The woods pressed close around them, ancient and whispering, the air damp with the promise of rain. Melinda's lantern threw a thin golden circle across the underbrush, while Diana's fingers skimmed the brittle pages of an open grimoire, muttering directions as if the forest itself were listening.

"The locator spell didn't lie," Diana said, her voice tight."The Purine flower is here. But it won't open until the full moon, five nights from now."

Melinda exhaled sharply, tucking a strand of hair ...