When Risa said it had been Jake to trash the house, two things became suddenly clear in my mind.

One --- he did not care whether we found out it had been him. Maybe, he even wanted to be found guilty. He wanted to send us a message.

Two --- he did not break out of his prison cell. That meant there were spells he could do distantly, in places where his body wasn't. It sounded like a very complicated magic, perhaps dark magic.

I told my friends as much. Everyone agreed with my suspicions.

Raegan added, "I don't think he could be as powerful as to do a long distance spell. Looks like we were right and the curse stopped being a family curse and affected Jake."

I put my cup of tea back on the table with maybe too much strength.

"I do not agree," I said. "Jake just can't be... cursed. It's what he's always wanted, to get more powers. When could that have happened? The last time we saw him, he hadn't been cursed. From that moment on, he's always been in prison."

"I get why you're defending him," Jeff pursed his lips. "I really do. With time, he could have become a brother to you like he was a brother to me. But think about it --- this would explain things."

"If anything," Risa suggested. "We can tell Flora that we think he's cursed. That way, she'll agree that it could have been Jake who sent somebody to kidnap Alice too. We could start looking for her!"

"And if Jake really is cursed," I said, though I doubted it, "we have the destroyer onyx at least."

"I thought you were against using it," Raegan said.

"I only said I'd rather die than having a piece of my soul destroyed," I arched an eyebrow. "Maybe other people feel differently about it."

"From what I hear," Kai said. "Seems like your friend doesn't value his soul very much."

When we walked out of the place, a journalist approached me. I wanted to groan, but couldn't. Everyone would have seen me on television.

In the Aether realm, everything can be watched on the TV as soon as it's recorded. All of the news in the magazines are written with speed letters, which are are fast as your usual SMS.

If I made any false move with the journalist, no one would have edited it.

"We're here to talk about the vanishing of Alice Wilson," the journalist said to an invisible camera. Magic cameras often were invisible. "As you all know, the leader of the Senate Thomas Johnston has accused this young man here, Patrick Winter, of her murder."

I coughed into my hand. "Ryan Barnes," I said. "My name is Ryan Barnes."

"Well, Ryan Barnes, any comment on what happened?"

I looked at my friends. I didn't want to say something that I considered a lie, but they thought it was the truth and expected me to say it. I owed it to Flora, and to Alice. Once the truth about the kidnapper was out, people could start looking for her.

"Alice Wilson is my friend," I said sharply. "And she's not dead. My former friend Jake Kingston kidnapped her. I know this from a spell, the Emphatic String."

"Jake Kingston is in prison," the interview said. The look on his face was disgusting. He thought I had slipped, and he was enjoying it.

"Yeah, well, he sent someone to do it," I said. "The Emphatic String showed me as much. Jake is cursed by an ancient and evil jinx that feeds on your bloodlust while it amplifies your magic."

I realized this was as far as I could go. I couldn't tell people that the curse was the same that had befallen Samuel Winter. I had to fix the whole thing first.

The interviewer looked like he hadn't bought my story one bit. I didn't realise there were people who might never trust me, no matter how honest I was. I had always liked honesty better than kindness, and thought I knew how to show how truthful I was as a person. I could hold a few things back, but you'd never get a lie from me. Then why was the journalist looking at me like I was a liar?

Then why was I feeling like a liar too?

A voice in my head whispered, Liar. Then, a choir of voices --- liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar.

Before I even realized what had happened, I yelled, "Make it stop!"

The journalist must have thought I was talking about his interview, because he looked at his camera, concerned. I thought he was shutting it down, then I realized he didn't have to. I had broken it.

Had it been my scream? Or simply my thoughts? How could I do a spell like that?

I didn't even move my hands.

"That's weird," the journalist looked at me accusatively. "The blackout never affected the cameras before."

"Well, it does now," Raegan said matter-of-factly. Apparently, my friends were still by my side. They grabbed my arms and led me away from the crowd of people.

"I don't think I'm okay," I told them as soon as we were alone. Usually I wasn't one for admitting it, but how could I hide it?

