Chapter 49

I felt the change in the barrier fifteen minutes later, as Liv had predicted; I hadn't realised there was always a faint vibration in the back of my teeth until it was gone. The vibration was replaced with a slight itching sensation: witch magic.

A few minutes later, Liv screeched to a stop near us and Lee Margrave followed with a car full of vampires. Connor had ordered some additional security; he didn't fully trust Liv – fool him once and all that.

He and Liv climbed out of her car. The other elemental witches were carrying the wooden boxes and Liv had her giant bag in which she carried her supplies. My mum nodded at the other elementals and they greeted her solemnly in turn. Everyone was braced for the difficult task ahead.

Mum murmured their names to me as they approached. ‘Flora Sanchez, earth witch from the United States.' Flora was tall, Hispanic, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Her dark hair was short and her face fiercely intense.

‘Enyo Kiyomizu, water witch from Japan.' He was a stately looking man dressed in business casual.

‘Kaia Rangihau, wind witch from New Zealand.' The dark-haired woman appeared to be Māori. Her long hair drifted in the slight breeze. She looked calm, determined and focused.

They gathered around Mum, each holding the wooden box that contained their element stone. Their job was to wait until Aoife pulled the banshees free from the cursed gems.

Liv put down her bag and told Aoife it was time.

Aoife looked at me wild-eyed and I nodded. You can do it, I mouthed. She blinked a few times and wrung her hands, then she read the spell aloud, her voice a mix of a shriek and a wail. It was visceral and terrifying and the hairs on my arms and head rose. The air seemed thicker and I felt as though it were tugging me apart. The sound of her cry ripped through us all like a storm.

We sagged with relief when she fell silent, but as Liv opened each of the gem boxes a new level of anxiety enveloped me. Any one of us, particularly Liv and the elemental witches, could fall under the stones' control if Aoife failed. She couldn't fail: she mustn't.

Aoife reached her hand towards the huge, clean gemstone but was careful not to touch it. Her eyes closed and her voice changed to a full banshee wail as she intoned the final three words: ‘Come to me!'

We covered our ears, hands grasped tightly to our heads, even though we knew full well we couldn't escape the sound.

The gemstones glowed white, red, blue and green, then pulsed brighter and brighter as Aoife's scream lengthened past words into the banshee howl. The light intensified until I had to look away.

Abruptly it went dark. I swung round to check on Aoife; her wail had stopped but she was still standing there. And she was not alone. Next to her stood four ghostly figures.

Her face was solemn as the other banshees surrounded her. For a moment I feared they would attack her, but their faces were radiant with joy, glowing with a soft light. They smiled at Aoife and spoke words to her, but they were not for human ears and we heard nothing at all.

Aoife smiled and nodded, chest swelling with pride. She made a gesture and the gem banshees winked out of existence – but had they gone forever or just for now? Aoife gave me a smile, raised her thumb and then she also faded from view.

The sapphire that had been the focus of Aoife's power had turned black and, as we watched, it crumbled into ash and dust. I hope Liv hadn't been expecting her hugely expensive stone back.

I jumped when she broke the moment with a barked order. ‘Don't stand there, we have work to do. Take the gem that represents your element,' she commanded the witches.

Each one took a coloured stone – Mum grabbed the giant ruby, the fire gem. I realised that it was still powerful, but it felt clean like a new flame. It was no longer trying to control me; now it was an instrument infinite in depth and incredibly pure.

Liv positioned the witches with a compass: earth to the north; wind to the east; water to the west, and fire to the south. She picked up her bag and stood in the middle. I had never seen her reset the barrier. Her magic required death and I shuddered to think what she would pull from her bag.

First she took out some papers and gave one to each of the witches. They seemed prepared and started mouthing the words on the page, practising. Next she pulled out a cord like a regular piece of thin rope. She said something – probably an enchantment of some kind – and strung the cord around the four witches. I figured that must represent the barrier.

She took a jar of something thick and dark red from her bag: it had to be blood. My nose confirmed it when she opened it: it was old, dead-human blood, and I almost gagged. I wasn't going to ask where it had come from but my mind flashed to the funeral home. Please God, let it be from there.

Lastly, she motioned to Connor who went to her car, opened the trunk and led over a pure white goat on a rope to the centre of the circle. The sacrifice. I shuddered.

Liv poured the blood over the cord, making sure that every drop was gone, then went to the centre with her goat and nodded to the witches. Each witch raised their stone with both hands and held it above their heads. Starting with north and going clockwise, they spoke their incantations and poured forth their power. As each one completed their words, the itch under my skin got worse. The gems started to glow, increasing in intensity until the last witch had done their part. A beam from each gem joined in the air above the circle. Mum's was thin, thready.

Liv raised her hands and chanted something in a strange language. She smiled at the goat and it gazed back at her with adoration, its eyes glowing with light. It knelt before her and without hesitating she slit its throat. She held its loving gaze until the light faded from its eyes.

‘Hold steady,' she called to the witches. ‘A few moments more.'

Mum started to sway. She'd been afflicted by an energy-draining curse and she'd been a full day without food and drink, then she'd made potions. She was spent. She swayed again. ‘Hold!' Liv barked at her.

I growled. She could bark orders at my mum all she wanted, but Mum had nothing more to give. I strode towards her. ‘No! Stay back!' Liv shouted.

I ignored her. Mum needed me, and even though she'd failed me in a multitude of ways, I didn't intend to fail her. I held her in my arms so that no one could see what I was doing then I gently summoned my magic, my heat and fire and strength, and sent them into her.

Eyes wide and shocked, Mum absorbed my magic; she didn't need to see a fireball coming from me to know what I was doing. She hadn't seen my fire magic yet but now she knew I had it. Her and my father's machinations had borne fruit; for good or ill, I was a fire witch, too.

Ever the consummate professional – it wouldn't do to be seen to be incompetent – Mum refocused on the job at hand. She poured the addition of my magic upwards and her magical thread strengthened and glowed.

Finally the spell was complete – and the result was explosive. Light burst out so strongly that we all went flying. I literally tumbled ass over teakettle. I landed with a whump and stared up at the sky. I was winded for a moment but then I scrambled up to check on the others. The light had gone and I hoped the barrier was properly in place.

The witches were pulling themselves up to sitting positions, as was Liv. I helped Mum up and looked around for Connor, who gave me a relieved smile. No one seemed to be injured; we might be bruised and sore but we were all moving. ‘Did it work?' I asked out loud.

Liv brushed herself off. ‘Yes. The barrier is healed. It is strong again,' she said triumphantly. ‘Thank you all for your contribution.' She gave the elemental witches a bow.

They each handed her their stones, which she dropped unceremoniously into her spell bag. I gaped. ‘Close your mouth, Bunny, you'll catch flies,' she sassed.

‘Should you do that?' I asked. ‘Dump them together in there?'

She gave a satisfied smile. ‘It doesn't matter now because the gems are cleansed. They can be together – they don't even need to be returned to their holding places. Without the spirits in them, all is good.'

Well that was a relief – but she was wrong about one thing. ‘Not all, Liv. I hate to do this, but now that you've fixed the barrier you're under arrest.'