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  Adam frowned, trying to decide if he believed her or not. She had joined them, so that in its own right made her untrustworthy, but on the other hand she had always been loyal to Lila, who was someone who would suffer immensely if the truth came out. He just couldn't imagine someone changing from surrogate mother to manipulative murderer in the two months since he had last seen her. It was possible, though – he had no idea what interactions or arguments Gloria and Lila had been involved in since then. He made a vow to be less self-involved when he got out of here. If. If he got out of here.

  “I hope you know that if you've turned your back on Lila, I'm personally going to be the one to kill you.” Adam folded his arms, eyes ablaze with barely concealed fury and protectiveness. For the most part, Adam was a kitten beneath his steely exterior, but in this case, he was deadly serious. Lila was the girl who had saved his little sister's life; it was a debt he'd repay with his own if necessary. It was why he'd voted for Lila as the supreme head of their super coven. Theirs was an unusual situation, and each was still leader of their own coven, but Lila was the glue which kept the other four personalities in check; it was unlikely they would have become friends without her, and that was exactly what they wanted to promote going forward.

  “It's too bad you like Sadie. You'd be the kind of guy I'd approve of Lila dating.” Gloria chuckled slightly, the sound forced and as fake as their surroundings, tied up with her own guilt over what she was doing to his physical body while she kept his mind safe and sound in this little bubble.

  “Don't worry about your powers, Adam. I'm relaxing the wards on you right now. They won't be able to tell. I can't break them without them noticing. They're watching me and monitoring you, but with enough strength of will – which I'm fairly certain you have – you can break free of them yourself. Just make it count.” she promised, and Adam tested it mentally. It was a marginally better situation, but he still felt trapped, caged like a wild beast inside his own skin, pacing and swiping fruitlessly at thick concrete walls.

  “Lila and I wouldn't work out. I think of her as a sister.” Adam answered, unsure of why he had bothered to mention it. It was hardly the most pressing issue at hand. His mind was in denial, however, so the more normal the topic was that they discussed, the easier it was to convince himself that it was summer and that he was safe, his friends somewhere off in their respective homes relaxing with cold drinks and refreshing dips in the pool. He could easily stay here forever, if it were an option – it was definitely preferable to what was waiting out in the real world. He wasn't in a hurry to return to a place where his his next meal would probably be of the knuckle sandwich variety.

  As ever, it seemed, the Universe had other plans which didn't involve allowing him to live in a dream world.

  “We don't have long left, Adam.” Gloria interrupted his thoughts, and he felt a panicked jolt pass through him; It seemed that he couldn't even remain for a little while. He was going to book himself a long holiday in the wilds of Australia as soon as they survived whatever fresh disaster they found themselves in. Honestly, whoever kept leaving the fate of the world in their hands seemed to forget that most of them hadn't even been able to vote for very long, never mind take on the responsibility of five covens and a dramatic increase in dangerous situations.

  Adam was pulled out of his thoughts yet again by the soft prompting of Gloria's voice, who had grown more urgent at his lack of attention.

  “I'm sorry, this is going to hurt. A lot.” she frowned apologetically before raising her hands to either side of his head once more, the visual working as well as her magick to jolt him out of it.

  *

  He screamed before he realised he was awake, the pain intense and all-consuming. Gloria had warned him, but it had been no preparation for the sensation of his skull being fractured into tiny little pieces, as though it were being crushed. As his world began to blacken and he fell on to his side on the floor, he heard the sounds of the men yelling at Gloria for being careless, fading as though someone were tuning an old television in and out. He felt the warmth of Sadie's lap against his cheek, and to his hazy mind, there had never been a softer pillow in all of existence. Blackness covered him like a blanket, and the residual pain was gone, at least for a short while.

  Chapter Six

  Lila was officially sick of being in cars. She felt guilty for complaining, but they were stuffy and cramped, and she far preferred the bed of Liam's truck despite the constant feeling that she was going to be thrown from it. It didn't help that she was officially banned from driving thanks to her 'epilepsy' (one spirit episode had landed her in hospital, the only explanation they could find was that she was suffering from epileptic fits), so she had to rely on everyone else driving her around. She constantly felt like a freeloader, and it didn't help her mood whenever she had to go somewhere which made public transport troublesome.

  The drive to the restaurant seemed to take forever, and by the time they got there, Lila looked as though she were sulking. With her small stature, the others clearly thought of taunts, but no one voiced them. It just wouldn't be right, not when Adam and Sadie were badly beaten somewhere and possibly dead. Death seemed to follow them everywhere, and Lila couldn't help but wonder if she were the one responsible following her many jaunts into the spirit world. What had she brought back with her? How many coma patients were now inhabited by the spirits they had failed to return into the void? It was impossible to tell, and entirely likely that they would be chasing the ghosts back into the spirit realm for the rest of their natural lives.

  It was easy to fall into the blame game, to feel the burden of every death on their shoulders, but this wouldn't help them in their task, and Lila was determined to exude strength, to show the leadership the others had entrusted her with.

