I held out a hand. Kinetic power sparked to life, brighter than before.
Lloyd’s voice exclaimed. “Holy shit.”
Why can’t I see you? Everything was so murky, like I watched the world through distorted glass. The haze of magic surrounding the tree smothered everything else, and when I tried to float through it, I fetched up against an invisible shield. If I could just make them hear me…
I reached for the magic, only for it to slip through my fingers like fine mist. The voices grew, but became indistinguishable, blurring together.
Time passed. Minutes, or maybe hours, or days. I tried to call the magic again, but it remained muted, unreachable. Only for the living, not for the dead, and I was too far away… I’d stayed away for too long.
I’m alive. I’m Jas. Jas Lyons. My boyfriend is Keir Langford. Lloyd is my best friend. My other friends are waiting for me.
I recited their names over and over, a mantra that kept me anchored, if not to anything physical, then to my sense of self. The pain that pierced me when I pictured Wanda’s face proved I was still human. Alive. Fighting to make it back through into the realm of the living.
After some time had passed, I heard another voice, filtered through the barrier surrounding me. “I’m sorry, but the rune isn’t working.”
Isabel. I tried to call her name, but no sound came out of my mouth.
She spoke again. “There’s no response. She’s not a witch any longer. It only works on witches.”
Not a witch. Why did those words hurt so much?
“She’s still alive,” Lloyd insisted. “Try summoning her.”
“We can’t risk it,” said another voice. “I’m sorry. But I might have another way. She’s there in spirit form. That means she’s close to death.”
“No,” said another voice. “Absolutely not.”
The voices clashed, blurring into meaninglessness.
“My name is Jas,” I whispered, hanging onto that one surety. I knew who I was, even as the relentless flow of magic threatened to consume what remained of my spirit. Evelyn hadn’t said a word since the tree’s magic had consumed her. Perhaps she’d forgotten her name, but I hadn’t. I would never forget those I loved, nor those I’d lost.
Not even her.
When I next came to alertness, it was to find myself pressed against the barrier. A dark shape that hadn’t been there before extended across the horizon. A wall? No, a gate, bigger than the human eye could comprehend, all-encompassing, and wreathed in grey.
“Jas.” A woman appeared in front of the invisible barrier, holding a book in one hand. “I know you’re over there. I’m going to ask you to hang on to me, okay?”
“What the—?” I knew her. Ilsa. The Gatekeeper of Death had come for me. Her hand reached out, past the magical barrier. The dead could go where the living couldn’t, and Ilsa had used her talisman to reach me.
“Come on.” Ilsa gripped my hand. “Trust me, even if you don’t remember who you are, Jas would want this.”
“I am Jas.” I wrapped my fingers around hers. “She does want it. I mean, me. I. Whatever. Am I dead?”
“Yes,” she said, “but I thought you had nine lives.”
The gates loomed behind Ilsa’s back, growing closer. Drawing me into their embrace. The tug of Death warred with the magic keeping me imprisoned behind the barrier, and I fought with all my strength. I’m a necromancer. Let me go back.
The barrier’s light flared around me on all sides, and then the gates opened, beckoning me through, tugging me into the afterlife. Ilsa let go of my hand, and the spirit realm faded into nothingness.
I blinked back to alertness. I lay on a bed, surrounded by faces I knew. Keir. Isabel. Lloyd. Ilsa, blinking back into her own body as the grey of death faded away to be replaced by unbearable brightness.
“Dim the lights,” said Lloyd. “She can’t see.”
The light faded. I leaned back on the pillows, dazed. “I… how?”
“I knew it,” Ilsa said, a smile on her face. “I knew I could do it.”
“You were saying you weren’t certain she’d made it until a minute ago,” said Morgan. He and Lloyd stood close to one another, smiling at me. “I was sure.”
Ilsa shot him a warning look. “I was a little concerned Jas might have used up all her nine lives.”
