As lovely as holding each other might be, it was considerably more comfortable once Hecate permitted Ada to transfer them to her sofa. If Hecate had been paying attention she would have noticed that Ada had enlarge it slightly, so that both of them could recline comfortably, but Hecate's head was buried in the crook of Ada's neck and she couldn't be bothered with the specific dimensions of office furniture just then.

Ada carefully shifted so she might slip off her shoes and prop her legs up without letting go of Hecate. Two cat-adorned slippers fell to the carpet, allowing Ada to stretch out properly. They lay in silence for some time, their bodies pressed together in a way that, despite the somber mood, made Ada feel warm and peaceful. Hecate's angular frame and Ada's soft curves fit together in a way that struck Ada as completely natural, as if it had always meant to be. She ran her fingertips lightly up and down Hecate's arm, trying to keep her own magic as quiet and contained as possible.

She could ask Hecate if it's better, but she didn't need to. The way Hecate relaxed in her arms, her breathing now calm and even was reassurance enough. She wondered if they were both on the brink of sleep when-

"Miss Cackle? Miss Cackle!?" The door to Miss Cackles office was flung open with such a loud bang that Hecate fell right off the sofa in alarm and wound up sprawled on the ground. Into the office tumbled Enid, followed by Maud hot on her heels, both girls panting and shouting over each other.

"Mildred was – and then – I think – TROUBLE."

"GIRLS!" cried Miss Hardbroom, scrambling to her feet.

Enid and Maud's mouths snapped closed, their eyes bulging at Miss Hardbroom as if seeing her for the very first time. Maud looked like she was on the brink of tears.

Ada was on her feet too, a hand resting on the small of Hecate's back, a gentle encouragement for calm. Even in a crisis she was poised. Steady. "Enid? Maud? What's happened?"

Maud and Enid both began to speak over each other again, but Ada silenced them with a raised hand. She beckoned them forward to sit down on a pair of chairs and catch their breath.

"Now, one at a time," Ada prompted.

Maud explained hastily about the trap they'd set for Miss Broomhead at which point Hecate squeaked and looked as if she were fit to explode. Ada shot her a loaded look, a promise that later she would explain how her private horror had become known to Mildred Hubble, of all people. Maud barreled on, explaining how the camera hadn't been working and Mildred had taken off to fix it.

As Enid pulled out her maglet to show the last bit of footage the camera had recorded, Hecate grew very pale, clutching at the back of Ada's chair for support.

"…and then it just cut out." Enid cried, tears bubbling over. "And we didn't know what to do and-"

"Alright," said Ada, standing quickly. There wasn't a moment to lose, not with a student in danger. "Near Blackthorn Grove is where she was last so I'll start there. Hecate, if you would take the girls and inform the other teachers-"

"No," said Hecate empathetically, sparks dancing around her fingers in a haphazard fashion. More inadvertent magic, Ada noticed. "I'll go with you."

"Hecate."

"If she's taken Mildred off school grounds, only I can show you where she's gone," Hecate insisted. "The girls can apprise Miss Drill of the situation, but I'm coming with you. Malfunctioning magic be damned."

She left no room for argument and Ada was forced to agree, even if she didn't like the idea very much. "Alright, girls? Straight to Miss Drill. The minute we leave the gates, the school is on lockdown. Do you understand?"

Enid and Maud both nodded and Ada snapped her fingers to summon Miss Drill into her office.

"Sorry, Dimity," Ada apologized as Dimity looked around in surprise. "The girls will explain. Hecate?"

Hecate took Ada's outstretched hand and in a flash, they were gone.


Hecate had been right, there was no sign of Mildred or Miss Broomhead in the woods except for a telltale circle of wilted grass near what remained of Maud's glamour spell. Ada would have spent more time admiring the spell work, had the situation not been so urgent. Instead she turned her attention to their one clue, the dying plants that formed an uncanny sort of void in an otherwise lush wood.

Hecate glared at the circle. Bad magic always left scars of some kind or another. She ought to know.

