"Oblivisa hac nocte, obliviscere facies nostras, obliviscere lunam temporum et stellarum. Memento, si sacerdos revelat." Kimora repeats after me, her fingers dug deep into the girl's skull.

Her magic, a brilliant burnt orange flares in the darkness as Paul and Marko stay on the outside of the loft made of metal and ruins. I smell her blood, the tang of ash and burning unlike mine which carries the scent of swamp and the forest.

Every magic carries its own unique scents but only becomes permanent at the finding of one's familiar. I wonder what hers will settle on and if it doesn't, will her scent fade?

Jade's hazel eyes roll back in her head, leaving all whites and an unhinged mouth. Her body shudders a little bit as Kimora holds on tight to her, directing her magic straight to the girl's brain.

"Better than death, I guess." I say, waiting for Kimora to finish, her muscles gleaming under sweat.

"As would seem but not as it lives." Kimora's magic explodes, coating her fingers and arms before sinking back into her skin.

Jade's body slumps to the ground, but it isn't like that of the living. It doesn't move. I close my eyes in an attempt to feel the soul ebbing alive but instead of that, it's trapped, banging and clawing for freedom at her bones.

It reminds me of the charred bodies of the bluff witches, their souls which had felt so much agony that they were trapped within their skin and bones, only to be freed into the sea. Her sea green dress ruffles in the wind as she lies dead, my suspicions confirmed.

"You killed her." I say breathlessly.

Horror screws up Kimora's face. "What the hell are you talking about? Nobody killed anybody."

Kimora stoops down to the body, placing her fingers on the girl's neck before pulling away, eyes wide.

Paul turns away from the base of the vicinity, his arms crossed to his chest with claws exposed. "She's gone."

"How do you know?" Kimora lifts her head, wiping off tears that fly down her cheek as she holds on to the girl. "She's not dead, she's just having a moment. Her body needs to adjust to the magic-."

Paul's face hardens. "Kimora, stop."

Kimora breaks down, gasping as she holds on to Jade's slowly stiffening hand. "She's just resting."

"Oh, Kimora." Paul softens, leaving Marko who tries his best not to openly show guilt and pity for the poor witch dragging into a situation in which she didn't need to be.

"Kimmy." My fingers find her hair, tangling them in the thickness as the glamor of blue highlights fade away into her natural dark brown hair color.

Kimora buries her face into her hands as Paul drags her into his arms, planting his share of kisses in her hair and along her cheeks left exposed.

"She's gone."

"I know." She wheezes. "I know she's gone but that doesn't mean that I want to wish it into existence."

Kimora, the form of pure strength and muscle shrinks in the arms of her boyfriend. Everyone else sees Kimora as a challenge and a ruthless fighter hellbent on perfection but only we know that she crumbles at death, that in the face of it she nothing more than a terrified child looking for comfort.

Yet, she's nothing short of strong and anything but weak.

"I don't understand." I turn sharp. "It was supposed to be fail-proof. I studied that spell for weeks, I know it was right." My argument is strong but not in action.

I think back, recalling my studies but it's pure perfect from the words to the pronunciation. Instead of saving, all I did was give her a more painful death. Even if I hadn't, would I have felt less guilt?

Though I'm anchored by the rugged metal of machinery so ancient that it's impossible to make out what it is, I feel like I could fall despite it. My error, whatever underlying downfall it may has snared me into taking a life. A life I had no intention of taking.

Marko bites his nails, nervous which is never a good sign. "It's alright, it was just a human."

"But she was alive."

Marko stops, dropping his head as I remain retracting the words of the spell over and over until they're nothing but screwed-up messes and small fragments of what was. Two starving vampires, two witches hell-bent on their failings, and lastly, finally, the dead girl.

Kimora wipes the last of her tears, pulling away from Paul to touch the girl's stiffening body.

"The sea will free her."

"No." I shake my head, thinking of the raging waters. "It will only trap her."

"Would you rather leave her here? Would you rather place us in danger? The same danger we live running away from." Kimora blinks away tears from her eyes with red lines tracing through the white.

She has a point but the sea is full of angry souls. Why would we put another soul into the waters with us as the head targets?

I jerk up, ready to defend myself as my shoes remind me of the reality and push me back down to the metal.

"The sea tells no tales. The lakes, the rivers, the ponds, and the streams do, but the ocean keeps all enigmas to herself."

Paul keeps his arm around her shoulder. "I'll do whatever needs to be done."

Marko sighs, his eyes flicking from the corpse to his brother. "Perhaps."

"We will do whatever has to be done." Paul's voice sounds like a half-growl. "We hunt together."

Kimora finds my eyes, her soft gaze filling me with trust and forcing me to realize that I don't need to fight against my coven mate. She knows what she's doing, even if it sounds stupid to me.

"We can call on a water god but they can't stay." Kimora looks at the two vampires. "They can help us go to the warning mark of the darkest area of the beach but no farther."

I'm stunned at the lengths that Kimora is willing to go to. Just calling on any god, just for the sake of it isn't something that witches do. It's something that takes practice and study and for the most part, being chosen. She hasn't even been attached to the collective yet.

"Remember what Angel said-."

Kimora whips around, rage in her eyes. "I am calling one, like it or not."