CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Never one to let the unexpected deter her from reaching a goal, Rachel had simply turned to Wes and said, "Reach out to Reid. Use the boy to lure our backup plan here at this time tomorrow."

Now, the same warlocks had gathered along with the rest of the most dedicated Eight Spokes Society members. Rachel had decided to include more of them to better their odds of success, but she'd only invited the ones who were part of the inner circle and knew their true plans for reviving the organization.

Reid wasn't present. He'd merely been a means to lure their target to the school. As Chase Bryce came toward them, he looked appropriately alarmed.

"Amos? What is this? Where's my son?" Chase asked. "One of his classmates called and told me he was injured."

Amos hesitated. "I'm sorry, Chase," he replied.

Chase seemed to understand then. "My son?" He asked softly.

"Camelot is fine. He was the original target, but the focus has shifted to you."

"And if I allow this...?"

"We will have no further reason to pursue your boy," Mr. Ko replied.

Chase turned to Archibald. "You're all in on this, Archie?" He asked.

"It's not personal, Chase," Archibald replied. "This is business."

"Right." Chase looked around and knew that he was outnumbered. "I won't fight you, if you agree to an oath."

"You have no leverage, Chase," Katrina informed him. "You cannot escape."

"Let him express his dying wish, Katrina," Rachel said. "It's only fair."

"Take a blood oath that my son will be safe from being sacrificed for more power," Chase said.

"So taken," Rachel replied. She made a cut on her palm and let it drip into a flame she summoned before she added, "And so sealed. Camelot Bryce shall not be sacrificed by any warlock."

"So sealed," the others echoed.

"And now, you will uphold your end," Rachel said. With that, she plunged her blade into his chest. The others eagerly joined her. Only Amos hesitated slightly and closed his eyes before plunging his own blade into his old friend's chest.

As the last of the blood drained from Chase's body, an explosion of energy burst from beneath the high school.

"Contain it!" Rachel said urgently.

Everyone focused. "It has to go somewhere, Mother," Wes pointed out.

"Send it into town," Renata suggested.

"You are not destroying Salem with the residual energy of an ancient spell," Mr. Ko said firmly. "Select a specific target. Focus on sending all of this energy there."

"We'll send it to Myron's," Archibald decided.

"I always hated their clam chowder," Amos said with a laugh. "It's no loss."

"The restaurant is owned by the family of one of Erica Vitti's biggest rivals. She would approve," Archibald replied.

"Alright, everyone... Send it to Myron's," Mr. Ko agreed.

They focused on sending the energy of the shattered spell away. Once they were finished, they waited. It didn't take long for the ground to open up where Chase's body had fallen.

Amos grabbed onto Chase's corpse and dragged it clear before it could fall into the hole. "His family should be allowed to bury him," he said as some of the others watched him in confusion, their disapproval clear.

Amos may become a problem for us, Rachel thought. Aloud, she said, "I suppose that's only right. He does come from a powerful and respected bloodline, after all."

Nothing else was said on the matter as Bartholomew Bryce emerged from the hole. He levitated himself onto solid ground and smiled.

"Greetings," he said grandly. His charming smile did not hide the darkness in his eyes.

"Bartholomew Bryce!" Rachel replied just as grandly. "The Eight Spokes Society is very pleased to welcome you back."

~*~

Corey was walking with Jade, Joey, and the Ashford siblings when the explosion went off. He immediately shielded Jade and Joey with his body as Kevin did the same for Beth and Nyxie. Luckily, they were just far enough away from the blast that nothing hit them, although the force of it knocked them down.

"Myron's just blew up!" Beth said in horror as she got back on her feet.

Corey froze in place. "It's Thursday night," he said softly.

"Why is that relevant?" Jade asked.

"Every Thursday night at around this time, my parents eat dinner at Myron's."

"Corey, don't-" Kevin began, but Corey took off running toward what was left of the restaurant.

"Corey!" Jade shouted after him. She turned to Joey and knelt down to his level. "Baby, I need you to-"

"Go to my world, and don't come back 'till you say so," Joey cut her off. "I know, Mama." He kissed her cheek. "Be safe," he added before vanishing.

