Monday, 5 days before arrest

"It's hopeless," I say, taking my books out of my locker and piling it all in my bag.

Mia glances around the hall with a wary look. "We can't give up on him though."

I sigh. Leaning my head against my arm which hangs from the shelf I mumble, "I know. I don't want to."

"And you haven't found anything?"

I shake my head.

I slam my locker shut right as Amber and Lucas come bounding down the hall. I watch like I'm in a dream as they make their way over.

Ever since Amber found out Mia's a witch she's been distancing herself from me. I can't blame her, not really but it still hurts.

"Hey!" Amber exclaims as they stop in front of us.

"Where are you two off to?" I ask, ignoring the way Amber glares at Mia.

Lucas must see it too. "We're heading to the library."

I glance down the hall. "The one in the opposite direction?"

Amber's eyes snap to mine. "No. The town library."

I shift under her glare and her tone. "Sorry," I mumble, even though I have no idea what I did wrong.

Lucas rests a hand on her shoulder. Amber tenses before relaxing and letting him leave it there.

"Sorry," she says, looking me in the eyes with a less intense gaze. "It's been a rough couple of days."

Mia scoffs. "Sure it has."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amber barks.

Mia rolls her eyes. She shifts her bag higher on her shoulder. "Nothing."

"No. What did you mean?"

Mia ignores her and turns to me. "Should we go? Got lots to do."

I nod. Giving a sheepish smile to Amber I turn around and leave with Mia.

When we step outside Mia turns and goes straight instead of left. "Where are you going?" I call after her. "Weren't we going to look some more?"

She spins around. A wide grin on her face. "Amber gave me an idea and it's at the library."

I raise an eyebrow but don't question her as I run to catch up to her.

Right now, I'll take any idea that isn't looking through books.

***

Turns out, that's exactly what we're doing.

The librarian reaches into a glass case and pulls out a worn old book. The title is barely readable, only four or five letters are still on it. She turns and hands the book to me. "Be careful with it," she warns.

I nod. I know how precious the book is, even if I didn't know about it.

We make our way over to one of the tables in the back corner beside a window. I place the book on it. As I sit down I ask, "What is it exactly?"

"It's a spell book," Mia answers, gazing longingly at the book.

"Why is it here and not with the other ones?" I ask.

She tears her gaze from it and finally looks at me. "It was, until my mom wanted it on display here." She rolls her eyes.

"Why?"

She shrugs. "It's dumb, really."

I stare at her. She can't just tell me that and not explain why. When she notices I won't move until she explains she sighs.

"Mom wanted the book to be public because it contains some history of the town. A very little amount though. Madam Mara had told me it contained powerful spells and potions. So, she didn't want it in the library. Long story short, they fought over where it should stay and mom won."

I look down at the book with a new sense of wow. "I didn't even know about this book."

Mia shrugs and looks at her nails. "I guess Madam Mara was sour about it? And she didn't want to mention it."

"Do you think it'll have anything to help us?"

Again, Mia shrugs. "It might, it was just an idea. The only bad part is that it can't leave the library, so we have to read it here."

I groan. "But this thing is thicker than all the other ones."

"Then better read fast." Mia turns, digs into her bag and pulls out her phone.

I groan. Guess I'm on my own with this.

I gently open the cover, cringing as the spine sends a loud crack through the space. Mia doesn't even look up.

My fingers trail along the bumpy, weathered pages. Some words are faded well others are chipped but they're still eligible. As I flip the pages I read the titles of the spells and skim the summaries of them.

The first few pages have nothing to do with what I'm looking for.

I flip the page.

𝓢𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓯𝓾𝓷𝓴𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓻𝓮𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷, 𝓯𝓸𝓬𝓾𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮. 𝓘𝓯 𝓪 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮-𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓼. 𝓔𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮-𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓿𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵. 𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓶𝓪𝓵𝓵, 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓼𝓶𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓪𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓴, 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓼𝓮, 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓸𝓻 𝓫𝓪𝓭.

I reach out and smack Mia's arm. "Look at this."

She tears her gaze away from her phone as I turn the book towards her. Her eyes shift from one side to the other as she reads the passage. When she's done she looks up with wide, gleeful eyes. "Is this what we've been looking for?"

I nod. "I think so."

I scoot my chair closer to hers and place the book between us so we can read at the same time. I flip the page.

