Alun's gaze was intense. His deep voice matched the anger in his eyes. "If you leave the village immediately and give me Willow Grove, I will not take your life as you took my brother's."

I shivered, gripping the cup I held as I tried to process the threat disguised as an offer.

"I didn't kill your brother," I said. I was scared, but my voice was steady.

Alun leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. "I am a generous man. You have until sunrise in 2 days' time to leave Llyncroft and Willow Grove."

I looked into his eyes. As my fear grew, I felt the earth beneath me. It seemed to act as an anchor to stabilise me. "I can't do that. I can't leave the village boundary. I've tried," I said.

He stood up, pushing his chair back from the wooden floorboards. "Then you leave me no choice," he said, striding out of the cottage.

The door clicked shut behind Alun, and I shivered, the blood draining from my face.

I held on tight to gran's locket around my neck as if it somehow held my gran's essences. As if she could help me.

I closed my eyes, trying to gain my focus.

I could feel the locket getting warmer, and felt bright amber light playing on my eyelids. Gideon gasped, and I was sure I heard Agnes mutter something about being more powerful than even May expected.

I opened my eyes.

Fiona's cold eyes bore into the locket and the warm light spilling from it. "What have you done?" she hissed.

I could only stare at her, my mind racing. How was she here? I hadn't done anything, not on purpose. The locket, Gran's locket, it had done something. Or had it? I tried to make sense of the chaos in front of me.

"I... I don't know," I said. "It just... it glowed."

She narrowed her eyes and stepped closer. "No one controls my shadow form and calls when I don't want them to," she said.

"I didn't mean to," I started, but she cut me off with a wave of her hand.

"It doesn't matter what you meant," Fiona said. "You've summoned me against my will. That takes power. Power you shouldn't have."

My heart raced in my chest. What power was she talking about? I looked down at the locket. It was fading now, as if it was tired from what it had done.

I looked back at Fiona. "I didn't call you," I said. "This is my gran's locket. It's done nothing like this before."

Fiona studied me for a moment, her face unreadable. Then, with a sigh that seemed to suck the light from the room, she relaxed a little.

"We need to understand what happened here," she said. "Your gran's trinket shouldn't have any power over my abilities."

I nodded. I was out of my depth, in deep waters. "I don't know what happened. I was freaking out because Alun threatened to kill me if I don't leave and the next thing I know you're standing in front of me," I said. "But where do we even start?"

Fiona's lips thinned. She looked back at the locket before meeting my eyes again. "We start with that locket," she said. "And if it is connected to your gran's past and your new abilities, then we start with the past."

Fiona reached out and touched the locket. "May I?" she said. I nodded and unclasped the chain, passing it to her. She held it up to the light. "This is no ordinary trinket," Fiona said. "The metalwork, it's ancient. It's older than anything I've seen made recently."

I leaned in. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Fiona said, turning the locket over in her hands with care. There was something about her expression that suggested she recognised the locket. "This piece is hundreds of years old. And look here." She pointed to a small engraving hidden along the edge of the locket. "This symbol... it's a warlock's mark."

My heart raced. A warlock's mark? What did that have to do with Gran?

"Do you think Elias will know what this means?"

Fiona nodded. Why hadn't I thought to put his number into my mobile?

I ran out of Agnes's cottage, heading to Willow Grove, hoping Elias was back from the village. I pulled the oak door open with a creak as I pulled it hard. Thankfully, Elias had returned. He took in my appearance, his deep-set eyes reflecting a mix of surprise and concern.

"Evie? What's wrong?" he said.

"It's Gran's locket. Fiona found something, a warlock's mark. Can you explain it?"

"Show me."

I lifted my hand to where the locked normally lived, but realised I'd left it with Fiona and Agnes. "Please come," to my relief, he followed me without another word.

We returned to Agnes's cottage to find Fiona examining the locket with a jeweller's loupe. Agnes looked up from her seat by the fire. She had her hands on Gideon's head. I wondered if she was trying to help him with his memory.

Elias took the locket from Fiona and examined the mark she had pointed out.

"Yes," he said after a moment. "This is indeed a warlock's sigil. And not just any warlock, it's the mark of the Green Warlock."

"The Green Warlock?" I said.

Elias nodded. "A protector of land and life, their power was said to be bound to the earth itself, much like an Earth Elemental."

My heart raced. "But what does this mean for me?" I asked.

Elias looked at Fiona before turning to me. "It means that your gran may have been more than just an Earth Elemental," he said. "She may have been connected to the Green Warlock himself."

Fiona's hand shot forward and tried to grab the locket from Elias.

He calmly handed it to me. The locket felt warm to my touch. I opened the locket, and to my surprise, it was still glowing. It was as if there was something fused to the metal it's self.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Elias. "That's truly mesmerising. I imagine that's arcanite fused to the gold."

I looked closer at the locket, which had been with me since Gran passed away. I never thought it was anything other than a necklace but when I was stressed, the locket had revealed its heart, a core of arcanite pulsing with a faint light.

"What does this mean?" I asked. My voice felt small in the room.

Fiona didn't answer straight away, glancing at Elias. "It means there's more to your grans story than I think even Agnes knew."

Elias leaned forward. "But how would May have come by such a thing? And why embed it in this locket?"

Fiona met my gaze. "Evie," she said. "Arcanite doesn't just amplify power, it can store it. Preserve it for years, for generations. It's been centuries since I've seen work like this."

I touched the locket. Somehow it felt heavier, as if I could feel the power of the arcanite in my hand.

Why was Gran storing her power in this locket? And if she was, what did she mean for me to do with it?

Agnes cleared her throat. "It seems," she said carefully, "that May had plans for you long before any of us knew."

The door to Agnes's cottage flew open so hard that we all jumped. Gethin was in the doorway, filling it with his broad frame. His face was tight with urgency.