"You don't look okay," Jeff commented. "I'm happy the cameras started to be affected by the blackout. No more interviews, for the time being."

I nodded. I was pretty sure I had broken the camera, it had not shut down because of the blackout. But if I was a liar already, what was one more lie?

The day after the interview, I woke up feeling pretty confused. I had my plan, the one I didn't want to tell before I was done researching it. I was also starting to develop another plan.

That morning I decided to do a simple task that would keep my mind busy. I opened my fairy book, and looked for the Ember family.

I remembered Edgar's words. There was a legend that said that a member of the Ember family could resurrect the dead. I smiled bitterly. Who could be judge of who had to stay dead and who came back?

But if Edgar refused to go through with my plan then maybe, I had an option. I might not have to see him die.

Of course, things weren't so simple. Here's what the legend said:

'Once upon a time, a man called Aldrich Ember developed a power that was not ordinary. Descendants of the Ember family had always been able to give life, meaning they could bring plants or animals back from the dead.'

I arched an eyebrow. It didn't seem so ordinary to me.

'They could also create little men made of clay or other materials and give them something that resembled life. However, Aldrich was born with an immense power. He was immortal. Really, it was not clear whether the man was born with this power or had obtained it with a bargain, but immortal he was. He would ask people to strike him down, and no one succeeded. Aldrich stopped ageing at thirty. Not only he would never die, he would always look like a young man too.

When the decades passed, and it was clear that Aldrich would never age, he started telling bits and pieces of his story. The power of immortality had been granted upon him by a mysterious force he did not name. The force told him there would come a day, in the distant future, where Aldrich would have to give his immortal life to resurrect an unfair death.

There was good news and bad news, the mysterious force said. The good news was --- Aldrich could choose the hero to resurrect. He had been made judge. It was possible for him to rule out who had been the one who died an unjust death. By giving this person another chance, he could possibly change the world.

But the bad news was this --- you can't bring back a life without causing mayhem. Such are the laws of the universe, that to gain something you have to lose something. When Aldrich would resurrect the hero, he would also let out a plague like all the realms had never seen. He would let out a part of the dark side of the universe, making it unbalanced.

Maybe the bad news scared Aldrich, because he only told this story once to one of my ancestors. Nobody has seen the Enchanter for centuries, and it is possible that this story only remains a legend.'

I slammed the book, a bit more forceful than I wanted to. The story was so odd it couldn't possibly be real. Even if it was, who was I, or Aldrich, to decide a life counted more than the balance of the realm? This was a path Edgar and I could not take. What I needed to think about was a way to convince him to follow my plan. There would come a day I would have to tell him about it, but I also needed to spend more time with him before I did.

Edgar needed all the little time we had left to see why my decision was the best.

In the meantime, I could proceed with the other plan. I sat with ease on the floor, crossing my legs and tried to contact Luna with a mental message.

Soon came the reply, and it was stronger than when I first started out mind reading. I could hear Luna loud and clear, and see her face if I closed my eyes.

"I hate to say it, but you're terribly strong," Luna said. "I couldn't ignore your message if I wanted to. What happened to your powers?"

I sighed and closed the book. "This is precisely what I wanted to talk about," I said. "My powers are shifting. Getting out of control."

"Ugh," Luna groaned, as if this was something gross. "It always happens to hybrids."

She was getting on my nerves. I thought I better tell her the truth, and fast.

"I want to know everything you know," I said.

"Be more specific," Luna said. "I'm pretty sure I know a lot of things you don't."

"Maybe," I grinned. "It's also the other way around."

"I want to know if there's a realm I can journey on," I added. I knew it was a bad idea. It was the best one I had come up with in such a short time, though.

"I don't know how you figured it out," Luna sighed. "Or maybe it's just luck of the hybrid. Your lot is terribly receptive. Yes, I was indeed investigating another world these days..."

"I think you got me wrong," I hesitated. "I don't care about the realm you found. I want to move to the realm where the wine bottle was from. The one where the cursed thief was infected."

"Have you gone crazier than before?" Luna asked, as if it was already established that I was a bit mad. 

