Clearly used to running meetings, Vivian began taking notes. “With the combined support of the coven and the enclave, the dewar can reinstate the Arizona lines with the energy from the shrinking ever-after.”

Al lolled his head to the ceiling. “Lie ... ,” he drawled, and Vivian bristled.

“It is not.”

Al’s head dropped, and he found her eyes. “You wish.”

“I agree,” Professor Anders said, the sureness in her voice garnered from decades of arguing with know-it-all peers. “The Arizona lines are dead. You can’t reinstate them. Once gone, they’re gone. It’s impossible to reverse a physical reaction like this; therefore, you can’t reinstate lines. I don’t care how big a collective, dewar, enclave, coven, or energy source you have.”

Al’s attention slowly slid to her, taking in her stark lines, her pigheaded confidence, and her utter refusal to be afraid of him. My eyes narrowed as he stuck a finger into her aura.

“It would be far safer to find a way to shove the undead souls back into the ever-after,” the woman finished, shooting a withering look at Al.

“The ever-after is a hell,” Ivy spoke up, her voice ragged almost.

“It wasn’t when we made it,” Al grumbled.

Professor Anders laced her hands before her as if there was nothing more to be said. “I’m sorry, Ms. Tamwood, but your kin is cursed. If it’s a choice between them or us living in hell, I pick them.”

Jenks’s wings clattered as Ivy’s eyes slowly blossomed into black. “What did my mother do to deserve to be cursed?” she said. “What did I do? How many generations need to suffer for one man frightened of death!”

Al shrugged, nonchalantly signaling Mark to make him another coffee. “You could always end the curse by letting them die. It’s what they want to do, apparently.”

Jenks’s wings drooped. “And the world goes with them.”

“So what do we do?” I said, keeping a tight watch on Ivy. “We can’t allow an end to the ever-after, even to prevent the undead souls from killing their, ah, own. I can’t live in a world with no magic.”

David tapped the table with a thick knuckle. His hands were looking rougher these days, and I wondered if he was embracing his wilder side more. “Yes, I don’t get that part. Why would Landon want an end to magic?”

Wincing, Trent rubbed his forehead. “Because elven magic isn’t entirely dependent upon ley lines. We have an open forum through prayer and might be the only major magic users left if the lines go.”

Might. He said might. As in demons might be able to use elf magic as well? Or might as in elves might not have magic either? The distinction was important.

“What about Weres?” David asked, understandably concerned.