“I always hated magic.” Audrey smiled. “But animals. That’s a different story. Althacazur gave them to me as a gift when I was a child. He’d heard I wanted a pony.” Audrey raised her eyebrows, suggesting it was a curious gift on his part. “These two are my pride and joy.” In a flash Audrey moved and with her hand out drove Marla back over Todd Sutton’s grave, radiating a power Lara wasn’t aware her mother possessed. Oddjob and Moneypenny each grabbed one of Marla’s arms, and Lara thought they just might rip her in two.

Lara scrambled up next to her mother and saw, for the first time, the remains of Todd Sutton in the shallow grave beneath her. He’d been buried like a pet. Anger welled up, and she turned to Marla. “Enough, Esmé. I’ve grown so bored by your antics. And I hate to be bored.”

Marla looked at her with fury, for she knew the source of Lara’s help. The words that she’d just spoken hadn’t come from Lara or Cecile. Lara placed both hands on Marla’s face. “I’m sorry, I take no joy in this.” These were the last words from Lara before Althacazur fed her the incantation she needed.

Incante delibre

Vos femante del tontier

“My daughter. I was wrong, but now it’s time you came home.” Lara pressed her forehead to Marla’s. As she connected with Marla, she felt Cecile pulling out of her body and fusing with her sister.

“No. No. Father. Noooooo,” Marla screamed just as a lawn mower powered up across the street, drowning out her cries.

Audrey had loosened Ben’s wrists, and now he was removing the electrical tape from his mouth. His face registered horror as his former wife stood there with a pitchfork through her chest. She began to deflate like a pool float at the end of summer, nearly folding over. As she did, Lara felt her strength increase and then she began to choke, doubling over gagging and coughing. Cecile had left her. The two sisters—were gone.

It is finished. Lara said the words that she knew came from Althacazur. While he had not been permitted to interfere directly, through Lara he’d placed his hand on the scales and had tipped them in their favor.

And yet, it wasn’t finished, not by far.

Standing there, under the giant twisted oak tree at the top of Cabot Farms, Lara watched as Ben shoveled the final dirt over the graves, patting it down. This was a part of the farm where no one ever ventured, but to be safe, they’d purchased sod to blend in with the existing grass as much as possible.