𝓘𝓴𝓹𝓲𝓰𝓲𝓳𝓪𝓾𝓳𝓾𝓽 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓾𝓽𝓸

𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮-𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵/𝓹𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰. 𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓪 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓬𝓾𝓼 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵/𝓹𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭/𝓸𝓻 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘𝓴𝓹𝓲𝓰𝓲𝓳𝓪𝓾𝓳𝓾𝓽 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓾𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷. 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓪 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷'𝓼 𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓼𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓪 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘'. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘'. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘' 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓯𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 - 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓼𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓮𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓸𝓻 𝓫𝓪𝓭. 𝓐𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘' 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓼𝓮 𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭/𝓸𝓻 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓫𝔂 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽. 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓬𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓱.

I look up from the passage.

"This sounds exactly like what's going on with Neo."

Mia nods, not tearing her gaze from the page.

I turn my attention back to it.

𝓘𝓴𝓹𝓲𝓰𝓲𝓳𝓪𝓾𝓳𝓾𝓽 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓾𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓸𝓸 𝓸𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓫𝓸𝓻 𝓷𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼. 𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘'.

A shudder ran through me.

Dispose of?

𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘'. 𝓝𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓬𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓷.

𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮.

𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘'.

A jolt goes through me.

No.

There, there has to be another way. I can't kill both of them.

I grip the edge of my seat.

𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓻𝓲𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘'. 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝔀𝓘' 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮, 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝔀𝓷𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓷.

My grip tightens. Where is it?

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓭𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓼 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓐𝔃𝓪𝓱𝓻𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝔁𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓼.

Something clutches my arm and digs into my skin. My hands start to go cold.

"That's it!" Mia exclaims.

I grin as she lets my arm go. "It is! We know how to help Neo and get rid of Niko now!"

Mia raises an eyebrow. "We know where to look for the spell that will help, but... do we even know where that is?"

My smile is instantly wiped off my face. My hopes plummet, landing in the bottom of a lake.

She's right.

I have no clue about this book, or if Madam Mara even had it.

I sigh and slump back in my chair.

Of course, right when everything starts to go good it all has to come to a halt with one barrier.

I rub my eyes with the heel of my hands. What are we going to do now? Why couldn't that wizard share the spell so I didn't have to go on a goose chase for it?

Mia's phone lets out a loud beep.

I take my hands away from my eyes to see her frowning down at her phone. "Have to go?" I ask.

She nods. "Sorry."

I give her a weak smile as she stands up and flings her bag onto her shoulder. "It's fine. It's not like we can do much."

She shrugs. A meek smile on her face. "I still would have liked to help you figure it out." She pushes her chair in before leaving with a wave.

I frown once she's out of sight and look back down at the page. Azahrs fixing spells. The name is familiar. Like I read it somewhere before. It's on the tip of my tongue. I know I've seen it before. Which means Madam Mara had it. So it's either at her house or mine.

But... something picks at the back of my mind. I've seen it recently. I know I have.

I sigh. I'll have to figure this out later. I have too much homework to do.

I stand up, grab the book and walk around until I find the librarian. She takes the book, wishes me a good day and then is off with it.

As I walk home I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched. But no matter how much I look around, I can't see anyone watching me. I keep my powers on the ready just in case though.

The magic dances across my hands like a cold fire. It licks the ends of my fingers for one second before jumping to the next.

When my magic first started I couldn't control it. So, until I had been able to stop it from starting on its own I had stayed home. I think Madam Mara had been frustrated, I wasn't able to control it for a while. Not for lack of trying.

I had tried my hardest to stop.

Slowly everyone who knew about my powers had started to notice a pattern. It would only act out when I was going through strong emotions. Which was a lot since my best friend had just died.

Madam Mara had started to get me to mediate which I hated, but slowly it helped. Now I control them while having strong emotions.

But times like this I always call just a little to the surface. Just because I'm in a smaller town doesn't mean it's safe.

"I'm home!" I call as I step through the door.

"In the kitchen making supper!" Mom calls.

I slip out of my shoes and make my way upstairs. "I'll be going through Madam Mara's books."

I hear her muffled response before I duck into my room and drop my bag at my desk.

As I look around at the books piled around my room it dawns on me. These aren't Madam Mara's books anymore, they're mine.

I smile at the same time my heartbreaks again at the reminder that she's gone.

Will the pain ever go away?

I sigh and turn to clear my desk off before freezing.

A book sits semi-open. When did I leave this here?

I flip it closed to reveal a maroon color cover with gold written on it. I read the cover a few times not believing what I'm seeing.

This can't be right.

It has to be a dream.

I pinch my arm.

Nope. Not a dream.

With a big grin on my face I fly into my chair, open Azahrs fixing spells and start looking for the spell that will save Neo and get rid of Niko.