  As soon as the car stopped, Lila jumped out of the passenger seat and clapped her hands, the others surrounding her in a semi-circle almost as though this were a practised routine and not an impromptu powwow brought on by the insecurities of an unsure leader.

  “Okay, so, we could be walking into a trap here – it's not like they'd leave the phones on if they knew about them, so we have to hope they just didn't know. Otherwise, it's likely that they left them on to lure us into a trap. We're going to have to work the wards, but with the absence of wind and earth, we're going to be at half strength going up against hunters who likely have our own kin working against us. Be careful, and avoid running into anyone if you can.”

  It was simply common sense, but it was really all they could do at the present moment. Grace's face showed confusion as wards of water, fire and spirit were cast, covering her like a second skin. The short ritual was performed for each of them, and soon, they were ready to go, pumped and full of adrenaline,the heat of a remembered battle and victory fuelling them.

  Taking the lead again, Lila marched ahead and burst into the restaurant, her stance falling into a defensive crouch, eyes wary and fully expecting the worst to happen.

  Seemingly, it was all for naught. As soon as she burst into the restaurant, it became apparent that their assumption had been horribly wrong. All around her, diners stopped eating and stared at her in shock, clearly as surprised as she was at the situation. There was no way to delicately extract herself, so she simply stood up and brushed herself off as if she had just run far enough to become rumpled. Feigning deep panting breaths, she swept her eyes across the room and smiled faintly.

  “Should see the bees out there!” she insisted, cringing internally at her choice of words. It was the middle of January; there were no bees to be found anywhere. Predictably, in response, the restaurant patrons all gave her a quizzical look, one by one turning back to their food and tuning her out entirely, as though she were the new school pariah. Lila's face burned so hot it could have melted the snow outside. Behind her, her companions strolled in through the double doors. She cast them a glare, sure that they'd waited out her moment of embarrassment as soon as they'd realised her mistake.
r />   Liam snorted at her as he entered the restaurant, ruffling her hair so that she truly resembled a mad woman. Grace slung her arm around her friend's shoulders and offered a few words of consolation, though her grin showed she wasn't immune to how funny the situation had been. Lila barely concealed a groan, letting herself be pulled over to the bar where most of the staff seemed to be hovering. To her dismay, she was left to endure the worst torture a witch who was used to having most of life at the snap of her fingers could ever endure: waiting. It was bad enough at the best of times, but when there was something genuine at stake, she found it was exponentially worse with every passing second, ticked away on the themed clock behind the bar, both fork and knife shaped hands slowly closing together on the half hour. To pass the time, Lila sang in her head, the morbid childhood song, “Oranges and Lemons,” which advocated decapitation. Perhaps her experiences were changing her just a little.

  After explaining that their friends, who they were very worried about, may have left their belongings in the restaurant the night before, Lila noticed the way the manager's eyes flickered with recognition and knew that the belongings were there for reclamation. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the manager simply wouldn't give them over to anyone but Adam, Sadie, or a blood relative. Troy lost his temper and had to be held back by both Liam and Noah to prevent him from vaulting the bar and taking possession of the bags himself.

  Reluctantly, they trudged out of the building (earning yet more stares and whispers in the process), regrouping behind the far wall, furthest from any of the windows where they could be seen by anyone inside, to discuss their options. Lila knew that there was one way she could get the bags, but it filled her with nauseating anxiety. Still, what was her discomfort when it came to her friends lives?

  “If you could cause a distraction with the water pipe or something, Noah,” she made a point to ask Noah instead of Troy, to include him, hoping that Troy wouldn't assume she thought his boyfriend was more skilled than he was. The blonde was known for his insecurities. “- then I can travel through spirit to get to the bags, grab them and bring them back.”

  Of course, none of the others knew just how much the idea of taking a trip into the spirit realm made her panic inside, so they thought it was a great plan. Noah stepped up to the wall, placing his hands on it and closing his eyes. Troy, in a moment of quick thinking, threw up a thin wall of water, altering its properties so that it increased in reflective sheen, effectively making Noah 'invisible'. Lila smeared her sweating palms over her jeans, attempting to psych herself into what she was about to do.

  A loud crash inside signified a pipe bursting and an unusually high volume of water spilling out on to the floor of the kitchen. I hope the bags aren't in there, Lila thought, missing her cue to step into Spirit. Liam gave her a pointed look and she steeled herself for the trip she was about to take, as though she were about to plunge into icy water.

  As it was, this was a far more fitting description than she realised. For the first time possibly in her entire life, Spirit resisted her, making the act of crossing the border feel as though cold, clammy hands were grabbing at her as she passed through a gelatinous mass. It was easily the most unpleasant sensation she'd ever experienced, like the polar opposite to the gently burning healing magick Elsie had used on her wound two months prior. The irony in this comparison, of course, was that Elsie's hands were now as cold and clammy as the barrier, almost as though she were a foreshadowing of what she had just felt.