"Am I that predictable?" Jade asked.

"Come on," Beth said instead of answering. "Let's go see if we can help."

"Beth, with your empathy, this might be too much for you," Kevin said in concern.

"Do I look like I'm in empathic mode?" Beth asked. She was glowing with power.

"Okay, never mind," Kevin said with a slight laugh. "Let's go."

They headed toward the restaurant. Corey was already digging through the debris and trying to find survivors. As he located each one, he helped move them to safety.

"We can set up a triage area over here," Kevin said, immediately taking charge. "It's the only clear spot. I've got a decent amount of medical training from slaying, and from growing up with a doctor for a mother. I'll see what I can do."

Nyxie walked toward some of the survivors who appeared nearly dead. She focused and began reversing time for them, rapidly healing what should have been fatal wounds.

Beth focused on splitting the atoms of the heaviest debris. This cleared the way for them to reach more survivors. She moved quickly, knowing they had precious little time to save people.

Kevin started teleporting in and out of the debris, carrying people with him who couldn't be easily moved to safety.

"Kevin, you can teleport?" Nyxie asked in wonder.

"And you didn't tell us!" Beth added.

"It's sort of a recent development," Kevin replied. "I've really gotten the hang of it, though. If the three of us work together, I think we can help a lot of the people who are here."

The Ashfords began working together. They quickly fell into a rhythm, as if they'd done this sort of thing a thousand times before. Jade was mildly impressed, but she shifted her focus to helping Corey look for survivors on the other side of the restaurant.

Soon, they found the one thing that she'd hoped they wouldn't. Corey's face fell as he stared at his parents. They'd been close to the center of the blast. Their bodies were mangled and it was clear that they'd died the moment it went off.

"Corey..." Jade began gently.

"Oh Gods..." He whispered.

"I'm sorry, Corey."

"I know you can't resurrect them in this condition, so I won't ask," he said numbly. "But... Maybe Nyxie can reverse it?"

Hearing her name, Nyxie came toward them. Having helped everyone that they could, Beth and Kevin followed her.

Beth gasped in horror at the shape of Corey's parents. "Nyx... Can you help them?" Kevin asked softly as Corey looked like he might start to cry.

"I can try," Nyxie replied.

Jade could feel that their souls had already moved on, but that didn't always matter where Nyxie was concerned. Her ability to manipulate time meant she could simply pull their spirits from right before they crossed over and stop them.

Nyxie focused. The effort was clearly too much for her. Kevin took one of her hands. Beth quickly grabbed the other. The three of them began glowing as they combined their energy. This visibly gave Nyxie strength, but it still wasn't enough.

Nyxie finally looked at Corey sadly. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"It's okay," he replied softly. "Thanks for trying." He took a deep breath. "Kevin, Nyxie, get back to the triage area. Do what you can. Beth, stay with us for a minute... Jade, can you hear anyone else?"

"Only the dead who haven't crossed yet," Jade replied. "There's a lot of confusion... The Unit will need to send in a bunch of necromancers. Actual Reapers would be better. I think they'll need Aideen, and probably Courtney and Clarissa, too... Maybe even Chad, if he's willing. I can try to cross some of them, but I'm not powerful enough to cross them all."

"There could still be unconscious people who can't actively think for you to hear them... We should check, just to be sure," Corey decided. "Beth can destroy the debris to make it easier to find people."

"Okay," Jade agreed softly. She understood that Corey needed to feel like he was doing something useful. He was powerless to help his parents, but if he could help others, he would do it.

The Unit arrived with a large number of healers and paramedics who quickly set to work on helping the survivors. Jade walked over to Shooter.

"How'd you guys end up here, Goth Chick?" He asked.

"We were walking by when it happened. If we'd been a few feet closer, we'd be in much worse shape," she replied.

"Bryce is free," Shooter said with a sigh. "This explosion was caused by old magick. I can feel it, and from what I can tell, it's what was left of the spell that bound him."

"We knew it was coming."

