This Coven Won't Break - Isabel Sterling Page 0,106

gets here.”

Lady Ariana takes her place in the circle. “Then let’s begin.”

The coven joins hands around the potion, and I scan the ring of witches. Ellen. Mom. Lady Ariana and Margaret Lesko and so many more. All people I love, a family bound by magic and generations of history, all working toward the same purpose.

“As one,” our high priestess says, the tiniest hint of fear in her voice.

We close our eyes, and the Blood Witches at the edge of our circle allow their power to mingle with ours. As Alice’s magic ignites like fire inside me, I’m overcome by the gravity of a moment like this. It’s not just that we’re about to wipe the memories of all the Hunters and scientists lying before the burning laboratory. For the first time since the very creation of witches, the three Clans are working together. Our magics blending into something greater than their individual parts.

Lady Ariana directs the combined power of the coven, and we reach as one for the potion at the center of our circle. The liquid bubbles, and I open my eyes in time to see it burst into the air. As the sirens close in and the first emergency vehicles skid to a stop, we blanket the compound in the Casters’ potion.

Something electric and wild zings through me as the potion curls in on itself, shimmering tendrils collapsing on a single point, and then it bursts wide, exploding outward like a million microscopic shooting stars, covering a five-mile radius in every direction in case any Hunters slipped past us.

It’ll cover anyone we missed . . . including Detective Archer if he’s too close too soon.

Alice’s magic leaves my body in a rush, and my knees give out beneath me. I fall to the soft ground and glance up in time to see more police arrive. Fire trucks connect to the hydrant, dousing the flames. Lady Ariana, Ellen, and a few others provide the fire enough strength to resist the onslaught of water.

But I lose track of their fight when a dark sedan turns off the road and makes its way toward the front of the building. No. It’s too soon. “Not yet!” I yell into the comms. “It’s not safe.”

I’ve been thinking . . .

Archer goes quiet on the line, and I turn, searching the woods for Cal. Is he hearing this, too? He must be, but I can’t find him in the crowd, and there isn’t time.

“Whatever it is, Archer, don’t. You’ll lose your memories. We’ll lose you.”

You won’t need me after today. His car stops behind the line of fire trucks, but the air is still saturated with the potion. I promised that we wouldn’t give in to the Hunters without a fight, but that fight is over.

Cal appears at my side, searching through the trees for Archer. His face has gone ghostly white. He’s heard everything. “Ryan, please. Don’t do this,” he says, voice thick with emotion.

It’ll be nice to stop hiding things from Lauren, he says, almost wistful. Then he clears his throat. It’s been an honor working with both of you. Now I have some Hunters to arrest.

“Archer, no!” But it’s too late. The detective steps out of his car and pulls the comms from his ear, letting it drop to the ground and crushing it under his heel so no one else will notice it. He turns toward the stirring Hunters, focused and unafraid, but then he stumbles, catching himself on the front hood of his car.

He presses the heel of his still-injured hand into his temple and falls to his knees as the potion strips away a lifetime of magic.

I start forward, but Mom grabs my hand. “You can’t,” she says, her voice thick with emotion. “We can’t be seen.”

“But Archer—”

“Made his choice.” Mom turns to Cal, who also looks ready to bolt. “Ryan has been considering this since you finished the potion. It wasn’t a snap decision.”

“You knew?” I ask, feeling fragile and heartbroken. “We could have stopped him.”

Mom soothes away the hair stuck to my face. “It was his choice, Hannah. We have to respect that.”

A loud boom cuts off my reply. The pharmaceutical company collapses in on itself. Dirt and debris fly in every direction, but a gust of wind—Elemental-enhanced wind—keeps the shrapnel from hurting anyone.

When the dust settles, another officer kneels before Archer and helps him back to his feet. When he stands, confusion creases his brow. He looks from the collapsed building to the dozens and