"This cannot be a coincidence."

"I can't help a threat like you into another realm," Luna said. 

"Am I a threat?" I asked. I hoped I didn't look too smug.

"Hardly," she replied. "But I don't trust you to control your powers."

"That's why I'd like to go to another realm for a while," I explained. "It might be a matter of days, or weeks. It will be until I understand how to control my powers in a way where I can't hurt those around me."

"I can see why you'd do that," Luna reasoned out loud. "There's no privacy here. You're too famous. Or should I say infamous? But why don't you go back to the human realm?"

She didn't add it, but it was clear her sentence ended with where you belong. I clenched my jaw. I had never belonged there. I never could.

"Don't you understand?" I asked. "I can't go back there. I'd risk hurting everyone I know. Magic should work less in the human realm, but that's no guarantee. Not for a hybrid. In another realm, I know I could keep my powers under control. If only the atmosphere there..."

I was struggling for words, when Luna seemed to get what I meant.

"Yes," she mused. "The main diffrence between the worlds is the level of the Aether. You're hoping that, in this unknown world, the balance of good and evil is different. You hope that the fact that your magic leans on the dark side won't be affected once you're out of here."

I wanted to thank her, but didn't know how. I hoped the look in my eyes conveyed how grateful I was.

"Yes," I said. "Yes. That's exactly what I'm hoping for."

"Well," Luna said. "That's clever."

"Will you help me journey on this parallel world?" I asked, out of breath. "I cannot do it alone."

"There's no precedent that the Circle ever helped with someone like that. So no, I won't. But I love challenges. My advice is, draw a magic circle. If you're powerful enough to cross it, I'll tell all of your friends what you've done and I'll cover you, making it sound like my idea."

I couldn't believe her words. "Thank you," I finally said. When I was a child, I thought life was worth living only if it was an adventure. Quite frankly, I still do.

"Oh, please, don't thank me," she replied. "I took pity on you, that's all."

She was right, after all. Usually, to space-shift you needed an Aeon, a Jurist and an Enlightener other than an Hierophant. I could never cross the worlds alone. It would probably kill me in the process.

But I couldn't plead. Luna cut the mental connection after that.

As I sat in my room, contemplating my bad choices, Raegan stormed into the room.

"I thought you were with the Traditionalists," I said. "Or whatever is their name now."

"I was," she confirmed. "And we haven't decided yet. I need to tell you something... It's about Jurji. He is in England, right now, because he is very good at natural magic..."

"Wait," I interrupted him. "Who is Jurji?"

"The person who wrote one of the letters we found on KI. The one who was a fan of the Traditionalists... I met him at our last convention."

"Huh. Obviously. Well, go on."

"Today he has to clear water that went bad after a magical attack," she said. "In the Bolton Strid."

"That's in the human realm," I pointed out.

"I know. It makes it even more dangerous," Raegan said matter-of-factly. "Basically, we've been keeping in touch. He's run into some problems. I think we should help him."

I hesitated, trying to understand how I could say no to Raegan without acting like a jerk.

It wasn't about the Bolton Strid, even though I knew from the human sources that while it appeared like a little creek in the countryside, its mortality rates were one hundred per cent. The deadliest body of water in the whole world, statistically speaking.

It was about my powers and the way my life was becoming more complicated each day. Since people had accused me of murder, and my adoptive parents had emotionally drained me, I hadn't rested once. I knew my powers were starting to pay for it.

"So, apparently water can go bad it if was infected by magic. Wait, what do you mean with bad?"

"That's why the Bolton Strid is so deadly," Raegan explained. "The humans think there's another reason for it. Of course, the Strid is 30 feet wide and there's a whirlwind sucking out the water. But the main problem is there have always been settlements of Enchanters who practised near there, in secret."

I felt a little light headed. 

"Okay," I said. I felt tired, but I figured I owed it to my friend. "Let's go purify the water!"

The Bolton Strid was very far from Brighton, so Raegan asked Edgar to create a portal. She also told our friend to stay home, because three people would seem suspicious. I imagined the real reason was Raegan didn't want other people to see her falter in case she coudn't use her powers very well.

