It was silent for a moment, and I thought I would never hear silence again after the bombarding noise of the wind. Sage sagged against the wall as the sky changed to a beautiful blue; she had lived through more tornadoes than I had, so I guess that sky meant it was over. After we heard the all-clear, we went to the door, I pushed as hard as possible on the door, but it wouldn't budge. We resorted to leaving through the glass wall shattered by the tree since there was only one door.

"I guess this is the only way out," I said, carefully making my way over the glass that shimmered from the sun's light now that it escaped from the clouds. Shards were on the wall's edges, and I used my height to reach over and pull myself out. Sage wasn't so lucky. As she was pulling her leg up, she slipped, and her arm slammed down on a shard, slicing it open. I grabbed her shoulders as a stuttered scream came from her. I didn't want to hurt her anymore, so I tried to slowly lift her up, but it turned out more like a boat rescue as I pulled her over me, falling to the ground. Jenny pulled up in the golf cart as we landed.

"Are you two alright? I was worried sick when we realized that you both were missing." She looked toward the grey house. It had four fallen trees, and one branch kept the door from opening. Around the area, fences and plants were ripped from the ground. Golf carts were thrown at the brush, landing sideways and upside down. It was hard to tell where we were, but the main greenhouse looked like a skeleton with no shimmer on the building since all the glass pains were gone. "Oh my, we must close down for a long time to clean this up."

"Are we starting the cleanup today?" I asked, hoping the answer was no.

"No, most people went home to check on their families and homes. You two are free to go." Jenny was too distracted by the damage to notice Sage's hand dripping red on the ground. But I glanced down, and my blood ran cold. Tears were streaming down her face silently as her other hand, which was covered in blood, held her injured arm.

"Sage, do you want me to call someone for you?" I asked because I figured it might be challenging without a right hand. I grabbed her arm, too, adding pressure to the wound.

"No one is around to get me. My father is in the city with my brother, so it will be a while before they return. I should probably walk home and check on the house," she said.

"No, you are either going to the hospital for that arm, or I'm taking care of it, but I'm not letting you wander off alone." She didn't argue but struggled to pull off her shirt. I took the shirt and, as tightly as I could, wrapped it around her arm, leaving her in a sports bra.

"Okay, where are you taking me, then?" she hissed as I applied pressure to her arm. We walked to Jeremy's house, avoiding fallen trees and other hazards on the road. I brought her into the kitchen. After she walked in, I remembered Jeremy's number one house rule. He has to approve anyone who enters the house, which was weirdly intact after a tornado. The house probably has some protection spell on it.

"Why don't you clean it out while I call my cousin?" She nodded and walked over to the sink. I could hear some intense hisses of pain as I called Jeremy, and he picked up on the first ring.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I didn't get hurt, but I'm back at the house, so you don't need to pick me up."

"I'm getting Ames and Jules now, and then I'll be at the house. Did the protection wards hold up?"

"Yes, the house is still here, but listen, I broke your house rule. I brought Sage to the house."

"You did what?! You brought that warlock into my house! Where my family lives!"

"No, Jeremy, you don't get it. She is hurt; it looks pretty bad. No one was there to help her, and she would have gone home alone. I know we were taught certain things, but I was talking to her, and some things aren't what they seem. Just talk to her."

"Reed, I understand you want to see the best in her, but she is an Arden. They are warlocks, simple as that"

"and it isn't very much like a witch to leave someone hurt. I know she is an Arden, but she wasn't raised with them; I'm not asking you to trust her; just talk to her. Things aren't adding up, and I need you to help figure it all out."

"If she does anything, that is on you, Reed. I hope you understand that by taking her into the house, you are promising she isn't going to do anything, and if she does, that is on you."

"I understand, and I promise she won't do anything."

"I'll be home soon. But you need to call your dad. I can't keep this from him. I hope you know what you are doing." Jeremy hung up the phone, and I turned to find Sage watching me, a kitchen towel wrapped around her arm soaking it through with blood; maybe Amelia is the one I should be worried about

"Should I leave? I don't want to cause any trouble?"

"No, let's fix that arm of yours." I walked to the kitchen and pulled ingredients to make a healing potion I would call my father after. Sage was right at my side, watching my every move. She never asked any questions; she simply watched me. Teaching her and talking to her distracted me from the storm in my head churning over talking to my dad and not only letting him down again, but now I would be letting Jeremy down, too.

"I'm making a basic healing potion. All the ingredients separately hold some healing benefits, but together, they activate the inherent magical properties of everyday ingredients. There are more aggressive potions that need plainly magical ingredients like the hair of the werewolf or wing of a fairy." I put some magic mushrooms in the frying pan and started bronzing them.

"Wouldn't that hurt the fairy?" I started on the other parts of the slave. I mixed olive oil, echinacea root, comfrey leaves, plantain leaves, calendula flowers, yarrow flowers, and rosemary in a jar. Then, I mixed it well and did a spell to speed up its aging, about four weeks.

"No, fairies molt when they get too big for their wings or when the wings get too old. A fairy can throw away hundreds of wings throughout their immortal lives." Another thing that doesn't make sense is that she seemed to know nothing about magic. Could she be telling the truth, or was this all some elaborate lie? I was running on autopilot, and the only thing grounding my mind was talking about magic. But my heart was hammering in my chest. It was one thing to work with a warlock, but to bring her home, what if I was wrong?

