That information tempered the group.

“Experiments?” Lina frowned. “Like the ones they did on the blue witches?”

“No, not exactly. She was trying to push the boundaries of their violet magic, see how far it could take them, dabbling in magic that is banned nowadays or forgotten to time.” Cole swallowed, color rising in his cheeks. “I think she’s the reason her coven is all gone.”

Bri grabbed the open wine bottle in front of her and began pouring everyone drinks. “How is she responsible?”

“She invented so many new spells,” Cole said, flipping through the journal and tracing his fingers along the letters and symbols. “Some incredible ones, though some didn’t work at all. She wanted to see if she could manifest other witch powers, make monsters, control witches’ minds, even become immortal.” He opened the book to a page scrawled with drawings of flowers and minuscule scribbling. The scratchings and splotches of ink made the text look frantically written, chaotic and disturbing.

As Cole turned the page, Bri’s eyes dropped to the smudged etching in the corner: a lion with tusks and horns. “Gods,” she breathed. “Did she create that beast in the woods?”

Neelo’s eyes narrowed at the drawing and then back to their own book. “You’ve encountered a beast like that?”

“After we visited the witch hunters, a horde of golden-masked soldiers appeared, along with this creature.” She leaned across the table and tapped the image.

“Shit,” Bern muttered. His expression darkened, a far-off look on his face, and Bri wondered where he had gone in his mind. “That is ancient, dark magic. The same sort of power that forged the Immortal Blade and the rest of the witches’ talismans. There’s a reason the modern witches wanted it left in the past.”

“There must be other accounts of her magic back in the Eastern Court,” Lina mused. “Maybe she wrote a whole book of spells. If this information is in Augustus Norwood’s hands, perhaps he can resurrect her magic without her.”

“He’d still need a violet witch, wouldn’t he?” Bern rubbed his hand along his stubbled jaw.

Bri folded her arms. “Maybe the Witches’ Glass is enough of a magical conduit to use on other types of witches?”

“Was she successful in her other experiments?” Carys asked Cole.

“Mostly no,” he said. “There’s lots of journal entries about her anger toward the High Priestess for not letting her continue with certain experiments. ‘It was only a few girls that died,’ ” he read, raising his eyebrows at them. “ ‘Think what we could become. We could be the most powerful coven in all of Okrith if Baba wasn’t so scared.’ ”

“That still doesn’t explain why you think she’s the reason they’re all gone,” Neelo said, dipping their flatbread into a thick red sauce while keeping their eyes on the book in their hands.