We were teleported in Yorkshire, near the strid, in a matter of seconds.

I took a good look at the area. I had never gone there as a human because, as strange as it may seem, I never had a death wish. I've always been a little impulsive, a little out of control, very self-sacrificing --- but that was about it.

Nobody who has ever fallen in the creek has come back alive to tell. I shivered at the thought. In the meantime, Raegan approached Jurji, who was using some kind of magical tool to measure the depth of the water.

He wasn't hard to spot, with his light brown skin and wavy dark hair, and as  Raegan approached him, it was the first time I have ever seen my friend look self-conscious.

I decided to follow her, feeling some of my courage come back. If Raegan made a fool of herself in front of the Egyptian Enchanter, I could tease her for a few weeks at least.

I gulped at the realization that I might not have a few weeks left to live, but I decided not to think about it in that very moment. I didn't want to die drowned before I had the chance to help Edgar.

While I walked next to them, careful not to fall in the creek, I could hear their conversations.

"We should measure the depth of the water, see where the damage is with a clearance spell and..." Jurji started saying.

"And then place a curse on the Enchanters who practise here!" Raegan said enthusiastically. Jurji gave her the stink eye. Apparently, it wasn't how he wanted his plan to end.

When I saw Raegan's face, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Raegan told me everything about you," he rolled his eyes. "What the hell are you even doing here?" 

I shrugged. "I'm watching you two do all the hard work," I replied truthfully.

Raegan, who knew me well enough to know I wasn't really lazy when someone needed me, asked me to proceed with the clearance spell.

I hesitated. I did not want to startle anyone with my new, out of control powers. Was how Edgar was feeling all the time? But the clearance spell was easy enough. It was a spell you used in the darkness, in the mist or in the water to clear the view.

"We could turn it into a challenge," Raegan said. "Whoever clears more damaged spots get a prize."

"I'd rather work as a team," Jurji said. "Ryan can do the clearance spell, you can move the water to help me get to the spots, and I'll clean them."

"The spots we have to clean... do you mean cleaning them from some kind of ill feeling? Something that stagnated there?" I asked.

"Afraid so," Jurji replied. "Why do you think people keep drowning in this creek?"

"No idea," I said sarcastically. The clearance spell made me able to see how the creek looked under all that water, and it was as deadly as they come.

"Do you doubt my words?" Jurji asked. He was so tough, so stubborn, that the idea of contradicting him, even for a jest, didn't seem wise.

"No," I replied.

When Raegan started cleaning the water, my friends started speaking as if I wasn't even there.

"I like the direction the Traditionalism has taken," Jurji said. "But you know I was a fan of what you did before, too."

Raegan grinned, pleased. "You've heard about it, then," she said. "If they want to find out how to study the legends further, I'm happy to help."

She looked more serious and reserved for a minute. "Also," she added. "They were my tribe, I grew up with them. I wanted to help them, if they needed me to. I guess I'm a bit... over protective."

I wondered whether Raegan had ever done something because she wanted to, and not because it was the right thing to do. Then again, I wasn't one to judge. It was the story of my life.

"I am too," Jurji sighed. "Over protective. You met my friends, Zara and Lila."

"They're like sisters to me," he added. "I miss them so much when I'm in England. I always think of them, of how they're doing... of course, I know they're all right. It's foolish of me to think any different. But still..."

"I totally get that," Raegan said softly. I had never seen her so at ease with anyone.

"You should probably go back," Jurji told us. "I need to show the creek to my boss, as he paid for the trip. Either way, I'd love to see you again, Raegan."

When Jurji was walking away, in the distance, Raegan opened us a portal to go back home.

"I think I like him," she said, with the voice of someone who's afraid she's caught a sickness.

"You don't say," I replied sarcastically.

"We really should head back," she said glumly.

"Yes," I replied more drily than I intended to.

While Raegan and Jurji were chatting, I believed I found out how I could space-shift without getting the help of my friends.

Now all that was left to do was see if Luna would hold to her side of the bargain.