Ada poked at the circle with a stick to see how potent the magic that lingered was. The stick began crumbling into ash and Ada dropped it like a hot poker. Recent, then. That was something. She couldn't have been gone for long.

"Hecate?" Hecate was staring at the remains of the stick, unblinking.

Ada folded her arms, considering. Something about this situation wasn't adding up. "Hecate, why would Broomhead have taken her? Fewer witnesses? Why not a memory charm then? It makes no sense."

Hecate shook her head slowly, eyes still trained on the circle on the forest floor. Like a hint of perfume that lingered in an empty room, Hecate could sense Broomhead's specific magic at work. Familiar and sweet and painful. It wasn't drowning her as it once had, but the memories it brought were vivid and alarming. It wasn't until Ada put a hand on her arm that she was able to tear herself away.

"She'll have use for Mildred," came Hecate's voice. "She was probably intent on using me, but she found Mildred and…and Mildred was trying to help me."

Ada's hand tightened on Hecate's arm. "Needs her?"

"For her spell," Hecate explained, her eyes wide, her heart beating rapidly. "She's going to use Mildred for her spell."

Ada looked positively horrified. Hecate glanced up at the sky. There were only a few hours of daylight left, and then a full moon would rise.

"I know where she's gone," Hecate said. "The preparation will take hours by herself. She'll already be there."

"At the graveyard?" Ada surmised.

"Of sorts," said Hecate, wince at the image in her mind.

"Where is it?" Ada demanded, unable to keep the fear out of her voice completely.

"I…I don't know how to tell you." Hecate stammered, anxiety growing every second. "It's hidden, you need to have been there to get there."

Ada swallowed as Hecate paced back and forth. "If I had my magic I could be there already," she cried, wringing her hands. "I don't know how-"

"Could I help?" Ada asked. "If I cast the transference spell, could you direct it?"

Hecate stopped in her tracks. "I don't know," she said, biting her lip. It was risky. Very risky, given her current state and all that could go wrong with transference spells.

"We could test it," Ada suggested. "Over a very short distance."

Hecate nodded in agreement, despite the fear bearing down on her chest. They had to try. She took Ada's outstretched hand and they locked eyes.

"Ten feet in that direction," Ada suggested, tilting her head to the left.

Hecate frowned. "I need to pick the destination, or you'll direct it without meaning to," she pointed out.

"Right."

Hecate looked around and made a decision. "Whenever you're ready," she said, giving Ada's hands a squeeze.

The familiar sensation of Ada's magic engulfed the pair of them and Hecate felt as if her body was being pulled in every direction. She focused as hard as she could on their destination, even as her own magic leapt with enthusiasm and jerked them both forward.

They stumbled as they reappeared several feet away. Ada brushed herself off and straighten up. "Where you meant us to be?" she asked.

Hecate almost smiled. "Yes," she said, clearing her throat. Taking a deep breath, she checked her pocket watch. They couldn't afford to spend any more of their time practicing, as much as Hecate might want a few more easier ones before attempted to transport them halfway to Yorkshire and through several magic barriers.

"The next one is going to be considerably more difficult," she warned Ada, feeling obligated to give Ada a way out even she'd never take it.

Ada ran her hand down Hecate's arm in a soothing fashion. "We'll manage," she said with a determined little nod. "I'm certain."

Hecate did not share Ada's certainty, but Ada's look of determination did buoy Hecate's spirits. In her chest, her magic was turning shaky cartwheels.

"Hold on tight," Hecate urged. "It's certain to be bumpy."

Ada grasped Hecate's hands as tightly as she dared. "Just like before, only with a little more kick," she promised Hecate, letting the magic flow.

Hecate nodded and the pair of them dissolved in a shower of colour.


Bumpy, would turn out to be an understatement. After rattling around for what felt like an age in indeterminate space, Hecate and Ada landed hard, falling forward onto damp earth in a strange place. Clouds that seemed too dark and too thick to be real blotted out the sunlight and here was a strange scent was in the air, wafting towards the pair of them over the rolling hills.

