when a deafening roar echoed throughout the landscape, causing Hannah to shrink. Stormy’s body jerked as a bullet ripped into her shoulder, the momentum causing her to fall backwards, eyes wide. She didn’t hit the ground, though. Instead, she faded. That was the best word Hannah could think of to describe what she was seeing. Maybe dissolved was a better word, although neither seemed completely accurate. All Hannah knew was that the spot where Stormy should’ve landed was empty ... and the witch’s furious cry, which had been building to a crescendo, dissipated on the wind until it was nothing but a memory.

“Hannah.” Cooper was breathless when he landed at her side, his hands busy as they roamed her body checking for wounds. He was positively frantic.

“What happened?” Tyler asked as he appeared next to his friend, his gaze bouncing between faces. When he finally recognized Angel, he broke out into a huge grin. “You found her, Hannah. That’s great.”

Bettina sidestepped the animal wrangler when he moved in for a hug, deftly avoiding him.

“Um ... sorry about that,” Tyler offered awkwardly. “I was just so excited to see you. Look, Lindsey. She’s okay. You freaked out for no reason.”

For her part, the teenager didn’t look happy at the turn of events. “That’s not Angel.”

Hannah shifted her eyes to the young woman, who had obviously been crying. The gaze Lindsey reserved for the witch who looked like Angel was chilling. “How do you know that?”

Lindsey shrugged. “Her eyes are dead.”

“What’s going on?” Boone asked, leery. He hadn’t lowered his weapon. “Where did Stormy go?”

“That wasn’t Stormy,” Hannah replied, cupping Cooper’s face long enough to give him a quick kiss as a form of reassurance. “I’m okay. I didn’t realize why you were yelling. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.” Cooper sounded tortured. “I didn’t do anything. Boone was the one who—”

“Shh.” Hannah pressed her finger to his lips. “It’s okay. Everything is okay.” She gave him a firm hug, meeting Lindsey’s angry glare over his shoulder.

“Everything is not okay,” the teenager countered. “That’s not Angel.”

“It’s not,” Hannah agreed, running her hand over the back of Cooper’s head one more time before separating from him.

“I don’t understand,” Boone said blankly. “If that’s not Angel, who is it?”

“It is Angel,” Hannah offered. “Well, it’s her body I mean. She’s just ... sleeping.”

“Like the furies?” Cooper was horrified at the thought, his stance aggressive when he turned on the witch masquerading as a teenager. “Get out of her. Don’t hurt her.”

“I cannot acquiesce,” Bettina said. “I have no interest in hurting the girl, though. Once this is finished ... I will give her back. We’re not there yet, though.”

“Yeah, I definitely don’t understand that.” Tyler turned to Hannah for answers. “Do you want to explain?”

Hannah hesitated. Every muscle in her body ached and all she really wanted was to climb into bed and shut out the rest of the world. She didn’t have time for that luxury, though.

“It’s a very long story, and I’m not certain I understand everything yet myself,” she admitted. “Suffice it to say that my battle with the furies unlocked something. I guess that’s the best way to phrase it. Their arrival on this plane, and the subsequent battle, allowed the magic that was keeping Bettina and Amelia sealed away to erode.

“Amelia escaped first, as a shadow,” she continued. “She didn’t have her former body, so she needed a new one. She can only use an ancestor with a shared bloodline, and while her mother died without providing one, apparently her father liked to impregnate indentured servants and send them on their way.

“I thought that Amelia was in Astra, but obviously I was wrong,” she admitted, sending the white-haired witch a rueful smile. “Angel — er, Bettina — found me and explained everything. She swears she’ll give Angel back once we lock them back in their cage.”

“It’s more like a formless bed,” Bettina offered.

Cooper shot her a quelling look and then focused on Hannah. “Do you believe all this? It’s so fantastical.”

“More fantastical than the Seven Deadly Sins coming to kill us?”

“Fair point.”

She exhaled heavily. “I believe her. I don’t know what to do about it, but I believe her. She says she tried to get into me first. Those were the dreams I had. I locked her out, though.”

Cooper impulsively moved closer to her, scorching Bettina with a hateful glare as he positioned himself between the old witch and the new one who had stolen his heart. “You’re not getting inside of her. I just ... no.”

Bettina chuckled. “I’ve already taken my form. Your girlfriend is safe.”

“She’d better be.” Cooper’s eyes flashed with warning and then he moved his hand to Hannah’s back. “I still don’t know what any of this means.”

“I don’t either.” Hannah flicked her eyes to Astra, who had been oddly silent. “Did you know that Stormy was a descendent, too? I’m assuming you know about your lineage.”

Astra attempted a smirk ... and failed. “I had an inkling,” she admitted. “That’s why, when I found her out here yesterday, I was so upset. We argued and she fled. I came back looking for her when she didn’t show up for work today.”

“She said she spent the night out here,” Hannah supplied. “I don’t know what to believe. I didn’t realize she wasn’t herself until Boone shot her.”

“The host’s dark soul served as camouflage,” Bettina explained. “She made an enticing body to hide in. I should’ve realized. Ah, well, next time.”

“How do you know there will be a next time?” Boone queried.

“Because I can’t rest unless she rests.”

The group lapsed into silence, Hannah’s gaze resting on Lindsey, who kept shooting untrusting glares toward Bettina. She was about to ask where they found the girl when Astra took over the conversation.

“Does this mean the nexus can be tapped?” she asked. “If nobody is protecting it, then perhaps it’s open and waiting for someone to harness it.”

Cooper groaned. “Why am I not surprised that your mind immediately went there?”

“Shut up, lover,”

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