Page 58 of Spirit Storm

I let out a long breath. “Honestly, I don’t care. Violet’s been through enough. I told her she’d be safe here, and I’m not going to let anything bad happen to her. Well, anything worse than this.”

Asher grins. “So our rescue plans are still on?”

“Damn straight. Lily, go back to your room in case Briar or anyone comes with an update. And if anyone asks about us, lie and cover for us.”

“Got it. Oh, and take these…” She drops her backpack and pulls out the witch starter kit Mom made for her. Its contents are identical to the one she made for Violet and me, but each selection is tailored specifically to us. “Take my pendulum to find her.”

I pick up the silver chain and run my thumb over the spiral aquamarine crystal. Mine is black obsidian, and Violet’s is Labradorite.

“And this.” She hands me a shiny silver orb. “All of us were given a conduit to channel excess magic if we get overwhelmed.”

I frown. “Not that it worked.”

“You’re right. Violet burned right through hers.” Lily rushes over to the guy with the auburn hair. “Give me your conduit, Henry.”

“What? Why?”

“Because we’re going to save my sister.”

“What if I need it?”

“Stay with Aubrey until my sisters are back and use hers. Your numbers haven’t even started moving. You’ll be fine.”

It’s almost comical how Lily, at least five years his junior, totally dominates him to her own end. And a moment later, she sets a second conduit in my hand. “Maybe two will be enough.”

I slide the orbs into my jacket pocket and give Lily a hug. “Text me if you hear anything from Briar.”

She rolls her eyes. “As if. Find her, Poppy. Find her and save her.”

“Yeah. That’s the plan.”

With a scrying tool and two silver conduits in hand, I turn toward the mountain peaks in the distance. “Asher, get us as close as you can. We’re going to bring Violet home.”

The trees materialize around us, silver bark and luminescent moss that turns the air into something ambient and dreamlike. I nearly slam face first into a trunk the width of a car. "Nice one, Ash."

"You're welcome." He steadies himself on a root that pulses faintly with a blue-green light beneath the bark.

“You’re improving, angel man.” Mica studies our surroundings and blinks. “This place is crazy.”

It is. The forest around us is breathing. There's no other word for it. The canopy moves in long, slow exhales, bioluminescent spores drifting down through the dark in lazy spirals, each one trailing a thread of pale gold light before it dissolves against the moss.

Something the size of a housecat moves between two roots nearby, except it has six legs and a tail that glows a deep violet at the tip.

A cluster of sprites dart overhead, leaving short-lived trails of copper sparks that fade before I can track where they went.

It's extraordinary. But now is not the time.

I hold Lily’s pendulum out and let gravity and the weight of the crystal steady the chain. Easing up on my two-finger hold, I focus my will. “Find Violet.”

The string remains slack between my fingers, and I pour my intention into it.

Still nothing.

It's supposed to pull taut and angle toward Violet like a compass needle. But instead, it hangs limp, swaying without direction.

Panic sets in with a thunder of adrenaline. "Why isn't it working? What does that mean?"

Mica steps close and cups both hands around it without touching it. "It hasn't found a connection."