This Coven Won't Break - Isabel Sterling Page 0,96

one day you’ll be able to tell her again. Maybe our laws will evolve, but we can’t make those kinds of decisions for all witches. We can’t let the Hunters force this on us.”

We fall silent for a long time. I hear Cal talking quietly with my mother in the kitchen.

“Can I ask you something?” I wait for Archer to nod and try to form the question in a way that makes sense. “If Casters have the power to erase memories, why haven’t they done that with the Hunters? Why not wipe their memories of magic and move on with our lives?”

“Gemma only knew about magic for a couple months. It’s harder when the knowledge is so deeply embedded in their minds.” Archer heads back to the dining room and sits in one of the chairs, resting his bandaged hands on the glossy wooden surface. “Even if we managed to wipe all their memories of magic, the remaining Hunters would re-indoctrinate them.”

“But we have Benton now. We could test the potion and make sure you get it right.” If we could erase the memory of magic from every Hunter, we could end this. Our secret would be safe. No one else would have to die.

“Cal’s been working on something like that for weeks, but creating a potion broad enough to affect everyone is almost impossible.”

“I got the idea from you, Hannah,” Cal says, coming into the room with my mom. He sits across from Archer. “That day in the Cauldron when you wanted to go back in time and stop the Hunters from ever finding out about magic in the first place. I think I’m close to a breakthrough.”

“Really?” Archer’s voice is infused with so much hope it makes me want to burst. “I thought you were having trouble with it.”

“Lexie has been helping. If she’s still allowed to, it shouldn’t take much longer. A week. Maybe two.” Cal drums his fingers against the table and glances up at Archer. “I haven’t figured out how to prevent it from working on the witches who have been drugged though.”

“We might not have time to wait for that,” Archer says. “And we’d still need a way to disperse the potion that would cover all the Hunters at once. As long as even one remembers, we’re still at risk.”

“We could put it in the water supply,” I say. “We could use their methods against them.”

But Archer shakes his head. “There’s too much room for error. They could already be avoiding tap water, given their own pursuits.”

“Then we do what they couldn’t.” A smile blooms as the idea takes root. “We make it airborne.”

28

THE REST OF THE week is a whirlwind of investigations, magic lessons, and potion making.

And homework. So much homework.

Archer keeps me out of school under the guise that I need to stay out of sight while the police are hunting for Benton, but that doesn’t stop Mom from contacting my teachers to get homework sent to the house. While the Elders question Lexie, Coral, and Alice about their connections to the Hunters, I’m writing essays and solving for x.

I’m also working with Lady Ariana to regain control of my magic. I have access to the elements again, and the pain is finally gone, but it still feels . . . different. There’s a chance my power will never be the same as it was before, but I think I’m okay with that. It’s slow, and my endurance right now kind of sucks, but it’s still mine.

While I’m busy working with my grandmother and catching up on school stuff, the Elders focus on the witches I’ve accused. They interrogate Lexie first, then Coral, and finally Alice. Each one is cleared of the charges I made against them, and by some miracle, they don’t leave Salem out of spite.

Probably because they believe I’m right. Someone betrayed the Clans.

It just wasn’t any of them.

Archer continues his search for the mole—questioning everyone who might have had access to our plans, including my entire coven. Alice works with Morgan’s parents to learn more of the healing techniques she missed by being orphaned so young. Coral and Lexie return to helping Cal with the memory potion, Lexie even incorporating some of Dr. O’Connell’s research into their task.

I don’t hear from any of them until Sunday, when we learn that the Casters were successful: they’ve created a version that should work on anyone without Clan magic flowing through their veins. Archer calls while I’m in the middle of