"Have you ever seen a fairy?" She was genuinely excited about the idea of fairies. I mashed the bronzed mushrooms in the mortar and pestle before mixing them into the jar. Every noise outside made me jump. What was I going to say? I had to convince Jeremy that sage was not a threat.

"Mardovo's has a colony of fairies, so when we take magical Zoology or advanced potions, you can see them. I was taking Mag Zoo or Magical Zoology." I soaked a rag in my potion that was now glowing light green. I grabbed an eyedropper and started unwrapping her hand. The slice was worse than she was letting on, deep and still bleeding, maybe to the bone, but there was so much blood I couldn't tell. She hissed when I used the eyedropper on the deeper parts of the wound. Thinking about how deep it was, I grabbed more and, as gently as I could, applied it to her wound. Then I gripped the two sides of her wound together as I wrapped her arm in the soaked rag, maybe too tight, but she didn't complain.

"This will heal me? I wish I had something like this before."

"It should take about an hour or maybe an hour and a half because of how bad the injury was. You have never used healing magic before." She hopped up on the counter and helped me put things up in the cabinets.

"no, I heal like a normal mortal," she laughed, reaching up to put herbs away.

"but the injuries you describe from the interrogation would have been terrible."

"yeah, well, they don't heal the people they throw in the storm cages, Reed. My wrist even got infected in the storm-cages. I use the perception filter to cover the scars, too." I looked at her wrists and noticed lighter, almost white, areas on her wrists. They looked like the braids of a rope. To live with that constant reminder of one of the worst times in your life was horrifying. I was about to say as much when Jeremy and Amelia, carrying Jules, decided to come in. Amelia ran up the stairs, not even looking over. At the same time, Jeremy came into the kitchen, shoulders back, preparing for a fight. Sage and I froze mid-motion.

"Before anything else, if you even think about hurting my family, I will stop you and then make you suffer." I was about to say something to him, but Sage stopped me with a touch to the shoulder. She was hunched down a bit, looking very small as she cleared her throat.

"I have no intention of hurting anyone, but I hear what you are saying. Consider me warned." She even put her hands out as a sign that she wouldn't fight, which must have been hurting her from the injury. The only sign was a pinch set to her mouth. A rock formed in my stomach when I realized she had been through this. I stared at the scars on her wrist. People were assuming the worst because she was an Arden. I stood between the two. Jeremy's eyes glared at her, not believing a word she said, and Sage's form was getting smaller; I think she was about to drop to her knees.

"Jeremy, this situation isn't what you think. She isn't even a warlock." Sage and Jeremy's jaws dropped, and they stared at me, frozen mid-motion at whatever they were doing. I didn't know where that came from, but I knew it was true.

"Reed..." Jeremy took a step forward, trying to see around me. I steeped to the side, blocking her again. My heart was either beating too fast, or it had stopped, but I kept going.

"She never hurt anyone and was never trained in dark-world magic. Being evil and being a warlock is a choice; it is how you choose to use your magic, which is why a witch can become a warlock. So why can't it go the other way? She never did anything wrong. If I can be redeemable after what I did, isn't it possible for her to be redeemed for her crime of being an Arden?" the moment felt like an eternity; this is the part where he calls me an idiot and does what he was going to do the whole time and turn her in. that's what dad would do. Jeremy was about to respond when a voice from the hall said.

"I knew it." Broken from his stupor, Jeremy whips his head around to look at Amelia as she enters the kitchen. She must have put Jules down in a different room. "Sorry for listening, Reed, that was beautiful, and Jeremy, we have to help her. I told you that anyone is savable; there has to be something we can do." Amelia grabbed his arm imploringly. I covertly threw out the blood-covered towel. There are some things even magic can't fix. I grabbed hold of Sage and pulled her closer to me. I felt her warm hand grab hold of my shirt. The other was probably hanging at her side, still healing.

"Well," Jeremy looked at us all, staring at him, and then ran his hands through his hair. There is a way, but it is tough, and you need to know all the details before we do anything."

"Wait, rewind," Sage said. The realization of what Jeremy is suggesting hits me. "What are you all talking about?"

"Jeremy is saying there is a way to get you reclassified as a witch. They would never be able to toss you in a storm cage again," I said. I could feel my father's disappointment already, but I didn't care if it meant Sage would be okay. "And maybe when you do it, your brother could, too."

"She was locked in a storm cage. What crime?" Jeremy was looking at her and then back to me. We are told that storm cages are for our worst warlocks and other bad guys.

"Non-cooperation with an informal investigation and interrogation. The witch hunters wanted me to admit to a crime I didn't commit."

"Is being a witch something you would be interested in?" Amelia asked. She tried to step out from behind Jeremy, but he blocked her path each time.

"I mean..." Sage hesitated. "Would they let an Arden be a witch?"

"There is no harm in checking. If you go through the process, you may need to relinquish the name," Jeremy said.

"If I could be a witch, they could have that name. Hell, I'll give them my first name too."

"Why don't we go through the steps, at least what I know about them?" Jeremy brought Sage into the dining room and sat her down. I would join as soon as I cleaned up, but first, I needed to call my father.

**************************************************************

Happy Thanksgiving,

I like to drop chapters on holidays to escape from the world into the world I made, so there is that. Even if today isn't a holiday for some, I hope all the people have a great day! Eat food, and be happy!

Also, there isn't much new stuff in this chapter that hasn't been explained before, so enjoy.

So mote it be