ZANDERI stared at the screen for a long time before my fingers finally moved.Everything in me felt confused and shaken, but I knew I had to talk to her. I needed to understand this. I needed to see her.So I typed, “We need to meet. I need more explanation.”My heart was beating fast as I pressed send. I had so many questions running through my head. If Isla was right, and Derek really was the one behind everything, the leader behind the organization named the Circle, then my world had just turned upside down.The phone beeped with her reply almost immediately.“Where?” she asked.I didn’t even hesitate. The image of Priestess Tanya’s cottage hidden deep in the woods came to my mind like a flash.It was the only place I could think of that was completely safe. A place where no one could get to us unless she allowed them in.Vivian had done a powerful spell on that place to protect it. I remember standing with her while she whispered the incantations, her voice firm and her hands gl
ZANDERI could still hear Isla’s words in my head and also the name written in her text. The one I never expected to see.Derek.It was written clearly in Isla’s message. Just one word. But that one word shattered everything I thought I knew.Derek? How was that even possible?My thoughts were messy and I tried to breathe slowly, but my chest was tight. I felt like none of this could be real. I wished someone would wake me up and tell me I was dreaming.I didn’t even remember that Vivian was standing beside me until she spoke again. Her voice was quiet, but shaky.“Zander… did she tell you who it is?” She asked me while holding my phone.I nodded slowly although my mind was still far away. I couldn’t speak yet. I didn’t even know what to say and I didn’t know where to begin.All I could think about was how everything suddenly made less sense and more sense at the same time.I heard Vivian gasp softly. I turned my head just enough to see her face and saw that her mouth was slightly ope
ZANDERMy hands were sweating as I stared at my phone for a few more seconds before I typed the words slowly, like I was scared of what her answer might be.Who is it?That was all I wrote in the text. My fingers hesitated before I hit send. I read the message over again. Then I pressed it.Now I just had to wait.But my heart was racing. It felt like it was beating louder than my own thoughts. So I swallowed hard and ran my hand through my hair.This wasn’t just another message. This one felt different. Bigger.She said she saw the leader of the Circle without his mask. For the first time in her life.And now she was telling me I wouldn’t believe who it was?That meant it was someone we knew. Someone close. Maybe someone who had fooled us all for years.I felt like my chest was tightening and the room suddenly felt smaller. I couldn’t stand still, so I walked to the other side of the table and stood with my back to them.Vivian’s voice came behind me. “Zander… what’s wrong?”I turne
ZANDER I stood there with my hands on my hips, staring at the floor like it was supposed to give me some kind of answer.My thoughts were all over the place. No matter how I tried to stay calm, I couldn’t. Something didn’t feel right.Vivian said she tried the location spell herself but the result was the same.No sign of Isla.It made my chest feel tight. The kind of tight that made it hard to breathe. I tried to tell myself she was okay.I told myself that maybe she was just hiding. Maybe she knew what she was doing. But that didn’t stop my mind from racing.What if something happened to her?What if we were already too late?I ran a hand down my face and let out a slow breath. I didn’t want to panic, especially not in front of Vivian and Isla’s mom, but I felt like I was losing control.My thoughts kept jumping from one possibility to another. What if the Circle had her? What if she was hurt? What if she was gone?I hated not knowing. It was the worst part.I tried to come up with
VIVIAN I couldn’t sit still anymore.The longer I stared at that dark stone on the table, the heavier my chest felt. The spell didn’t lie. It was supposed to work. If Isla was safe and reachable, we would have seen something.Even just a glimpse. But there was nothing. Not a single glow. And that silence scared me more than anything else ever had.I pushed my chair back and stood up quickly.My legs moved on their own, pacing back and forth across the small room. I folded my arms across my chest, then let them drop to my sides, then folded them again.My head was full of too many thoughts and none of them brought peace.Could Isla really be hiding herself?Why now?What was she running from?Was she in pain?I rubbed my hands over my face. I needed to calm down, but I couldn’t. My gut was twisting too tightly. Something felt wrong. Deeply wrong.Then suddenly, the door burst open.I turned around because my heart jumped.Zander stormed in, his face was hard and full of anger. I’d nev
VIVIAN I looked at Isla’s mom closely as she said those words. “Because I can’t feel her anymore.”Something about the way she said it made my chest tighten just a little. But I shook the feeling off. I couldn’t let my emotions cloud my judgment. Not now.Not with someone like her sitting in front of me. She wasn’t the type of person I could give my full trust to.No matter how sad her voice sounded or how much pain showed in her eyes, I had to remember what she had done before.She sighed and looked down at the table between us. “I always used a location spell,” she said quietly. “It was my way of keeping track of Isla. Not to control her or anything. Just to make sure she was okay. That she was alive.”I didn’t speak. I just let her go on.“So that even if she runs away from the Circle, I could still find my way to her. I just needed to know she was breathing.” She paused, swallowing hard. “But now… now I can’t find her. The spell doesn’t show where she is anymore.”A small chill r