Caster Chronicles 3
by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Ethan drams about fighting about fighting himself on top of the water tower. he is waken up by falling out of bed for the fifth morning in a row. Link is already there when Ethan goes down for breakfast. Link is getting used to being part incubus and jokes some. The food tastes bad to Ethan. Amma warns him that trouble is on the way.
Gatlin is having a heat wave and an infestation of lubbers (black grasshoppers that swarm like locus). Ethan and Link pull into the school parking lot to see that Lena is driving the hearse and dressing like herself. Ridley uses the car to change out of the “appropriate” dress her grandma had picked out. Savannah Snow flirts with Link and he enjoys her and Ridley arguing over him. Emily is disgusted by the scene, proving Link’s new chick magnet power doesn’t affect everyone. Savannah notices Lena’s gold eye and makes a comment. Lena blows her off.
Ridley has trouble adjusting to high school life. The guys drool over her, but she only shows interest in Link. Savannah also continues pursuing him. Ethan hears a strange voice in his head. When he looks down at his notebook, it says “I’m waiting” in his own handwriting. Ridley uses a spell to change her and Link’s schedule to get away from Savannah. Lena and Ethan try to tell her how dangerous it is to cast as a mortal. Ridley points out that Ethan and Liv performed a cast to let Macon out of the archlight. Ethan misses Liv.
Ethan and Lena leave after school and go back to Ravenwood. They contemplate how the world has changed and how to fix it. Lena knows that she will have to pay a price for her choice; she just doesn’t know when. Later at dinner, Ethan’s dad says that an idea for a book called “Eighteen Moons,” came to him. Ethan and Amma freak out. While lying in bed, he kelts the news to Lena. they think it might be Abraham or Sarafine. Ethan hears the song “Eighteen Moons.”
Kitchen is having trouble cooking and the rest of the caster world is also feeling the affects of the broken order. Macon reads mortal newspapers from around the world, noting the disasters. Even Jackson High is having some abnormalities. After school, Ridley drags Ethan and Lena to watch Link’s scrimmage. The cheerleaders are there and Savannah decides to cheer Link’s name. Ridley tells her to leave Link alone. Savannah refuses. Ridley has all the cheerleaders stack in a pyramid and fall on her. Ethan and Lena decide to go into the tunnels to talk to Macon. Lena doesn’t like Ethan going down their because of Liv.
Lena decides to use the secret door in Ridley’s room to get to the tunnels. her bedroom door is stuck and Ethan thinks he hears an incubus rip out before it opens. Lena is curious about Doritos in Ridley’s room because she knows her cousin likes sweet and not salty things. They make it into the tunnels and overhear Macon and Liv talking about John Breed being bred for a reason. Macon thinks he is the “Adam” and Lena might be the “Eve” to a new species Abraham is working on. Lena runs to her room and Ethan follows, not letting them know that they learned their secret.
Lena goes with Ethan and Aunt Del to the house she spent her first year in, the one Sarafine burned to the ground. Aunt Del is only able to show them a slight memory of Sarafine holding Lena. They find a lockbox and they are taken into a vision. Izabel turns dark and goes to her mother for help. Her mother turns her away and tells her that her true name is Sarafine. Lena realizes that her mother was just like her.
Ethan has another dram featuring himself, his double, and a river of blood. He wakes up and calls Link. His best friend comes over and they talk. Link hears Amma downstairs leaving the house. They follow her through the outer door at the fairgrounds into the tunnels. She exits through another door arriving in New Orleans. They continue to follow her into a cemetery and eventually a tomb of a Voodoo queen, where they find a trap door.
Link and Ethan finally catch up and hear Amma’s conversation with a dark Voodoo man (a bokor). She shows him her spread of cards and which death she wants to change. He asks if she knows where something is hidden and she replies that it is, it is free. He says she knows the price to save the one that is already lost and she agrees to it.
Ethan goes to talk to Marian about Amma’s trip. Marian agrees to do some research, but knows she won’t be able to answer the big question: what was in the cards that Amma wanted to change? Ethan reads a paper saying that Marian is suspended because the order is broken. They leave the archive to see books everywhere. They open, read, and clean, getting messages of madness and death.
