"Give me your wands," the man commanded, still pointing his wand between Daphne's wide-set, frightened eyes.

"We don't have them," said Sabine in a voice soft with fear.

He scoffed. "Of course you do. No self-respecting witch would be without their wand... unless..." His eyes narrowed to slits. "Mortals." His nostrils flared with disgust. "Empty your bags and pockets. Now!" he barked, thrusting his wand forward threateningly.

The girls had no choice but to obey. Daphne overturned her small, bunny-shaped bag, letting a waterfall of loose change, hard candies, and stray bits of paper pour out—along with her beloved white wand. The old witch snatched it up immediately. "You brought mortals into the Great Library?" he asked quietly, glaring at her with amazed hatred. "The Coven must hear of this," he decided. With a wave of his wand, black chains snaked out of thin air and encircled the girls' wrists. With another wave, he summoned a portal onto one of the lofty shelves. "Move," he commanded, pushing the girls into the cold, glowing magic.

Daphne was in a panic. Nausea that had nothing to do with the unsettling swirl of the portal loomed in her stomach. Without her wand, she was less than useless. Without her wand, there might be no way to save her friends.

They arrived in a hall so dark it was impossible to see detail after the blinding light of the portal. Daphne squinted in the dimness. There seemed to be... people?

They were standing in a carved stone hallway, lit by flickering torches. Images of witches and stone representations of magic spells danced up the dark walls and onto the curved ceiling. In front of them were two hooded figures with wands held loosely in their hands. Their cloaks were black embroidered with bright silver.

"Welcome to the Hall of the Grand Coven," said one pleasantly. "Please state your business."

"I found these three in the Library," said the librarian with a respectful bow. "A witch and two mortals."

"Mortals? In the Library?" the other questioned. "They must be taken before the Coven for trial immediately." He turned to his companion. "Elinor, make preparations to wipe the mortals' memories and extract the witch's magic."

"What about the trial?" Daphne blurted out. They all stared at her coldly. "I mean, we have a trial, right? What if they decide to let us go?"

All three adults burst out laughing. The male witch took Daphne's wand from the librarian. "You might want to say goodbye to this, little girl," he said, holding it up for her to see before giving it to the witch he called Elinor.

"She's not a little girl," Sabine growled.

"Why don't you shut your mouth, mortal?" the man replied.

"Why don't you go screw yourself?" Rhode snapped, stepping forward menacingly despite her chains.

The man sighed, and with a wave of his wand, sewed Rhode's mouth shut with black thread. Over her squeaks of surprise and pain, he said nastily, "That should teach you to respect your betters. Speaking of which..."

A burning pain erupted in Daphne's mouth; the witch had sewed her and Sabine's lips together as well. She yelled out at him, but the only sound that escaped her sealed lips was a muffled, "Mmmh!"

"Might as well take care of you all at once," he sneered. "Thank you for your service," he said to the librarian, who bowed deeply. "Come," he commanded the girls, shaking his wand at them. "Your trial awaits."

As the three were herded down the winding hallway, Daphne glanced over at her friends. Rhode looked furious, and was constantly moving her jaw even against the thread. Sabine's eyes darted around nervously back and forth. She tried a smile to reassure them, but it was difficult to look anything but gruesome with a mouth sewn shut.

Even though she smiled, there seemed no hope left. Without her wand, it would take a miracle—

"Daphne?" cried a voice from down the hallway. "Daphne, is that you?"

Daphne's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "Mmm?" she shouted through her closed lips.

"Daphne!" her mother yelled, running towards her. Her dark braids bounced over her shoulders and her blue-and-silver robes flew out behind her like an angel's wings. Daphne's eyes filled with tears of relief. Her mother had come to help her, just as she always had.

"What is the meaning of this?" Laurel demanded of their captor, her hands on her hips. "Why is my daughter here? And what have you done to her? Remove these bonds at once!"

"Your daughter was caught sneaking mortals into the Great Library," the witch replied, sounding a bit flustered in the face of Laurel's anger. "She's being taken to trial."

Laurel turned to look at her daughter. "Daphne, is this true?" she asked quietly. Daphne nodded, tears now flowing down her face. Her mother would set this all right. She would gather her in her arms and take them all home.

Instead, she stepped back and looked at Daphne with a cold, unfamiliar expression. "Then take her away."

Daphne's heart dropped. "Mmm?" she asked, struggling against her chains. "Mmm!"

"I have no use for a daughter who breaks the Grand Coven's most sacred laws," she announced. "Do what you will with her."

"Mmm!" she screamed through her lips. "Mmma!"

Laurel did not look back as she walked away.

Daphne fell to her knees on the cold floor, mind reeling. Her mother left her. Left her. Bewildered, angry tears poured onto the ground.

"Up," said the man roughly, seizing her arm and dragging her off the floor. "In." He forced the girls through an ornate wooden doorway, all swirls and carved fruit, before jerking them to a halt. "Bow," he said through gritted teeth, sinking low on his knees.

Daphne gasped through the threads. She was standing in an octagonal room of white marble and dark wood, towering almost as high as the Library's lofty ceiling. Carved into the marble  were balconies with cloaked faces looking down. The spectators were dressed in blue, green, or black robes with varying amounts of silver trim twining around the edges. The people above stared at the ones below. In chairs high and elaborate enough to befit the impressive chamber sat seven witches clad in shining robes of pure silver, their faces relaxed and disdainful at the same time. The Grand Coven.

She sank into a bow almost as low as her captor's, awed to be in the presence of the most powerful witches in the world. She was furiously excited—at least, she was until she remembered why she was here.

