Witch Fall(118)

Lilette turned away from her and surveyed the others. “The veil.”

Jolin’s eyes went wide. “What?” Her mind seemed to catch up to what Lilette was implying, and she shook her head. “We can’t hide the entire island. And certainly not indefinitely.”

“No,” Lilette said. “We’re not going to hide the island. We’re going to hide all of them.”

“But—but that’s impossible! And who even knows how long it will last.”

Lilette squeezed Jolin’s arms. “You’ll find a way—you’re meant to. It’s why you’re with me, just as your mother said.”

“My mother?”

Lilette cupped her face. “She’s a part of this. We all are.”

Jolin rubbed her lips together, her gaze distant and intense—the look she got whenever she was concentrating. “I’ll need help.”

Lilette gestured to the shore. “You have four hundred people. What do you need to create the veil?”

Jolin nodded, a determined expression stealing over her face. She faced Pan and rattled off a list of plants.

“Yes. I can find them,” Pan replied.

“Go. Quickly,” Jolin said, then started marching off with the elite and Galon.

Lilette’s hand shot out, catching Jolin’s arm. “Wait.” Her hand went to her pendant. She always became lost after a tragedy. Bethel must have seen that, must have known it would be important that someone, somewhere, be able to find her. So she and Jolin had created the pendant. Lilette stroked the pendant once more, hating to part with something that had touched Han’s throat—even for a moment. Yet he had gone where it would never find him, and she didn’t need it anymore.

But perhaps someday, someone else would. Lilette pulled the pendant over her head and handed it to Jolin. “I want you to take this.”

Jolin gasped. “Lilette, I can’t—”

Lilette pressed it into her hands. “It was your mother’s gift to you as much as to me.” Lilette could see that wasn’t going to be enough. “I can’t bear its weight, not anymore,” she lied. “But I won’t see just anyone with it. Please.”

Jolin closed her mouth and slipped it over her head. With more tears filling her eyes, she turned and walked away.

Lilette faced the graves. “I can see what it is I’m meant to do,” she told Han and Fa. “And I know how to stop them.” Bending down, she rested her hand on Han’s grave. “Where you go, I go.” With that, she turned to limp after the others.

All day, Jolin and the surviving wastrels were in a flurry, gathering plants to make the potions required to form the veil. Lilette worked beside them—staying busy was the only way she remained sane.

Wounds were treated. Food was gathered. More people died. That night, Lilette found herself staring at the star-swept sky. But she didn’t look at the stars. She looked at the darkness between them. And she thought of Han.

Jolin sat beside her, knees drawn to her chest.

“Do you ever feel like it’s wrong?” Lilette asked.

Jolin turned to her, the firelight making a line across the side of her face. “What?”

Lilette didn’t look away from the sky. “Using the elements like this. They’re so strong, so powerful, and we bend them to our will, for good or evil. Just like we bent Jai Li to our will.”

“The elephant?” Jolin said. When Lilette didn’t answer, she sighed. “They aren’t alive.”

Lilette felt the connection with her witch sense throbbing inside her. “Aren’t they? Then why can I feel them writhing in pain during the hassacre?”

Pushing past her exhaustion, Lilette forced herself up to follow the witches gathering in the circle. Everything had happened for a reason. She was just a piece of the puzzle, and now she knew where she fit.

Jolin followed her to the center, wringing her hands together. “Are you sure this is wise? If we sing, it will draw them to us.”

Lilette nodded. “Are you sure we have enough of the powder?”

In answer, Jolin held out a large covered bowl.

Lilette peeked inside. “So this is the stuff you use to create the veil?”

“Yes. It takes song and this potion to make it work. Over the next few hours, the men will spread it across the beaches on the perimeter of the islands. Then you’ll spread it around when you’re airborne to seal it into a dome.” She took a deep breath. “But for now, you have to bring in the islands. What . . . what if you’re not strong enough?”

Doubt slivered inside Lilette. What if she was wrong? What if, after everything, they failed? “There’s nothing else we can do, Jolin.” Her voice faltered. ”Sometimes you just have to move.”