Into Thin Air

Chapter 38

Hope sat in the window of the Old Mill, looking out at the now-dark field. The air had gone cold at the same time it had gone black – not that it affected the tribrid. She half-heartedly flung a hand towards the barrier only for it to be thrown back at her in a sad confirmation that she was still trapped.
She buried her face in her hands. If only Lizzie hadn’t run off right away, they would’ve come to the same conclusion she was sitting on right now. Jade disappearing into a prison world made sense on paper, but in reality, all the pieces just didn’t fit. It didn’t explain the puddle of black goo or how everyone magically forgot her. It would take an extremely powerful witch to cast a spell strong enough to affect the memories of the entire Salvatore School, and while Josie Saltzman was a special witch, she wasn’t that powerful. Even an experienced witch like Emma Tig wouldn’t be able to do something like that.
“Glad to see my barrier spell held up,” Lizzie said from the doorway, hesitant to step in.
Hope waved a hand through the air in annoyance. “Not like I could just siphon it away.”
“Well, before I take it down … I need to know that you’re not gonna kill me for it.” Lizzie smiled cheekily up at Hope.
“Of course not,” Hope said, words heavy with sarcasm. She hopped down from the windowsill with a dramatic sigh. “Why would I be upset that you locked me in here for hours before we could even think it through.”
“I detect a hint of sarcasm.” Lizzie smiled lightly.
“A fucking hint?”
“I’m not letting you out until you’re nice!”
Hope rolled her head to the side, exasperated. “I’m gonna die in here.”
Lizzie sat down just outside the barrier spell. “So I take it you reached the same conclusion as me - that our first theory was wrong.”
“Yep.” Hope sat across from her, their folded knees practically touching. “I take it you got to that conclusion in a more embarrassing fashion?”
“I might have confronted my dad -”
“When you thought he was the one who sent Jade away?”
“In hindsight, it may have been a hasty plan -”
“And by yourself?” Hope scrunched up her nose trying to look irritated, but anger wasn’t what she felt. It was something more like fear and an irrational sense of guilt.
“Do you want to know what happened or not?”
“Just tell me.”
“My dad said that Jade and the ascendant are two separate problems - and that he and my mom are working on them both.” Lizzie raised a hand in the air, pressing her palm against the barrier spell and siphoning the magic that bound it out. She expected Hope to get up and leave at her first chance, but instead she stayed seated.
“Let me guess. He said it’s not something we need to worry about.” Hope rolled her eyes.
“How did you know?”
“Typical.”
“So, what do we do now?” Lizzie’s eyes were wide, and they made Hope shift uncomfortably at the way they bore into her soul, expecting her to somehow have all the answers.
Hope pressed her lips together as she thought. “We find the rest of the ascendant pieces, and we reverse the spell to see if it really isn’t Jade stuck in there.”
Lizzie started to smile again, but it got cut short by a voice coming from outside the Old Mill.
“Lizzie?” Josie appeared at the entrance. Her face fell into a deadly scowl when she saw her sister sitting on the floor across from Hope. “Mom’s looking for you.”