Ethan wakes up from a dream to find Abraham in his room wanting to know where John is. Ethan says that he doesn’t know, but Abraham doesn’t believe him. Link travels for the first time to come help Ethan, but ends up landing on top of him. Amma comes in and threatens Abraham, who makes his own threat before unleashing a wind in the bedroom.
Abraham calls on his vexes and they circle the room. Amma starts to call the greats, but is interrupted by Abraham’s departure. The vexes go out the window and spread over the town. No one can sleep, so the three of them sit around the table until the phone rings. Amma answers and then tells the boys to drive her. Main Street is a wreck and the library is burning, but worst of all, part of Ethan’s great Aunt’s house collapsed. His Aunt Prue is unresponsive. Ethan starts running, knowing he has to find John somehow.
Ethan, his dad, and Amma deal with the remaining two “healthy” Sisters moving in wit them. Amma helps Ethan sneak Lena into his room so they can have some time together. Ethan notices Lena’s copy of Great Expectations is the one they found at the ruins of Sarafine’s old house. He tries to take it from her and they slip into a vision. Sarafine goes to John Eades to tell him she went dark. They decide to run away so they can still be together. Lena points out the marking throughout the book.
Ethan and Lena go to visit Aunt Prue. Lean gives him some time alone and he is able to talk to her when he falls asleep. She says he was there the previous night asking if he could go over with her. He asks if she is coming back with him, but she doesn’t know. She does know that the wheel of fate isn’t done with him yet. Lena returns and he wakes up. The nurse comes along to shoo them out. Lena goes back for her purse and Ethan sneaks in to visit a boy who keeps writing something in the same spot of a page. He moves the paper and the boy, named John, writes that the world will end on the eighteenth moon.
Ethan is so freaked out, he has trouble driving. Lena controls the car while they discuss the signs Ethan has received. They think John Breed’s eighteenth moon is the one they need to worry about. Out in front of the church, the town Christians are gathered to inform that the end is near and demons are coming.
Ethan decides to talk to Amma about John and the eighteenth moon, but when he gets to her door, he smells the dark voodoo. She won’t tell him what she is doing so he decides not to ask for help. He also realizes that he has been forgetting things a lot lately. He calls Marian and asks her to meet him at Ravenwood. He kelts Lena next and then goes to pick up Link. They examine the scorch marks leading up to the gate. They notice the house shaking and try to get inside, but the door won’t open for Ethan. Lena has to let them in. Everyone gathers around a table. Liv shows up and starts explaining her measurements of the tremors. Ethan mixes up kelting with Lena and actually saying Liv’s name. he goes on to suggest that the tremors are coming from inside the house. Macon walks through Ethan’s mind and finds an uninvited guest is with him and something is missing. Ethan gets angry and storms out after informing them of John’s eighteenth moon.
Ethan dreams about the voice again. While in his room thinking about Lena, he sees another vision of her mother. She has become obsessed with fire. There is a voice in her head. She is trying to keep these secrets from John. Ethan comes back and his mom is there as a sheer. She comforts him and tells him he needs to let go because it was her time to go. She tries to reassure him before she leaves.
While at the Dairy King, Ethan eats the infamously disgusting tatter tots and Ridley explains why they were invited to Savannah’s party: she joined the cheerleading squad. Lena is furious. They go to watch Ridley cheer (and upset Savannah). Ethan tells Lena that Ridley has to deal with her own problems. He tells her that his mom came to him and mentioned the wheel of fate being a person and evil having many faces. Lena says they are leaving to solve Ethan’s problem.
Lena takes Ethan to the library where they find his dad, Mitchell, talking with their teacher, Lilian English. Ethan and Lena get away from them and Marian sends the adults away. She tells them that the council of the Far Keep is coming to ask questions. Ethan demands to stay and sends Lena to get Macon so they can be there for her.
