The Witching Hour

They defeated Silas Longshade. They sealed his essence inside the crystal. And Megan came home. But the spell that saved her did something no one saw coming.

When Megan and Silas were trapped together—pressed into the same wand, bound by the same desperate magic—something of him stayed behind. Not a ghost. Not a memory. A presence. Now Megan carries two minds inside one body.

At first, the changes are subtle. Her magic is stronger. Sharper. Unstable. Spells in class explode beyond their limits, surging with a power she never learned and cannot contain. Accidents become inevitable. Fear follows.

The coven tells her it’s trauma. A side effect of what she endured. They’re wrong.

Silas is awake inside her—ancient, brilliant, and endlessly patient. His will bleeds into her thoughts. His power floods her spells. And every time Megan reaches for magic, he reaches too. Day by day, his presence grows heavier. Day by day, Megan fades.

Friendships fracture under the weight of her cruelty and detachment. Trust turns to fear. And the boy she loves watches helplessly as the girl he knew slips further away—replaced by someone colder, sharper… merciless.

The teachers sense a darkness they cannot name. The wards tremble. The academy itself begins to respond to the power building inside her.

Because Silas Longshade was never trapped in the crystal. He was reborn. And if the coven cannot separate them in time, Megan won’t just be lost. She’ll become the vessel that finishes what Silas started—and Coven Cove will fall from within.