wand from her side and cast a spell. The spell whizzed through the air and connected with the leshane. He gave an animal-like screech, and there was a hissing sound as he exploded into ash, trickling into nothing but a pile of dust.
Hattie got up and wiped off her hands with her apron. “There. Done.”
Emma’s mouth was trembling. “Are you serious? Is he really out of Ethan?”
“Yes. He’s quite dead now,” Hattie said. “He won’t bother you again.”
Dead. Never to return. Relief ran through me like no other. Finally, I had my own body back again. I was no longer captive to that twisted creature.
Emma gave a cry of joy and flung her arms around me. I squeezed her as tightly as I could. With the leshane gone, I felt like I could live again. A heavy weight had been lifted off my chest, and though the air in the attic was musty, as I inhaled, it felt like a breath of life.
“You did it,” Emma whispered. “I knew you could.”
“I wasn’t going to leave you, onawilke.” There were tears running from my eyes, too. So much relief. I hadn’t been damned. I had the power to save myself from the beginning.
Hattie was sweeping up the ashes of the leshane and putting them in a velvet bag— probably for use with a spell later. “You all had better get a move on,” Hattie said. “Don’t want to be caught sneaking about in Octavia Falls.”
Emma helped me to my feet. “We must repay you, Hattie. We owe you everything.”
“I don’t take money. The leshane ashes are payment enough,” Hattie said. “I only mean to help.”
My chest warmed. Whatever I’d been told about witches as a child, the rumors obviously weren’t all true. There were some good witches in the world, one of which I had to thank for my life.
Everyone looked up when they heard Emma and I coming down the stairs. Wide smiles spread across relieved faces, and I got tackled by six people at once.
“Ethan!” Odette sang. “You’re alive!”
“Yes, and very much recovered,” I replied as I hugged her back. “The demon is gone for good.”
Delmare looked impressed. “Damn. What are we missing that witches aren’t telling us?”
“Ethan actually did most of the work,” Emma said. “But we owe Hattie one. Thank you, Kiara, for taking us to her.”
Kiara nodded. “It sometimes helps to have friends in odd places. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner.”
Alexei had moved to the window, and was peeking through the curtain. By this time, darkness had shrouded the town. “Uh, guys, I’m really happy Ethan’s recovered and all, but we should leave. We don’t know when the rest of the witches will come back.”
“Can you make us another portal back home?” Theo asked Emma.
Emma shook her head tiredly. “Maybe tomorrow. I couldn’t make another portal if I tried right now.”
“I actually booked us a mountain retreat while we were waiting,” Stefan said, waving his phone around. “It’s got food, and the door’s unlocked from the owner’s cell. We’ll have the place to ourselves for the night while Emma recovers, but there’s no time to dick around— not unless you want to get your wings pinned to a spreading board by a warlock once we’re caught.”
That didn’t sound good to any of us, so we left The Jolly Pumpkin, and ran down Main Street. I was no longer feeling tired or ill— now that the demon was gone, it was like my health had recovered instantly, and my shifter healing powers were working overtime to restore my body back to optimal condition. I was never stronger.
Lucas and Nadine were right— the slit in the ward was still there. We crossed through, and only breathed a sigh of respite when Octavia Falls was long behind us, and we could feel our magic pumping through our veins again.
Stefan changed into a dragon. “The retreat isn’t far, just a few miles up the road. The girls can ride on our backs there.”
Everyone climbed onto their respective mounts. I changed with ease, moaning as I stretched myself back into my wolf skin. Gods, I’d missed this. It felt great to be on my paws again.
Emma was hesitant, but when I nudged her with my head, she climbed on my back. We set off. Nobody flew, because we didn’t know if there were witches outside the ward who’d witness our escape.
As we bounded toward the retreat, the exhilaration in my gut from being unleashed turned to worry. I