"Yeah, but I didn't think that his escape would take out an entire block. Man, Myron's was a great spot, too... I mean, the clam chowder was awful, but everything else was good, and the atmosphere was friendly and welcoming."

"Shooter, we need you over here," Susie called before waving at Jade.

"Duty calls," Shooter mumbled. "We'll talk later." He looked at Corey, who was now busying himself with helping the survivors. "They were here, weren't they?" Shooter asked Jade.

"Yeah... Right in the center of it," Jade confirmed, knowing who he meant.

"Take care of him, Jade. The kid's gonna need it."

"I've got him," she promised. "I owe him for every time he's helped me survive a nervous breakdown. Now start working before Skip drags you over there himself."

As Shooter walked toward Susie and Skip, Jade went back to Corey. "Let's go over there," she suggested. "Away from everyone."

He followed her lead until they were far enough away that the smell of burning flesh and smoke wasn't as strong.

"My parents died today," he said softly.

"I know," she replied.

"They died still hating me for what happened to Becca."

"I'm sorry, Corey."

"They disowned me... Twice. They said I was dead to them, and I accepted that... So why does this still hurt?"

"Because they were still your parents, and it's complicated. Even though they hurt you, part of you still loved them, and you spent years feeling like you did something to deserve the way they treated you." She understood that dynamic entirely too well.

"But I didn't... And I know that now." He sighed. "My family is dead."

"They are," she confirmed gently.

"But I still have a family."

"You do."

"I have the slayers... And I have you."

"Always."

"And Joey called me Daddy the other day."

Jade's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "He did?" She asked.

"He did... And it felt right, because I love the hell out of that kid and I realized I think of him like he's my son anyway... Is that okay with you?"

Jade had never considered it before. "I think so," she replied after a minute. "I know you love Joey and would never hurt him. I miss River, but he's pretty much a stranger to Joey and always will be. Joey deserves to have someone he can call his dad, but I would never ask you to be that for him. You're barely older than me. It wouldn't be fair to expect you to play daddy to my toddler."

"I know... But it happened anyway, and I'm happy it did. You guys are my family, and that means I'm not alone in this world, and right now... Jade, I need that as much as you both do."

She kissed him softly. "I love you," she said. "We both do. I promise we'll be here for you, just like you're always here for us."

Corey pulled her into his arms, and Jade knew he wouldn't let go for a while. She didn't mind. That was exactly where she wanted to be in that moment. Then, another thought occurred to her.

"Do you want to get away from this for a bit?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Corey replied.

"Joey," she began, "would you be okay with bringing us to your world?"

A door opened. Jade took Corey's hand and led him through it. Soon, they were surrounded by vibrant colors. Rainbow-colored animals calmly walked by them. The sun was shining, which took Jade a minute to adjust to. It was always sunny in Joey's world, even at night, except in the side realm where the moon and stars were always awake and sparkling brightly in the sky.

Joey came running toward them. "Mama, are you and..." He paused. "Are you and Corey okay?"

"We're safe, Baby," she replied. "Corey told me that you called him daddy... It's okay, Baby. You can call him that."

"I didn't wanna make you sad, Mama. You miss him," Joey said, looking guilty.

She hugged him tightly. "I'll miss your father forever, Joey, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve to have a dad. I'm glad you feel close enough to Corey to call him that."

Joey smiled then. "Really?" He asked.

"Really," she promised.

"Daddy, you sad now... I help?" Joey asked.

"Sure, buddy," Corey replied.

Joey took Corey's free hand and led him and Jade to the night realm. Jade always felt at peace there as she looked up at the stars.

The three of them sat in the sand, watching the waves roll in as the stars illuminated the night. As Joey snuggled between the two of them, Corey sent a thought into Jade's mind.

Thank you, he said.

Thank Joey, she replied. He gets the ultimate say over who comes and goes from here.

"Thanks, buddy," Corey said to Joey. "This was exactly what I needed."

"I know, Daddy," Joey replied. "This good place to come when you sad. Always helps."

They remained there for a while until Joey started to fall asleep. "Okay," Corey said as he took a deep breath. "I think it's time to go home."