“More like a hundred.” Lloyd fell on me, hugging me so tightly I couldn’t breathe. Rough fabric brushed my hands. I was dressed in some ghastly green pyjamas that weren’t mine. My body didn’t feel like mine, either, but maybe that was my missing Hemlock magic.
Here, I could no longer feel it at all. Just a warm blanket, tubes in and out of my arms, and the chill of spending too long in the spirit realm.
“Did you seriously call the gates of Death to get me out from behind that barrier?” I coughed in Ilsa’s general direction.
“At a great personal risk,” River said disapprovingly from her side.
“It wasn’t a risk,” said Ilsa. “The Gatekeeper’s book told me how to open the gates and get Jas through without either of us dying. Or re-dying. Is that a word?”
“You’re babbling,” said Morgan. “Anyway, we were going to bury you in a coffin with a hinged lid, Jas, just in case you woke up.”
“Morgan!” Ilsa hit him in the arm, and he ducked behind Lloyd.
“Feel free to make jokes at my expense.” I sucked in a breath, revelling in the refreshing air after what seemed an eternity of feeling nothing at all. “I guess I had one spare life saved up after all.”
The next time I woke, pain filtered in. Everything hurt. Nothing more than my heart, when my gaze connected with Keir’s and the impact of everything that had been lost hit me like a truck.
Aiden. Wanda. Cordelia. So many lives lost at the hands of my coven. At the hands of Evelyn Hemlock.
“Jas,” Keir whispered. “You okay?”
“Tired,” I managed.
“I might be able to help you with that.” His essence flooded into me, reviving me enough that I could sit up. A faint smile curved his lips. “See, that’s what was wrong. You were deprived of being around me.”
“How long have you been sitting there?” The hard-backed chair didn’t look comfortable, and judging by the rumpled look of his clothes, he’d been there a while. A curtain surrounded the area around my bed, giving us privacy.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not good at keeping track of time these days.”
I reached for him, and he leaned over the bed, hugging me carefully. I squeezed him back, noting his ribs felt more prominent against my hands. He’d lost weight. How long had I been stuck behind the spirit line with Evelyn?
“They had a funeral for you, Jas,” he said, his voice husky. “A mass funeral for all the people who died. The Council held a smaller one, for those of us who knew you. On top of Aiden, it was—” he broke off in a sob, his body shaking all over.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I held onto him. “I’m back. I’m gonna stay back, too. I can promise you that. I can’t believe you all risked so much for me.”
“Aiden wasn’t gonna let the vampires keep you from getting to Evelyn.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed, hard. “He knew—he knew he wasn’t strong enough to do anything but buy us time. He died fighting.”
“I know.” I blinked tears from my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, good, she’s awake,” said Lloyd, pushing open the curtains. “Keir, you’d better take care of her. He’s been impossible the whole time you’ve been gone—going out and getting into fights like it’s his job.”
“It is my job.” Keir dragged a sleeve across his damp eyes.
“Wait, you mean the two of you have been hanging out together?” I hadn’t imagined the voices I’d heard in the forest?
“Well, yes,” said Lloyd. “Since the mages insisted on holding a funeral, and most of us knew you were still alive and refused to take no for an answer, I had to stop this idiot from punching out the mage council’s new he
ad.”
“Keir, really? I thought you wanted to stay on the right side of the new council.”
He gave a shrug. “I’ve never been good with authority figures. Especially stuck-up dickheads.”
I pushed the bedcovers aside. “Lloyd, can you fetch the nurse? I’m getting discharged. No more lying in bed for me. Green is not my colour.”
“You’re right there,” said Lloyd. “I’ll fetch her, then. You sort yourself out, okay, Keir?”
Keir watched him leave. “Your boss still isn’t my biggest fan,” he said. “She tolerates me because I know vampire territory better than the guild does. I’ve been helping clean out old nests in the vaults. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was finding excuses to drag me away from your bedside.”
“I would have wanted you to go on without me,” I said softly.
“I know.” He sucked in a breath. “I know, I’m shit at letting go, but I tried to. God, I tried to, but I feel like someone stuck a hand in my chest and ripped out a part of me which I won’t ever get back.”