The council arrives and start their judging. Marian admits that she didn’t stop Liv and sent her away to protect her from them. Liv shows up anyway, taking all responsibility for her actions. The council leaves. Macon asks Lena for her help with caster records and Ethan to take Liv home. On the way, Ethan takes Liv to Wate’s Landing for some of Amma’s cooking. While getting a jar of preserves from the basement, Ethan and Liv find a secret door that was probably used to hide runaway slaves. It leads to a tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel, they find a caster door, Temporis Porta. Ethan tries to open it, but it won’t budge. He tells it to show him what he is supposed to see and it opens. He sees Marian’s trial at the Far Keep. She is found guilty of treason. No one seems to be able to see or hear him until he runs into Mrs. English. She explains that someone must be blamed for the order being broken and only Ethan can stop the wheel of fate from crushing them all. The door appears in the middle of the scene. Ethan touches it and is brought back to the tunnel. He explains to Liv what happened and they think it is a possible future, if not the future. They agree to keep Marian away from the council.
Ethan goes to check on Marian, but she doesn’t answer the door. Liv shows up for the same reason and they have a chance to catch up. She admits that she misses him and he returns the sentiment. He gives her an invite to Savannah’s party so they can all hang out, but she doesn’t commit. At the movie theater, Ethan tells Lena about inviting Liv to the party. She isn’t happy about it, but is quickly distracted by Ethan forgetting their usual order of popcorn and Milk-duds. Link and Ridley (who each showed up with separate dates) also requires their attention. Ethan tells Link to ask Ridley to Savannah’s party as his date. Link debates. Later, he ends up beating up Ridley’s date. Ethan goes home and finds a note from Liv saying she is going to the party.
Ethan, Lena, and Link go to the party. Ridley shows up late and Liv even later. Ethan leaves Lena and Liv to talk and overhears that Savannah set up the party so college basketball scouts could meet Link. Ethan goes to tell him, but he doesn’t care. he goes to Ridley and says that it has always been her. She turns him down and he goes back to Savannah, who kisses him. Ridley casts a furor and everyone starts fighting, including Lena and Liv expressing their true feelings. Ethan takes them to Ravenwood, which wipes the spell off of them. They open Ridley’s door to yell at her and See John Breed.
Ridley dug up the archlight and released him from it only to keep him trapped in Ravenwood. She has a belt with a scorpion that allows her to use his powers to cast. they bring in Reece, who confirms that he is telling the truth. They decide to take John to Marian in the tunnels.
All together, they gather at a table. John says that they have been underestimating Ridley when she wants something he goes on to tell them that he absorbs caster’s powers when he touches them. The caster keeps their power, but so does he. however, he’s not sure how to use most of them. John quotes some racist propaganda he was made to memorize by Abraham and Silas. Macon asks John how he know his father and John tells them that Silas raised him.
Ethan and Lena spend a lot of time reading while Macon and Liv question John. Ridley has disappeared. Eventually, Ethan goes to see Aunt Prue. He dreams of her again and she gives him a necklace to give to Lena, saying it will help her watch over the caster girl. Ethan goes to Lena’s and she holds out her hand for the necklace, saying Aunt Prue also came to her to say goodbye. The shadowing song tells Ethan the one who is two will fix the order.
Amma locks herself in her room when she sees Ethan writing left handed (he’s normally a righty), but won’t tell him what is going on. At school, he finds his dad having lunch with Mrs. English. She asks him to videotape the classes reenactment of the Crucible. He agrees. During the whole ordeal, Ethan wonders if there is a deeper meaning to him playing John. He sees his reflection in the camera lens isn’t quite following his movements and leaves the room as quickly as he can completely freaked out.
Amma sends Ethan to Mrs. English’s house with a plate of cookies to apologize. She invites him in and suddenly, Abraham and Sarafine arrive with the Book of Moons. They chant a cast and Mrs. English becomes Lilum, the wheel of fate (the demon queen). Abraham commands her to create a new order ruled by darkness. Lilum doesn’t like being commanded and sends him and Sarafine away. She tells Ethan that for a new order, there must be a sacrifice by the one who is two. Lena will bind it, and Ethan is tasked with finding the person.
Ethan and Lena sit in Mrs. English’s empty classroom talking about what happened. They decide to leave the school and go down to the lake to have some time alone without thinking.
They join Liv in Macon’s study in the tunnels to question John. Eventually, he starts talking. They find out his birthday (as far as he knows) is December 22 (the winter solstice). Silas raised him as an incubus to hate casters. Abraham thinks casters are the inferior race and all (light and dark) need to be wiped out. Back at home, Ethan decides to read. He feels Lena turning a page and they are suck into another vision. Sarafine is nineteen years old and has Lena. She can only think about fire and her daughter. Abraham appears and shows Sarafine how to control her powers. He also shows her the prophecy stating that she would go dark, but Lena would have a choice.