Hecate was just pulling herself up out of a puddle when the distinct sound of a crackling fire drew her attention. She looked around nervously, orienting herself.

"This way," she all but whispered to Ada, indicating her head to the hill. Ada stared incredulously at Hecate's outstretched hand – not an offer she'd known from Hecate in their entire fifteen-year history.

After a split second of hesitation, Ada grasped Hecate's hand and Hecate smiled grimly at her. It turned out to be a practical decision, because this hill was muddy and difficult to climb. As they neared the top, a voice on the wind turned Hecate's veins to ice.

"Bones of an ancient one,

a poet's lost dream.

The fear of a loyal witch,

hear her scream!"

A cry pierced the air but it wasn't that of a young girl in pain. It was Hecate, having stumbled a good way forward, propelled by on magic that seemed to be a chaotic web of her own making.

"Stop it!" Hecate shouted. Ada scrambled forward to see what was happening.

It was the smallest graveyard that Ada had ever seen, just three great gleaming stones. A small figure – Mildred Hubble, Ada realized with a lurch, recognizing the girls signature braids – was pinned to the closest headstone, held fast by some invisible magic. In front of her was a cauldron, perched on a roaring fire and emitting a thick black smoke that cast an uncanny haze over the proceedings. A woman, Miss Broomhead without a doubt, was peering through the artificial darkness at them, her face like thunder.

Before Hecate and Ada could so much as exchange glances, they both felt a wave of cold sweep over them, freezing them in place. Hecate gasped and sputtered as the chill squeezed her chest and stiffened every muscle. Of course, Miss Broomhead's choice would have been a particularly painful petrification spell. It should be a difficult one to maintain for long, Hecate thought, but that conclusion hinged on her having her full powers to push against it, and Hecate didn't have anything of the sort.

Miss Broomhead flexed her fingers and slowly the two immobilized witches were dragged towards her. Hecate was unable to wince as her ankle scraped against the ground.

"Hecate Hardbroom." A hard voice pierced through Hecate's head as Miss Broomhead came into clear view. "What precisely are you doing?"

Hecate went to open her mouth, but it was locked shut by the power of the petrification spell. Miss Broomhead looked surprised and glanced from Hecate to Ada. "And Miss Cackle, I must say I am surprised to see you here as well."

"That's my pupil," came Ada's voice, it's ferocity giving Hecate heart. "And I must insist you let her go immediately."

"The girl is free to go when the spell is complete," Miss Broomhead said. "Which you so rudely interrupted."

Miss Broomhead's eyes flashed over Hecate's frozen form again and she hesitated. "What's happened to you, Hecate?" She took a step forward, unable to help her burning curiosity.

Hecate's chest was a box of firecrackers, her magic roiling about in unmitigated chaos, unable to organize some kind of defense against Miss Broomhead's spell.

Miss Broomhead waved a hand and Hecate's mouth fell open.

"Let Mildred go," Hecate spat.

Miss Broomhead ignored her, leaning closer. "Very peculiar," she muttered, frowning. She brought her hand up mere inches from Hecate's nose. Ada watched, silent and helpless, as the awful witch cast a probing spell over Hecate, searching for what was different.

Miss Broomhead's laugh at her discovery was a sharp, cold sound that pierced Ada's heart. "All this beautiful power, Hecate, and no order, no control? Now where have I seen that before? You need a teacher, my dear."

Ada's eyes widened as Miss Broomhead slammed her palm into Hecate's chest, pouring her magic into Hecate's body with unrelenting ferocity. If she could have screamed, she would have. If she could have launched herself at Miss Broomhead or hexed her into oblivion, she would have. Instead she could do nothing but watch in abject horror. The witch was clearly enjoying herself, Ada thought, whatever she was doing. Miss Broomhead was too gleeful for it to be anything but awful. Hecate's eyes had gone from painfully wide to rolled back, her mouth twisting in agony. Ada felt the ground beneath her feet and realized she could wiggle her toes. Miss Broomhead's spell was weakening, likely from her distraction. Ada fought back the urge to release all of her power against the petrification spell, fearful of the attention it would draw. Instead, she closed her eyes and focused on Hecate's presence. If only she could reach out and touch her…