“I get it.” I rested my forehead on his chest. “Keir, I am so, so sorry.”
He wrapped one arm around my back, pulling me tightly against him. “I mourned Aiden once already. I don’t know if this is better or worse than last time. I mean, he has closure now. I’m the one who’s left behind.”
My chest constricted. “Keir, your faith in me helped me make it back. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Jas.” He hugged me tight enough to squeeze the breath from my lungs. “So fucking much. You have no idea.”
I rested my head against his chest. “I do, Keir. I really do.”
When Keir had left, I waited patiently for the nurse to show up and discharge me. Instead, my next visitor was Lady Montgomery. River and Ilsa accompanied her, both of them looking exhausted.
Ilsa gave me a weary smile. “Hey. How’re you doing?”
“Good.”
“I’m glad,” said Lady Montgomery, “considering the trouble I’m in with the mages for approving this absurd plan. It would have helped if your friends had told me before they decided to risk the Gatekeeper’s life.”
“So am I,” I said. “Um, I didn’t ask them to risk their lives, but I’m grateful for it. If you want me to put everyone on archive duty, just let me know.”
Surprise suffused the boss’s features. “Does that mean you’re staying here at the guild?”
“Here at the…” I trailed off, looking around properly for the first time. The infirmary did resemble the one at the necromancers’ guild, but what with the abruptness of my return to life, I’d been too distracted to take in the details. “How is this possible? The place was wrecked.”
“Isabel,” said Ilsa. “And the witches. They helped repair the damage. The foundations were fine, we just needed to… fix it up a little. The spirit line is stronger than ever.”
“The spirit line has a giant tree sitting on top of it.” I glanced up at the ceiling, but no signs of the spirit line remained visible. “Is that all you can see when you cross over the line?”
No Hemlock forest blocked the spirit line anymore. No cave, and no void either.
“Yes,” said Ilsa. “I can still travel on the line in the spirit realm, and you’ll be able to do the same.”
“But you can’t cross into the other realm? I mean, the dragons’ city, or the wellspring?”
Ilsa glanced at Lady Montgomery. “The other realm is… it’s more of a liminal space than a realm in itself. You missed a lot while you were sleeping, but the dragon shifters have the situation in hand.”
“And the Devourer?” I asked. “Its magic is totally locked out, right?”
“It is,” said Ilsa. “I have to say, the new barrier spell is an improvement on the last one.”
“I’ll pass on the compliment to Evelyn,” I said lightly. “Are Isabel and Asher okay?”
“Sure,” said Ilsa. “They’re just dealing with some local witch business.”
Huh. So Isabel had stayed here in Edinburgh. And Asher had remained involved with the local covens, even though the loss of his blood bond would have taken his coven magic away, too.
I looked up at Lady Montgomery. “Just because I’m not a witch anymore doesn’t mean I don’t want to stay here. It’s my home.”
To no surprise, my first invitation to a council meeting came on the second day after I woke.
“Nice of them to give me the chance to recover,” I said to Lloyd as we walked downstairs into the entrance hall. I hadn’t gone outside since I’d returned to my body, having taken a while to get the hang of moving around again after being stuck on the other side for so long. The others had given me plenty of attention, and Lloyd and I had sat up half the night watching zombie movies. Some things hadn’t changed.
Today would be the first time I’d seen Vance and the others since the battle. According to Lloyd, they’d buried Wanda back home, and I’d missed the funeral. I’d missed a lot of things. Gaps filled my memory, as though my existence in the void had sucked out some of my very essence. Physically, I was fine. Mentally and emotionally, though? Let’s just say I didn’t know if I was going to be able to handle making a speech in front of the council without passing out or breaking down in tears.
“The boss will be keeping an eye out for trouble,” Ilsa told me. “Don’t worry, she’s aware you’re still recovering.”
“I doubt the council wants to hear an account of what it’s like to be stuck in a tree for weeks,” I said. “I think I missed more than they did, to be honest.”
