CHAPTER SIX

Nora

The woods are eerily quiet, even for this time of year. Crouched behind a pine, I survey the hill and the road below it.

"Well?" Davis Stills looks over my shoulder. "I say we go for it."

I frown. Something is off.

Sara's house is on a quaint street, a little less than a mile from town. You can see a few other homes from it, but mostly the area is woods. Just like everything else in this little pocket of Maine.

Her brick home sits surrounded by a picket fence, the drive and the walkway are unshoveled, and there are no prints in the snow.

So, what does that mean?

Either she left before the snow fell last night, or she's still in there.

The Hawthorn teachers and I have been watching the house for the last twenty minutes, looking for any signs of movement. So far, there’s been nothing.

Our attempt to gather any more surviving teachers and amass the Guild is off to a rocky start. We need to take Hawthorn back and rescue anyone left in there, but that’s hard to do with a ragtag team of a handful of teachers.

And we don’t even have Lee Vassily with us. He’s back at my place, still recovering from the attack.

"Let's wait a few minutes," Marybelle suggests. "See if anything happens."

Pulling out my phone, I send Geoff Starsky a text. Wait for my go ahead. Things feel off.

The phone buzzes with his response. I won't argue with that.

I tuck the phone in my back pocket, a frown pulling at my lips. Amassing a team to take back Hawthorn has been even harder than I anticipated. Though a handful of Guild members have signed on for the challenge, we haven't been able to get a hold of any staff from Hawthorn. The only ones at my side are the ones who showed up at my doorstep right after the school was attacked.

Which isn't good at all.

Thinking about everyone else makes my heart ache. I taught at the school for decades, and that means some of my closest friends work there.

Did I make the wrong choice staying away? Maybe if I'd been working at Hawthorn when the attack happened, I could have done something. Prevented it somehow.

I know that's wishful thinking and not realistic in the slightest. If no one else saw the attack coming, why would I?

It's impossible to not torment myself, though.

I did what I felt was right. I kept my distance from Winter in order to avoid drawing attention to her. Nothing was more important than keeping my niece safe.

And now I don't even know where she is. All of my efforts could be for nothing.

Checking a sigh, I straighten up. "Davis, you come with me. Marybelle, you and Geoff keep watch. Let him know we're going in."

Marybelle nods, and Davis and I skirt along the trees, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. When Sara didn't answer her phone, I suspected something might be up.

My thought is that she's in hiding. Since she doesn't board at Hawthorn, she wouldn't have been there when the attack happened. I also happened to know she didn't go to the social event that night that the other teachers attended, since we spoke that evening, and she told me she planned on staying in and catching up on some housework.

At the front door, I knock. Davis goes to the side of the house and peeks around, looking for anyone who might be trying to sneak up on us. You can never be too careful, especially with what's happening now.

There's no answer, so I try the door. It opens easily, making my heart go cold.

"That's not a good sign," Davis murmurs over my shoulder.

I step into the house, wand raised. Davis, a werewolf, growls behind me. I can nearly feel the energy prickling off him. He's ready to shift at a moment's notice.

We walk through the living room and into the kitchen, and the sight there stops us in our tracks.

Bodies. Four of them total.

Three are Silver Hunters, and the fourth ... is Sara Khalek.

A gasp flies from my lips, and Davis shifts into his wolf form.

"Sara." I rush to her side and feel her cheek. She's cold. She's been dead for many hours, maybe for days.

Davis sniffs one of the bodies, his wolf lips curling back. "She put up a good fight." His bass werewolf voice echoes in the small room.

I close my eyes against the tears. "Are there any others in here?"

Davis sniffs the air. "Two bodies in the bedroom."

Emotion bubbles up my chest, and I let out a cry. Sara was a powerful banshee, and of course, she gave it her all. She would rather die than be taken captive by Silver Hunters.

Wiping away my tears, I stand.

"We'll take care of this, Nora," Davis says. "We'll make them pay."