"Rise," said one woman on the left side of the room. "Nathan, what have you brought before us?"

"The daughter of Laurel Elder," said the man, standing respectfully. "She was found in the Great Library without permission—" There was quiet murmuring from the Coven and the watchers above—"and in the company of these two mortals, whom she brought into the Library." Angry gasps rose up around the room.

"Thank you for your service, Nathan," said the first witch. "You may go. And as for you..." She pointed her long, curling wand at Daphne. "Explain yourself." The threads melted away from their mouths and the chains from their wrists. All three girls gasped with relief and gratefully put hands to their lips. "Explain," the witch repeated icily.

Daphne was so shocked at being directly addressed by one of the most powerful witches in the world that the words just spilled out. "Please, I didn't mean to cause any harm," she started. Several Coven members scoffed; some people in the balconies above tittered. "I didn't! We only visited the library to learn about Reliqua."

"Reliqua?" asked a man near the middle. "Why would a half-trained witch and a couple of mortals need to know about Reliqua?"

"We fight them," said Sabine, stepping up to face the Coven. "We're trying to keep Detroit safe."

"Since you seem to be doing a pretty crappy job," Rhode added, giving rise to more murmurs. "Do you even care that people are getting attacked?"

The first witch rose out of her throne-like chair. "Silence!" she commanded, slicing her wand through the air like a dagger. Rhode's angry voice died at once. She turned to Daphne and sat again, her eyes glittering. "If I understand correctly, you not only brought these mortals into our Library, but you also revealed magical creatures to them?"

"Disgraceful," someone called from the balcony above.

"I didn't mean to!" Daphne protested. "They were attacked! I was only trying to help!" She looked desperately up into the aristocratic, upturned faces. "I was only trying to help them," she said, half begging.

"You should have let the mortal authorities sort that out," yawned a witch from the middle chair. "I think it's clear who the instigator here is, and who needs to be punished," she said to her companions, who nodded lazily.

"You do!" yelled Rhode. The room went as silent as if someone had cast a charm on it. "We found some things out when we did our research," she said, her voice trembling with rage. "You witches are messed up, letting people die like that because they don't have magical powers! Daphne is the only good one of you!"

"She's the best!" Sabine chimed in. By the way she clenched her fists, Daphne could tell she was wishing for her sword. "She was disgusted when she found out that Reliqua are byproducts of witch magic! And that people were dying! And you knew all along!"

The Coven's faces remained stony, but the reactions from the balconies were enormous. "What do they mean?" someone shouted down. "I thought we were fighting them?" yelled another. "It's to protect the Coven!" another voice argued. The spectators of the trial erupted into chaotic yelling, some arguing for and some against the lives of mortals. Daphne watched quietly. Some people agreed with them, it seemed... but most didn't. And everyone was angry.

With a twitch of the middle witch's wand, the room fell silent again. "My friends, do not lose sight of our common purpose," she said with a convincing air of calmness. "We witches must stick together and drive these monsters away from our own people and cities. Although it is true that they come from our great gift of magic, it is an evil we will have to bear." Daphne was dismayed to see heads nodding in the balconies. "And the unfortunate lives lost to these creatures' attacks," she continued, "are a sacrifice needed for our noble way of life. Would you not lay down your own life for the greater good?"

"I would happily die for the prosperity of witches!" cried someone, and several others cheered along, claiming the same thing.

"No!" Daphne shouted, running up to the middle witch's great throne. It loomed above her like an angry god. "You have no right to decide who lives and dies!"

The witch smiled down at her coldly. "Little girl, we were given power for a reason. Our magic gives us the right. Speaking of which..." She turned to face her fellow coven members. "I think the trial is coming to a close."

"What trial?" Sabine yelled. "We barely got a chance to speak!"

The Coven ignored her. "It is," a man replied, his silvery robes shifting as he rose from his chair. "I propose a vote on the sentence of the traitor and her mortals."

"Daphne isn't a traitor!" Sabine screamed at him.

"And we aren't her mortals," Rhode snorted. "If anything, she's our witch."

"I remind you that the maximum punishment for this crime is to strip the traitor of her wand and magic and to erase the memories of those involved," he droned on. "Would those who agree raise their wands?"

Daphne's breath caught in her throat. She was too shocked and scared to do anything more than stare as all seven Coven witches raised their wands in the air. "I agree," said the Grand Coven in one ringing voice.

"Take them away," one of them commanded.

"No," whispered Sabine, whipping around and sending her curls bouncing. "No!" she shrieked. Tears poured down her pale face. "Daphne, no, I can't forget you, I can't—I won't let them—"

Without thinking, Daphne reached for Sabine's hand and held it tight, then grabbed Rhode's hand in her left. "You can't do this!" she screamed at the Coven she had once so respected. "I was just trying—" Her voice broke. "I was just trying to help," she whispered.

The Coven witch sighed. "And look at all you've accomplished," she said sarcastically. "Say goodbye to your friends, although they won't remember it."

"Never!" Daphne and Sabine yelled together. Rhode swore angrily at the Coven, sticking her middle finger up at them.

"Enough of this nonsense!" The witch pointed her wand at them. "This is just what you deserve," she told Daphne, before shooting out a wave of violet light.

It hit Daphne in the stomach and she stumbled backwards, her legs suddenly turned to wobbling uselessness. She could just barely hear the thump her body made as it fell to the marble floor. "Rhode," she whispered through numbing lips. "Sabine. Are you still there?"

"I'm with you," said a familiar voice. "I'm here."

She felt someone squeeze her right hand. Then she felt nothing.