“I told you I’d find a way to get here,” he said, grinning. His gaze fell on the blades, and his smile faded. “Not a moment too soon, I guess.”

With his arm still around me, I turned back to the razors, which glittered ominously in the grass. A memory slowly surfaced within me. “I’ve seen those before,” I said, sounding much like Eddie had earlier.

Ms. Terwilliger exhaled a shaking breath. “It’s a nasty spell. Not one to be cast lightly.”

“I know,” I said softly. “I cast it once.”

Everyone turned to me in astonishment. “When?” she asked. “Where?”

“At your house . . . your old house, before it burned down,” I corrected. A thousand memories crushed down on me, and the world swayed a little as I suddenly made connection after connection. I’d thought I didn’t know anyone capable of using this kind of human magic—anyone who’d want to come after me, at least. I’d been wrong. I met my friends’ expectant gazes. “It’s the spell I used to kill Alicia,” I explained.

CHAPTER 7: ADRIAN

CHAPTER 7

ADRIAN

ALICIA DEGRAW WAS ALIVE.

It was shocking to me, so I could only imagine how Sydney must feel. She thought she’d killed Alicia. Alicia had been the apprentice of Jackie’s sister, Veronica, but had gone rogue. That was no small thing, seeing as Veronica herself was certainly no role model. She’d been obsessed with stealing youth and power from other witches, effectively leaving them in comas for the rest of their lives. Alicia had turned on her mentor, taken her power, and then gone after Jackie. Sydney and I had been involved in a showdown at Jackie’s house at the end of last year—a showdown that had resulted in said house burning to the ground. We hadn’t known for sure if Alicia had made it out, but now we had our answer.

“I’m kind of torn,” Sydney admitted, stirring the coffee she had yet to drink. We’d left the campground to go discuss matters in a twenty-four-hour restaurant, and it was a sign of her worry that the coffee was untouched. I was pretty sure I’d never seen her pass on caffeine in all our time together. “Part of me’s relieved I didn’t actually kill someone. On the other hand . . . well, this kind of complicates things.”

“You’re certain?” Jackie asked from across the table. “Those are the same ones?”

Sydney held up a golden razor blade, the only one she’d saved from the campsite. The rest had been destroyed. “Positive. You don’t forget something like that. That night I fought her, I transformed some perpetual-motion balls into blades just like these.”

“I remember those,” Jackie murmured, almost wistfully. “They were an end-of-the-year gift from a former student. I think he hoped I’d raise his grade.”