JOHNMy power spread from one plant to the next as it wove its way through the connected root system. Then, like a wave of death, the plants shriveled and fell, decayed and useless, to the earth in a spreading circle around me."No!"My father's scream echoed through the plastic enclosure."John!" Hunter's voice was a relief to hear. In my rush to grab the plants, I hadn't cared about the roar or what had pulled my Dad off me. Now, I could clearly see as I sat up, Mai, Hunter's panther-like demon growling over my father."Are you hurt?" Hunter knelt down in the dirt next to me, reaching to help me up.Shaking my head, I took stock of myself. Besides the dirt on my hands and clothes, and the relative trauma of physically fighting my dad, I was fine. I still had the power Poe had given me. Still could feel the essence of the plants I'd killed.In the skin of my hands, the dark designs appeared, the swirling patterns tracing their way up

JOHN  Breaking the surface of the water, I gasped for breath before pushing back my hair. The stone room was brighter than before. Brackets were added to the cave walls while we were gone, allowing more torches for light. And that wasn't the only change. The monks of the Temple had added more storage chests, another bench, and a rug. There was even a table and chairs. And yet, despite the attention to detail, it still felt off. Wrong.I felt wrong.Sinking into the water's embrace again, I concentrated on the way it drew the feeling of death from my body, the way it tried to leech the chill that had set into my bones. The night had been long, our escape from the camp nearly flawless, or so I overheard Benji tell Ezra.I was like I was disconnected from reality. I could remember parts of the last six hours. Hunter pulling me away from the greenhouse. Anissa fighting hand to hand with a witch I didn't recognize. Going through Benj

EZRA I stepped out onto the deserted street, looking both ways. Plowed snow had been pushed aside into small mountains on the edge of the sidewalks. Steam rose from manhole covers, a car rolled past at the end of the street. I'd never been to New York City before, and even with all my traveling between the worlds, I'd never seen a city like this. Vasco shifted his weight on my shoulder, and let out a soft caw. "It's alright," I said, reaching up to steady him. The crow-like demon had nearly doubled his size since I'd first found him weeks ago. Now, he was nearly the same as a full-grown raven. I hoped he didn't get too much larger, or carrying him around on my shoulder was going to be a problem in a number of different ways. "Settle." Taking a deep breath of the cold air, I focused on the last of my missing family, turned, and started walking. I'd wanted to do this weeks ago. I needed to have it done months ago. But things kept getting in the way. I turned a corner, pulling my jac