Amma prepares Thanksgiving dinner. Ethan and Lena feel bad when Liv doesn’t show up, so they decide to take her some of Amma’s pecan pie. Ethan goes down into the tunnels while Lena stays behind to check out Ridley’s room. Ethan eavesdrops on John and Liv flirting. After a while, he announces himself and asks Liv for her help. He attempts to apologize, but also warns her about John. He asks her about the wheel of fate. Liv thinks it has to do with the symbol on the Temporis Porta and Ethan.
After waking up from another nightmare, Ethan decides to go to the bokor for answers. Link happens to be outside of his house and they leave for New Orleans with Lucille following. The bokor shows Ethan a sheer of himself and explains that his soul was divided when Lena and Amma brought him back. They ask how to fix it, but the bokor says that he and Amma are working on it. He asks about the price Amma has to pay, but the bokor won’t say.
Ethan finally confronts Amma when he gets home. Her reaction convinces him that she is going crazy. She prays to the greats for forgiveness when Ethan tell her he went to see the bokor. She draws a sparrow with a broken wing from the deck. The greats don’t answer. Ethan buys tickets for the winter formal because it maybe their last chance. Lena isn’t happy about it because of what happened last year, but agrees to go. Ethan also convinces Link, who isn’t happy about Savannah being his date. Link is still torn up over Ridley, so Lena decides to take his mind off of it.
Link and Savannah pick up Ethan for the dance and head to Ravenwood. Lena surprises Ethan by inviting John and Liv, obviously a couple now, to be their dates until they get inside. John rips Link and Savannah to the dance and Lena explains that the band has to arrive early before they head to the hearse.
They arrive at the school and Link is having a great time performing. Ridley shows up and shows Link that she became a siren again so that they can be together. He refuses to join the bad guys and she leaves. The whole group gets ready to leave, but meet up with Hunting and his blood pack. They were able to track John because he left the tunnels. Liv tells John to rip, but he refuses. Link goes to back him up. Macon arrives and uses his new light caster power to emulate light, killing Hunting’s pack, but doesn’t have the energy to finish off his brother.
Back at Ravenwood, Ethan and Lena sit on the front porch. Lean is worried that Ridley will end up like Sarafine. Ethan touches Lena’s bracelet that was her mothers and they slip into a vision. Sarafine spends a lot of time in a study Abraham made her in the tunnels. She is trying to figure out how to control her powers and the voices in her head. Hunting mocks her for trying to be light. She overhears her half brother talking with Abraham about John Breed and taking out the casters. Back home, she tells her husband about the prophecy and how she is trying to help Lena. John, her husband, threatens to leave with Lena if Sarafine doesn’t stop seeing Abraham. She surrounds him with fire.
Later that night, Lena wakes up Ethan to tell him that Marian is gone and Macon went to help her. Lena, Ethan, John, and Liv head to the Temporis Porta. Ethan is frustrated at first. Liv and him figure out the wheels on the door are for the three keepers that came to visit Marian with the Caster Chronicles, which represent past, present, and the future that will/will not be. When Ethan stops seeing a door and starts seeing a path, he is granted access. He tells Liv about his experience with Lilum and she says a Lilum on Earth means the apocalypse. They form a chain and go through.
They are at Marian’s sentencing. Just as they declare that she is guilty of treason and must be sent back to the dark fire, Macon shows up. John announces himself. He has Lena and Macon show off and points out that he can do the same. Angelus, the keeper in charge, is furious. There is a flash of light and they are all back at the Temporis Porta, including Marian.
Back in Macon’s study, the entire group starts talking about what is going on. Angelus hates mortals and they wonder if he is in league with Abraham. Marian only has a week until her sentence is supposed to be carried out. Lena and Ethan go to their spot in the Greenbriar garden. Abraham and Sarafine show up to kill Lena because they think she is the one that is two. Lena overpowers her mothers flame. Ethan escapes Abraham with the help from the other half of his soul. