Emily ignored him. She kept her eyes on Aunt Anastacia. “I suppose you know how to destroy the spell that’s binding the town?”
“Not yet,” her aunt replied.
“So you’re not even ready for that plan?” Michael screeched, incredibly angry now. “And you want us to go ahead with it?”
Aunt Anastacia ignored him, too. “I have a few ideas. I’m positive if we put our heads together, we can find the nexus of that spell and destroy it.”
“Nexus?” Emily questioned.
“Yeah,” she replied. “The spell is obviously not linked to the Alfred kids; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to break the barrier, since they expended too much energy sustaining the spell. It can’t be the Alfred seniors, either, since they’re currently out of the game. So it’s a physical structure somewhere in the town.” Aunt Anastacia brought her fingers to her chin in contemplation. “Something of significance and power. Significant to the entire town’s political or material power. Something symbolic.”
“Or someone?” asked Emily.
Aunt Anastacia froze. She thought about it carefully before she nodded. “Or someone. Someone very influential, symbolic, and powerful.”
Emily remembered Joanna telling her that her parents were cozying up to the Alfreds. Could the Alfreds have used them to spell the whole town? Joanna’s parents were very rich and influential. They were the ones who prevented the government from interfering with New Haven’s jungle-justice-style vigilantes.
They had so much power that they, for all intents and purposes, ran the whole town. Although they rarely got involved in local politics, their words carried more weight than all the citizens of the town put together.
Emily was certain that if they could find Joanna’s parents, they could find the nexus.
“Do you have someone in mind?” asked Aunt Anastacia.
Emily nodded. “The Russos.”
Michael gasped, shifting his eyes to Emily.
Dad nodded. “That could work. They fit the profile.”
Aunt Anastacia looked suspicious. “Are you saying that so that we can go rescue Joanna and Rina?”
Emily chuckled. “I think you’ve misjudged the situation, Aunty,” Emily said. “We’re going after my friends first. I’m just saying that your plan to destroy the spell over the town will naturally come in second.”
Aunt Anastacia flared with anger. “You damn little girl!”
Emily’s anger was already stoked. She remained calm, however, and allowed a smile to tug her lips apart. “This is the plan, Aunt. We go save our friends, and then we go after the nexus. I doubt if Joanna’s parents are cooped up in their house. We’ll need Joanna if we’re going to cast a locator spell.”
“I don’t need Joanna,” snarled her aunt. “I just need something that’s linked to them. And I have something.” Aunt Anastacia pulled out some strings of hair from the folds in her robe.
Emily looked askance at her. “You’ve been busy, Aunty.”
“Let’s just say I thought ahead before you got here,” Anastacia replied. “It’s a mix of their hair. I can use it to track them.”
Michael folded his arms across his chest. “That doesn’t change anything. We still need to find Joanna and Rina first. The nexus can wait.”
“Can it?” Aunt Anastacia barked. “You think the Alfreds—all of them—will sit idly by after we’ve stolen their prisoners? They’ll come after us with all their strength, and I don’t think my magic can keep this place hidden for too long. Especially if the—” She shut up at that moment, true fear exploding in her eyes.
Emily had a feeling she had wanted to say ‘The Man.’
“The what, Aunt?” Michael inquired.
Aunt Anastacia didn’t reply. She sucked in a breath and said, “We need to destroy the nexus. Now.”
“Why haven’t you located them?” asked Michael. “If you have all you need, why haven’t you already done it?”
Aunt Anastacia said, “I want The Owl to do it.” She gesticulated to Emily. “It’s one of your powers. You can track this hair using your Owl magic.”
“I’m not a bloodhound or a wolf, Aunt,” Emily scoffed. “Use your tracking spell.”
“She can’t track Joanna’s parents with the hair she got from the house,” Michael said. “The whole house must have been sterilized. And everything within it.” Michael chuckled.
“What does that mean?” Dad asked.
“It means nothing in the house can be used to track the inhabitants,” Michael said. “That’s what she planned to do when she stayed behind at the cottage. She sterilized the house and made us virtually untraceable.”
“But the scent on the hair can lead you to them,” Aunt Anastacia said to Emily. “We need to take down the nexus. After that, I promise we’ll get your friends. They’re still alive and well.”
“Aunt, you promised me that, after we got out of the cottage, we were going to save my friends,” Emily said. “Now you want us to destroy the nexus first? How do I know you’ll keep to your word?”
Aunt Anastacia looked up in annoyance. “Technically, what I said was we’ll rescue your friends and then go through the Adoption. You don’t see me pushing for the Adoption, do you?”
No one replied.
“Good, now track them.” Aunt Anastacia folded her arms.
Emily frowned. “No. We’re going after my friends. The nexus comes after. I’m siding with my brother on this.” Emily’s tone was hard, and she gritted her teeth.
Michael harrumphed. “She’s siding with me.”
Aunt Anastacia glared at both teenagers. She was about to open her mouth when Dad spoke.
“It’s our best play,” Dad confirmed. “Unless you want to find yourself another Owl and warlock. Or you want them to walk into a trap themselves.”
Aunt Anastacia turned to Dad. “You support them on this?”
Dad shrugged. “Do I have a choice? If they both agree on this, then we have to help them.”
Aunt Anastacia sighed and slumped into her seat. “Okay.” To Michael, she said, “I suppose you have a plan?”
Michael didn’t waste any time. He walked up to the TV screen, grabbing a remote control from the table as he went. He clicked the button, and the screen changed to another view, where the floor plan was different and the number read -2.
“Even though we have enough firepower to level the castle,
