of my life. My parents like it here. They don’t have any plans to take me back to Minnesota.”
“Good,” I say, squeezing her tight, “because I’m not letting you go.”
“Am I interrupting?” Veronica asks, eyebrow raised. Mycheeks flush hot, but she smiles and nods over her shoulder to where Cal is standing alone, glaring at his former Elder. “He wanted to talk to you before we start.”
“Of course,” I say, but Veronica shakes her head.
“Not you, Han. Your girlfriend.” Veronica watches Morgan leave, and when we’re alone, V bumps her hip against mine. “She makes you happy.”
“She does.”
“I guess that means I’m not allowed to hate her anymore.” Veronica smirks at me.
Though I roll my eyes, thoroughly, I appreciate a bit of lightness before what’s about to be a very heavy day.
Lady Ariana, Elder Hudson, and a woman I don’t recognize exit my grandmother’s home. A shudder travels through the earth, silencing conversation.
When Elder Hudson finally speaks, his voice fills the air with the energy of a storm. “Katherine Keating, you have been found guilty of breaking the highest laws of this Council. You have torn magic from innocent witches and instigated the death of others. For these crimes, your magic will be stripped away and you will be banished from our community.”
The other woman, who I assume is the Blood Witch Elder, steps forward and pulls a long knife from a hilt around her waist.
Keating’s wild blue eyes catch in the fading sunlight. “I only did what had to be done. I tried fordecadesto push us into the future, but you were too weak to do anything about it.”
If not for the earth slithering higher up Keating’s legs, I might have thought the other Elders hadn’t heard her at all. Their expressions remain unmoved by her pleas.
“Secrecy has cost us more good witches than anything I’vedone.” Keating is trembling now, the other Elders nearly upon her. “It’s not too late. There’s still time to fix this. We can step out of the shadows. We shouldn’t have to hide fromRegs.”
The Blood Witch Elder cuts the binding cord from Keating’s wrists and pulls one arm forward, forcing her palm up.
“No.” Keating tries to pull away, voice breaking. “Don’t do this. Please don’t do this. You know me, Christine. I’ve only ever wanted what was best for our Clans. We can still fix this.”
“You cannot replace the lives you took, Katherine.” The Blood Witch drags the blade smoothly across Keating’s palm, and there’s an edge to her voice. I think of the Blood Witch boy, who died in the hospital the day we burned Hall Pharmaceuticals to the ground. “And now, you’ll never hurt us again.” She presses her palm against Keating’s bleeding one.
Keating screams as Blood Magic tears through her system, and I force myself to watch as Elder Hudson steps forward with a potion clutched in his hand. He tips the vial against Keating’s lips, and the mixture of magics tears her power apart piece by piece.
Her agony, her grief, does little to numb the hurt she caused. Dad’s death. Sarah and Archer and Zoë and my grandparents and so many others without the magic they spent lives mastering. It’s fitting that she should lose her own magic now, too.
Yet no matter her crimes, it’s hard to watch the unmaking of a witch.
When the ritual is complete, when Keating collapses to the ground, shaking and shuddering, Council agents collect her. They give her another potion that will bind her from ever speaking about magic or the Clans again.
We talked at length about whether to take her memory butultimately decided the more appropriate punishment was to let her live out her days knowing what she lost.
Though she will also spend those days locked up in a secure Council facility.
After she’s gone, there is no celebration. No laughter or overwhelming sense of victory. Instead, there’s pain. Lingering echoes of hurt and grief. There’s the remembrance of all we’ve lost. I text Zoë and tell her it’s over, that we did it. A few minutes later, she reminds me that it isn’t over. That we still need to find a way to restore the magic that was lost.
That the hard part—the after—has only just begun.
34
LIFE SETTLES INTO Anew normal.
Mom has me on Operation Salvage Senior Year, which means I have zero social life until I’m caught up on all my missed assignments. My teachers are mostly accommodating given everything in the news about Benton and his parents, but that doesn’t lighten the workload.
Getting back on track is about more than school, though. I finally take Veronica’s advice and agree to let Mom find me a therapist. I’ve only been to a few sessions, but so far, so good. I always leave feeling lighter than when I arrive, but if I decide later that I want to talk to someone who understandseverythingI’ve been through, the Council says they can locate an Elemental qualified to help, even if it’s only over the phone.
On a Thursday night late in October, my old boss Lauren calls and asks if there’s any chance I could help cover a few shifts during the Halloween rush. Since I’m finally caught up on school—and since I blew through a good portion of my cash on new paint supplies—I agree.
