~Devon~

"Then let’s do it really good." Diana moved closer. "So he gets a whole week."

"Both of you need to work together on this one. Your powers are stronger when you combine them." Lila put the black bag between us. "Devon, you put the plants in. Diana, you tie the string. Then both of you push power at the same time."

I put in the shadow thorn first. It was prickly and mean-looking. Then the rot root which smelled like dead things. Then the black rock on top.

We both put our hands on the bag. It felt weird. I could feel Diana’s power mixing with mine. They twisted together like ropes. Got way stronger than when it was just me.

The bag started glowing. Not silver like the others. Purple. Dark purple that looked almost black.

"Almost there." Lila’s voice sounded far away. "Just a little more."

Diana squeezed my hand with her free one. We pushed together. One more big push.

The bag flashed so bright I had to close my eyes. Then it went dark. Just stopped glowing completely.

"Did we break it?" I opened my eyes. The bag looked normal now. Just black cloth.

"No. You did it perfect." Lila picked up the bag careful. "This is exactly what Killian needs. The curse is going to hate this. But it’ll keep him alive."

"It doesn’t look special." Diana frowned. "The other ones still glow a little. This one’s just black."

"That’s because it’s working already. Drinking up shadow magic in the room." Lila wrapped it in cloth. "This one I’ll hold onto until tomorrow. It’s too strong for you kids to carry around."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it’ll start pulling at any shadow magic near it. Including the tiny bit that lives in all wolves naturally. You’d get sick carrying this around." Lila put it in her bag. "Trust me."

"Okay." I looked at the white bag I’d made for Dad. Still sitting on the floor. "Can I give Dad his now?"

"Not yet. Tomorrow morning before we leave. Same with your mom’s." Lila started packing up the leftover plants. "These sachets are fresh. They work best within twenty-four hours of being made. Give them too early and they’ll lose power."

"That’s dumb." Diana picked up her bag for Mom. "Why can’t magic just stay strong?"

"Because magic is energy. Energy fades. That’s how it works." Lila stood up. Swung her bag over her shoulder. "Rest now. Making three sachets in one sitting is a lot. You both probably feel tired."

She was right. I was tired. My arms felt heavy. My chest felt empty where the power usually sat. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Will our power come back?" I asked.

"By tonight, yeah. You’re young. You recover fast." Lila headed for the door. "Stay in your room. Don’t wander around. I’ll come get you tomorrow morning."

She left.

Diana looked at me. "I’m bored."

"We’re supposed to rest."

"Resting is boring. Let’s go exploring."

"Lila said stay in our room."

"Since when do we listen to Lila?" Diana was already at the door. "Come on. I wanna see Dad’s study. Look at the maps. See where they’re going tomorrow."

"That’s probably secret stuff."

"That’s why it’s interesting." Diana peeked out the door. "Guards aren’t watching. Let’s go."

I grabbed the two sachets we’d made. Stuffed them in my pockets. Followed my sister out.

We snuck down the hallway. Past the guards who were talking to each other. Down the stairs. Through the big entrance hall that was empty.

"Where exactly is Dad’s study?" I whispered.

"Third floor. West wing. I’ve been there before when Dad was working." Diana took the stairs fast. "Keep up."

We made it to Dad’s study. The door was closed but not locked.

Diana pushed it open. We slipped inside.

The room smelled like Dad.

"Look at all this stuff." Diana went straight to the desk. Started looking at papers. "These are battle plans. See? Three teams. Three routes."

I looked over her shoulder. The map had a big red circle on it. Arrows showing where everyone would go. Notes in Dad’s messy handwriting.

"They’re splitting up into groups." I traced the arrows. "Mom and Dad are in this one. The one going straight for Black Moon."

"That’s the scary one." Diana’s voice got quiet. "They could get really hurt."

We stared at the map. Both thinking the same scary thoughts.

"Hey, look at this." Diana moved to a different part of the desk. Picked up a picture frame that was face-down. "Why would Dad hide a picture?"

I moved closer. It was Mom and Dad. Way younger. Maybe in their twenties.

Mom was wearing a fancy white dress. Flowers in her hair. Smiling huge.

Dad was in a suit. Holding her hand. Looking at her like she was magic.

"That’s their wedding." I said. "From before everything got bad."

"They look so happy." Diana touched the glass. "When did they stop looking like that?"

"I don’t know. Before we were born probably."

"That sucks."

"Yeah."

Diana picked up the frame. "We should give this to Mom. Maybe she needs to remember what it was like when they were happy."

"Or it’ll just make her sad."

"She’s already sad. At least this is something real to be sad about." Diana tucked the frame under her arm. "Come on. Let’s find her."

We snuck back out. Down more hallways. Up different stairs.

Found Mom in her room. Just sitting on her bed. Staring at the wall.

"Mom?" Diana knocked even though the door was open. "Can we come in?"

Mom looked up. "Hey babies. What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be resting."

"We were bored." I walked in. "We found something. In Dad’s study."

"You were in your father’s study?" Mom’s face went strict. "You know that room’s off-limits."

"We know. But we found this." Diana held out the picture. "We thought you’d want it."

Mom took it. Looked at the photo. Her whole face changed. Got soft and hurt at the same time.

"Where was this?" Her voice came out weird. Shaky.

"On Dad’s desk. Face-down under some papers." Diana sat next to her on the bed. "That’s you and Dad at your wedding, right?"

"Yeah. That’s us." Mom kept staring. "So young. So dumb. We never thought marriage would turn out this way."

"You look really pretty." I sat on her other side. "And Dad looks really happy."

"He was happy. We both were. For a little while." Mom touched Dad’s face in the photo with her finger. "Before I left." She stopped talking.

The door opened. Dad walked in. Stopped when he saw us all on the bed.

"Hey. What’s going on in here?" He looked at the photo on the table. His face did something complicated. "Where did that come from?"

"We found it." Diana said. "In your study. Under papers."

"You two need to stop sneaking into my study." Dad didn’t sound that mad though. Just tired. "That room’s private."

"Sorry." I said. "We were just looking at the maps. Wanted to see where you’re going tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Dad’s voice went heavy. He looked at Mom. "Can we talk? Just for a minute?"

"Kids, go to your room." Mom said. "We’ll come check on you later."

"We want to hear what dad has to say." Diana started.

"Room. Now. Please." Mom used her serious voice.

We got up. Headed for the door. But I looked back and saw Dad sit down next to Mom. Saw him pick up the wedding photo. Saw his face get sad.

Mom didn’t say anything. Just sat there looking at her hands.

"Sam. Please. Talk to me."

Mom still didn’t answer.

We left before we could hear more