notch on Atticus’s belt.
A deep sense of sorrow swelled within me as I recalled how hard he’d tried to help us find the cure. He had put his life on the line by going against his father. He had known the risks before going into it; we had all known that. But, despite the odds, I had assured myself that he would pull through. Hearing that he was gone—the young man I’d seen less than a day ago—came as a shock.
As I absorbed the news, a determination burned within me more fiercely than ever before.
His death had become more fuel to the fire.
We had to bring down the IBSI. We had to drag them down from their position and crush them. And we had to ensure that no force like them could ever rise to rule this planet again.
But the key to all that was procuring the antidote. Without being able to prove beyond all doubt that it existed, we would have no sway in persuading either the governments or the public that the IBSI was trying to suppress information.
We had to bring the IBSI down, but first we had to solve this damn mystery.
Gripping my wife’s hand, I turned to address everyone else in the room.
“We need to travel to the supernatural dimension— to The Sanctuary—and find a woman named Loira Sulvece.”
Everyone in the room volunteered to come. Although technically we might not even need an eighth of these people—initially witches were the only people vital to our trip—since we didn’t know exactly where this journey might lead us, we ended up accepting everybody who volunteered. I didn’t see a lot of harm in that anyway.
We also put out word to the rest of the members of the League. The dragons, unfortunately, were out of the equation because of their refusal to travel by magic—we couldn’t have them slowing us down.
We were reluctant to have any jinn come with us, even though Aisha and Horatio volunteered. Being accompanied by jinn when we approached The Sanctuary simply wasn’t a good idea. Although the jinn and the witches of The Shade had found a way to co-exist fairly harmoniously, the jinn and witches of the outside world were still very much biased against one another.
As for Mona and Brock, Kiev informed us that they had gone to The Woodlands with Victoria to find a solution to her and Bastien’s ongoing struggle to stay together.
Mona was one of our strongest witches now that she’d recovered her powers, but we had no idea when they’d return, so we’d have to leave without her. She wasn’t exactly a favorite among the white witches of The Sanctuary though, so it was probably all for the best.
Our lineup ended up being: my parents, Ibrahim, Corrine and Arwen, Rose and Caleb, Vivienne and Xavier, Lucas and (tentatively) Jeramiah, Kiev, Claudia and Yuri, Gavin, Zinnia and Griffin, Micah and his wife Kira, and finally Aiden and Kailyn. River, Orlando and the rest of our family opted to stay with Grace.
I felt that this was an excessive number of people simply to visit The Sanctuary…but looking at our previous track record, it was rare that anything went “simply” for us when undertaking a mission in the supernatural dimension. There was no harm in bringing more people than we needed, just in case.
We gave everybody half an hour to prepare, and then we were all to gather at the Port.
Lucas
S ince Ben had returned me to The Shade to be treated for my injury, even in spite of all the madness going on with Grace turning into a Bloodless, Marion and I found ourselves gravitating toward each other, wherever we happened to be in the hospital.
Now, before our departure for The Sanctuary, I had something to do. I’d told Ben and Derek that I would ask Jeramiah if he wanted to accompany us. This time, I would give him the option. He was an adult and it was shameful of me to keep trying to protect him like he was a boy by keeping him out of the loop.
As I headed out, I mysteriously found myself passing Marion again. She was sitting on a bench in the hallway, rocking her
A deep sense of sorrow swelled within me as I recalled how hard he’d tried to help us find the cure. He had put his life on the line by going against his father. He had known the risks before going into it; we had all known that. But, despite the odds, I had assured myself that he would pull through. Hearing that he was gone—the young man I’d seen less than a day ago—came as a shock.
As I absorbed the news, a determination burned within me more fiercely than ever before.
His death had become more fuel to the fire.
We had to bring down the IBSI. We had to drag them down from their position and crush them. And we had to ensure that no force like them could ever rise to rule this planet again.
But the key to all that was procuring the antidote. Without being able to prove beyond all doubt that it existed, we would have no sway in persuading either the governments or the public that the IBSI was trying to suppress information.
We had to bring the IBSI down, but first we had to solve this damn mystery.
Gripping my wife’s hand, I turned to address everyone else in the room.
“We need to travel to the supernatural dimension— to The Sanctuary—and find a woman named Loira Sulvece.”
Everyone in the room volunteered to come. Although technically we might not even need an eighth of these people—initially witches were the only people vital to our trip—since we didn’t know exactly where this journey might lead us, we ended up accepting everybody who volunteered. I didn’t see a lot of harm in that anyway.
We also put out word to the rest of the members of the League. The dragons, unfortunately, were out of the equation because of their refusal to travel by magic—we couldn’t have them slowing us down.
We were reluctant to have any jinn come with us, even though Aisha and Horatio volunteered. Being accompanied by jinn when we approached The Sanctuary simply wasn’t a good idea. Although the jinn and the witches of The Shade had found a way to co-exist fairly harmoniously, the jinn and witches of the outside world were still very much biased against one another.
As for Mona and Brock, Kiev informed us that they had gone to The Woodlands with Victoria to find a solution to her and Bastien’s ongoing struggle to stay together.
Mona was one of our strongest witches now that she’d recovered her powers, but we had no idea when they’d return, so we’d have to leave without her. She wasn’t exactly a favorite among the white witches of The Sanctuary though, so it was probably all for the best.
Our lineup ended up being: my parents, Ibrahim, Corrine and Arwen, Rose and Caleb, Vivienne and Xavier, Lucas and (tentatively) Jeramiah, Kiev, Claudia and Yuri, Gavin, Zinnia and Griffin, Micah and his wife Kira, and finally Aiden and Kailyn. River, Orlando and the rest of our family opted to stay with Grace.
I felt that this was an excessive number of people simply to visit The Sanctuary…but looking at our previous track record, it was rare that anything went “simply” for us when undertaking a mission in the supernatural dimension. There was no harm in bringing more people than we needed, just in case.
We gave everybody half an hour to prepare, and then we were all to gather at the Port.
Lucas
S ince Ben had returned me to The Shade to be treated for my injury, even in spite of all the madness going on with Grace turning into a Bloodless, Marion and I found ourselves gravitating toward each other, wherever we happened to be in the hospital.
Now, before our departure for The Sanctuary, I had something to do. I’d told Ben and Derek that I would ask Jeramiah if he wanted to accompany us. This time, I would give him the option. He was an adult and it was shameful of me to keep trying to protect him like he was a boy by keeping him out of the loop.
As I headed out, I mysteriously found myself passing Marion again. She was sitting on a bench in the hallway, rocking her
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