Miss Broomhead's was magic that was familiar to Hecate, bringing her back to the halls of her university, to the particular feeling of standing in Miss Broomhead's workroom. She could hear her admonishments, her bouts of frustration with her that Hecate longed to atone for. The feeling of needed to do more, to be more for her. There was a time Hecate would have given anything to surrender this much of her magic at her mentors' feet, but she'd never been able to let her have it. Now there was nothing stopping Miss Broomhead from taking it all and twisting it as she pleased. The more Hecate tried to pull it away from her, to protect what little of herself that she could, the more frenzied everything around her became.

"Hecate."

Ada's voice was so faint that Hecate almost didn't notice it, her head swimming as it was. But it was so clearly Ada, soft and distant.

Hecate realized her eyes were closed and when she ventured to open them there was nothing to see but shadows around her, great looming spectres of every wicked thing she'd ever seen, ever done.

"Hecate."

Ada's voice again, quiet but persistent. For a moment, she could have sworn she caught a whiff of Ada's perfume. Sweet, but not overly so, with a hint of floral. Ada had worn it for as long as Hecate had known her and there was no mistaking it.

Ada? Hecate's lips didn't move when she told them to, but the thought cut through the din in her mind. Over the racket of Miss Broomhead shouting, her head splitting, and the feeling of her skin bubbling and burning came a quiet, firm declaration.

"Hecate, I'm right here."

Ada shouldn't be here, not in this place. Hecate tried to tell her, tried to warn her to go back, but she didn't even know where she was. A faint light appeared in Hecate's field of vision, cutting through the gloom. It solidified into a golden thread that snaked towards Hecate's feet, immune to the flurry of shadows around them.

"Hecate. Please come back to me."

The proximity of Ada's magic made Hecate's heart pound rapidly. It felt wrong for Ada to see her here, to know her like this. When Miss Broomhead was in control of her magic there was nothing good in her any longer. Maybe there never had been, maybe Ada would see that now that she'd been lying to her since the beginning-

You know that's rubbish, Hecate Hardbroom. The voice wasn't Ada's this time, it was her own. She wasn't Miss Broomhead's pet anymore, and she refused to let her make her feel this way for one more second, or to take what wasn't rightly hers.

Hecate reached for the golden thread with all of her might and to her surprise it snapped up into her outstretched hand. She could feel Ada's magic humming through it, steady and safe. Her own magic burst forth, seeking Ada's, and Hecate let it.

A great many things happened at once. The darkness lifted, leaving Hecate looking Miss Broomhead defiantly in the eye for a fraction of a second, before the force of Hecate's and Ada's combined magic cracked Miss Broomhead's hold and sent her flying backwards. Mildred's binding spell cracked as well and she rushed forward, kicking the cauldron over and dosing the fire with thick black sludge that gurgled and sparked. Ada and Hecate were drawn together with such speed that Hecate feared she winded Ada by slamming into her chest, but Ada remained upright and steady, grasping Hecate by the shoulders to prevent her from sliding to the ground. A soft golden glow surrounded the pair of them like a protective aura, and Hecate wasn't sure where her magic ended and Ada's begun. The confinement charm came from the pair of them as naturally as breathing and Miss Broomhead's limbs snapped to her sides as she collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.

There was a beat of silence as Mildred, Ada, and Hecate stared at Miss Broomhead. The glow surrounding Ada and Hecate faded slowly, and Hecate began to feel the earth solid beneath her feet, the wind on her face, and Ada's arm around her waist. The world had righted itself.

Mildred broke the silence. "Do you think we could melt her with a bucket of water?"

Hecate looked confused but Ada laughed, a bright cheerful sound that made Hecate's heart soar.

"We'll leave that decision to the Great Wizard," Ada told her, accepting Mildred's grateful hug with her free arm. Ada glanced at Hecate. "I think we ought to go inform him of his options."

Hecate nodded and she smiled softly at Ada. "Indeed."