I believe him. Davis has always been fiercely protective of his pack and those he cares about. He'll do anything to avenge Sara's death.

My shoulders shake as I inhale. "Call the others. Let them know," I say.

Davis nods and shifts back into his human form. He pulls out his phone and dials Geoff while I step outside. The fresh air is a shock to my system, and I take deep breaths to steady myself.

I don't want to wait any longer to make a move on Hawthorn. Can we realistically attack now, though? The Guild will be meeting at my house this afternoon, and there aren't even twenty of us.

We're all strong, but are we strong enough?

Geoff comes out of the house, still in his human form. "I told them. Let's get back to the car."

As we walk down the driveway, I see Marybelle and Geoff waiting at the end of it. Marybelle's face is ashen, and I can tell she's seen too many dead bodies in her lifetime. Geoff's expression is grim and determined.

"I'm sorry, Nora," he says. "I know you two were close."

It takes all my strength to not break down. "Thank you."

A rustling in the trees behind me makes me reach for my wand again. What happens next is so fast I can barely compute it.

There's a flash in the trees and then blue magic zips through the air. Davis roars as he shifts, and Silver Hunters appear from all angles.

My heart races as I dodge a blast of magic, my wand ready to defend myself. I send a bolt of red magic towards the closest hunter, knocking them off their feet. Marybelle and Geoff are by my side in seconds, wands drawn and ready.

The hunters are well trained, but so are we. Marybelle deflects an attack aimed at me, and I retaliate with a burst of green magic. The hunter falls to the ground, writhing in pain.

The fight is brutal and fast-paced. Davis, now in his werewolf form, tears through the hunters with his razor-sharp teeth and claws. Blood sprays as bodies hit the ground.

I focus on the ones that are coming at me, sending jets of flame and ice at them. They dodge and weave, but I'm fast and nimble, and I manage to take them down one by one. Marybelle is fighting with fierce intensity, and I catch a glimpse of her summoning a swarm of bees to attack her enemies.

Geoff is holding his own too. He's using his magic to create illusions, making the Silver Hunters see things that aren't there. It's a clever tactic, and it buys us some time. But we can't keep this up forever. I just pray we can escape before their reinforcements arrive.

The air is thick with the scent of blood and violence, and I feel a surge of fear and anger. We're outnumbered, but we're not going down without a fight.

I feel a sharp pain in my side, and my hand goes to the wound. Blood seeps through my fingers, and I know I've been hit.

"Nora!" Marybelle cries, dodging an attack and running towards me.

"I'm okay," I grit out, though the pain is terrible. I try to stand, and my legs buckle beneath me.

But I'm not done yet. I take a deep breath and send a blast of white magic towards the remaining hunters. They're thrown back, and the forest is silent.

The Silver Hunters are dead or gone, and we're still alive.

I look at my companions, and we all share a moment of relief.

Davis pads over to me, his fur coated in blood. "Are you okay?" he asks, concern etched on his face.

I nod, still in shock from the fight. "We need to move," I say, gesturing to the bodies.

The four of us drag the hunters' bodies into the woods, my side screaming in pain the whole time.

"I got it." Marybelle says, raising her wand and casting two spells—the first to make the bodies rapidly decompose, and the second to wipe the memories of any neighbors who just saw what happened.

I want to go back inside for Sara's body, but I know that's foolish. There isn't time. There are probably more Silver Hunters on their way here now. They're like an infestation on the earth. You can take some out, but more always arrive.

We hurry to the car, parked down the street. As we climb into it, I can feel the weight of Sara's death heavy on my shoulders. I glance at Davis, who is driving. His jaw is set, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. He's thinking the same thing I am: we need to find Winter.

"She's out there somewhere," he says, as if reading my mind. "We'll find her."

I nod, grateful for his words. But deep down, I'm worried. Winter is the key to all of this. If we can get her, we might be able to stop the Silver Hunters once and for all. But if they have her ...

Then we're done for good.