Shaking his head, Alexander chuckled. “God, what a mess this is. And to think, all we wanted was to have things back the way they should’ve been. The way they’ve been for millennia. A powerful Oracle at our side, a brave Paladin, a crafty Mage. Now we have nothing.”

The night was warm, but I was nearly shivering now, wrapping my arms around myself. “Will you go after him?” I asked, and Alexander looked off into the distance. It was probably just my imagination, but I could swear his cheeks looked more hollow, the lines around his eyes deeper than they were when we started talking.

“There’s no point,” he said. “I won’t last long enough to find him, and whatever he did to blow through my wards seems to have drained the last bit of magic from me.”

He smiled that ghoulish smile. “So you see, Miss Price? I am just a sad old man now. You are just a pretty girl in a silly dress. Your friends are now simply your friends. Oh, you’ll all retain some powers for a while, but they’ll fade over time, and all will go back to the way it was.”

His smile turned fierce, almost a grimace. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

It had been. I’d spent all this time trying to make my life resemble what it had been before, trying to convince myself that I could balance it all. Paladin and SGA president, Oracle and boyfriend, family and duty. Now I had what I wanted, but as my chest ached and I thought of David, speeding off into the darkness, the cost seemed so high.

Placing his palms flat on his thighs, Alexander heaved himself to his feet, and I heard the creak of his knees. “I suppose this is my cue,” he said, and I stood up, too.

“Harper?” Bee called, and I held up a hand.

“So this is done?” I asked Alexander. “My powers will... go away, and Bee’s and Ryan’s will, too?”

“Oh, it’s very done,” he assured me. “For you, for your friends, for David, and most certainly for me.”

And with that, he fell to the ground, his eyes open.

Unseeing.

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“DO YOU HAVE David’s jump drive?”

I glanced up from my desk to see Chie standing in front of me, a sheaf of papers clutched to her middle. I hadn’t thought there was anyone in all of Pine Grove who looked as wretched as I did, but she was coming in at a close second. Her dark eyes were huge and bloodshot. Apparently she hadn’t been sleeping either.