From the whispers I’d heard from the others, the aftermath of the Ancients’ awakening had sent ripples up and down the country. The new council had its hands full, and a number of unfamiliar faces greeted me when I entered the meeting room. I made a beeline for Ivy, who sat at the table with her sword propped up against her chair.
“Ivy,” I said. “You’re okay?”
“Speak for yourself,” she said. “Yeah, I got delayed in Faerie, as per usual. Missed most of the action.”
I sat beside her. “I’m sorry about Wanda.”
Her gaze dropped. “The mages are struggling. I mean, she’s hardly the first to lose her life in battle, but Drake… well, judge for yourself when he shows up.”
My throat tightened. “She shouldn’t have died.”
“There’s nothing you could have done, from what I heard,” said Ivy. “I heard you summoned her ghost, too. Vance appreciated that.”
The vice-like sensation grew worse. Death had surrounded me for my entire employment at the guild, yet it had never touched me this deeply, or affected so many of my friends. Everyone had lost someone or knew someone who had.
The door opened and Agnes entered the room. “Oh, good,” she said. “She’s awake.”
“You’re okay?” I said. “I thought you got caught up in the Hemlocks’ spell.”
“She disappeared for a while and then showed up with no explanation,” said Ilsa.
“I gave an explanation,” said Agnes. “I was detained because I owed a favour to the dragon shifters.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Not the ones who kidnapped you?”
Agnes’s silver braid moved over her shoulder as she shook her head. “No. It’s a long story—”
Drake and Vance walked in, cutting her off.
“Hey.” Drake’s eyes brightened at the sight of me. “Nice to see you alive, Jas.”
“I heard you’re recovering well,” Vance said. “I’m glad your friends were able to rescue you.”
“Meaning you, Ilsa,” Ivy said in an undertone. “Don’t think I didn’t hear about your trick with the gates of Death.”
“I had help from my talisman,” Ilsa said. “Anyway, I was peer pressured into doing it by Jas’s friends and one very persistent vampire.”
“And a certain witch,” Ivy added, as Isabel came in.
I hurried over to meet her. “Isabel. You’re okay?”
“Yeah.” Isab
el hugged me. “So is Asher.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you—”
She released me and waved a hand. “The world was ending. I gave Asher a dressing-down afterwards.”
“And then you invited him to meet your coven.”
She grinned. “He’d already met them once by that point. Jas, is it okay if I ask what happened to the Hemlocks’ talisman?”
“It’s stuck in the tree with Evelyn,” I said. “Can you thank Asher for getting my body out?”
Isabel sat down on Ivy’s other side. “You mean after you made him your Third?
Guilt rose inside my chest. “He agreed to it. I couldn’t think of another way to get him close enough to the Devourer to be rid of the blood pact. He gave up his magic for you, you know. If he didn’t tell you that.”
She smiled. “I know. But when the spirit line’s magic reset, it knocked something loose.”
“Come again?”
“Four people showed up on my doorstep with newly developed witch magic the first day I got home,” Isabel said. “They were all normal humans before. Adults.”
I stared at her. “Seriously? That’s supposed to be impossible.”
“So is coming back from the dead,” said Ilsa. “Which some of us do on an alarmingly regular basis.”
“So… they’re witches?” Normal humans, developing magic? “Holy shit.”
“I know, right?” said Isabel. “They say a third of humans have dormant magic, and the spirit line’s magic reset and opened a door. It doesn’t take much to tip a human into magical ability, and Asher was one of them. It’s not the same as his original coven magic, but he’s not complaining. Nor am I.”
“I’m happy for you.” I smiled at her. “Guess I missed a lot, huh.”
Vance stood and cleared his throat. “Jas, would you like to repeat your story for the council?”
I might not have seen much from inside the tree, but the council was eager to hear my side of how I’d taken down Evelyn and tricked her into becoming the sacrifice. They’d heard most of the story from Isabel, but I filled in enough gaps to satisfy their curiosity.
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