  Once she was through the barrier, Lila anxiously took in her surroundings, expecting to see spirits at every turn like she had done when she'd entered this realm to collect Rose. Rose. Suddenly, Lila found herself missing the teen's company. Having Grace here was wonderful, but the civilian girl had enough on her plate attempting to figure out the world she'd unexpectedly entered, and Lila couldn't exactly blame her for not knowing how to enter the conversations they had. Rose, on the other hand, had taken every round of danger in her stride, still having enough energy and sass to throw in amusing comments and getting everyone through things they assumed they simply couldn't endure. Rose may have been only thirteen (almost fourteen, as she would insist they pointed out) but she carried herself well and spoke so maturely that it was easy to forget this and assume she was their own age. If she had been here, Lila somehow knew this journey would have been far more manageable.

  Procrastination aside, she pushed forward, heading through the echoing and suddenly lonely street and into the equally deserted restaurant. Normally, she would have been able to see her living witch brethren at the very least, but today everything was obscured and sluggish, as though Spirit were waking up from a very long nap. She couldn't be sure of the damage last November had caused, or if it was so different because she was getting further away from Samhain, when the veil was thinnest.

  Wandering through the restaurant, she realised how potentially disastrous this was, since she could see nothing. Despite the danger, she stopped, pushing with her magick to damage the veil enough that it was less like a wall and more transparent, like slightly frosted glass, warped to form a bubble around two feet taller than she was, encasing her like a pressed flower. Lila had to be careful, since going too far in weakening the veil could make her appear as a ghost to the patrons who were slowly coming into view, their outlines shivering slightly as if they were more vapour than solid. It was enough. Lila didn't want to be both the 'bee girl' and the latest 'ghost' caught on camera.

  Situation remedied, she slipped behind the bar and headed into the staff area, avoiding the employees milling about. Walking through them would be an unpleasant experience for both parties involved. The sensation was often called walking over your grave, and it was more fitting than most civilians realised. Lila began to realise her mind was wandering, and pulled her focus back to herself, determined to keep her wits about her. Even when the veil wasn't thin, this was always a dangerous thing to do, and considering she was supposed to be particularly adept at it, she was doing a poor job. Her hands trembled, fingers twitching so badly that she curled her hands into fists.

  Eventually, she found the lost and found, glancing around to make sure no one else was present before stepping out of Spirit, taking in a gasp of air as she surfaced, shuddering at the cold, clammy sensation which remained with her, making her feel damp to her bones despite being completely dry. Lila pushed the door closed and locked it, making sure she wouldn't be disturbed.

  She rooted around in the box until she spotted a handbag which looked like Sadie's usual style, a small bird trinket dangling from the zip which resembled Sadie's new parakeet, her familiar. Grabbing the bag, she draped it over her shoulder before returning to the box and digging until she found a jacket she recognised. Patting at the pockets, she felt a solid mass and dug inside, pulling out Adam's phone. So they were here, for sure. It wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping for, since the phones obviously couldn't lead them to their owners. Still, it meant that they were at least retracing their friends steps, and that was the best they could do at the moment.

  Unlocking Adam's phone, she was relieved to find that he lacked a passcode (though she made a mental note to mention them all sharing access to calendars and such, in case anything like this ever happened again) and she could simply browse through his phone's contents. She scrolled through his texts, blushing a little at one or two, before she found their plans for dinner. They'd arrived around 8pm, and had never left, so they'd been taken sometime between 8pm and 11pm, which was when the restaurant closed. It was a small clue, but Lila felt a sense of pride anyway.

  Suddenly, the door knob rattled, an irritated shout sounding from the other side of the door. Lila grabbed the bags and phones, hurrying her back into Spirit. Concentrating hard, she placed just her hand back through the veil, unlocking the door and then retracting the limb quickly before it could be seen. A thoroughly soaked man threw open the door, looking around warily. It took him longer than most to simply concede that the door m
ust have gotten stuck, before he moved to the back of the room and pulled down a box which seemed to contain replacement uniforms, probably kept there for new staff. Before he could begin undressing (which Lila did not want to witness), she darted out of the room, almost colliding with a group of people. She backed up, and hurried through the nearest door to get out of the way.

  She had no idea where she was, but it didn't take her long to figure out. Several monitors surrounded her, all of them dark. Lila glanced down, noticing the water coating the floor like a second skin. She couldn't feel it, but it had obviously blown out the electrics. If she were actually in life, she would be in danger, but the veil would keep her safe from any currents through the water.

  Inspiration didn't take long to form; Lila glanced at the rows of DVD cases on one shelf, each one dated, two per day, marked 'daytime' and 'evening', obviously referring to the two shifts, where different people would be responsible for monitoring each session. She made her way across the floor, which was covered in papers, probably thrown from the desk in surprise as the monitors sparked out. Stepping on to a chair, she came to eye level with the newest DVDs, ignoring that mornings recording and focusing to reach beyond Spirit and take hold of the case next to the newest, the one for the evening prior, pulling it back with her.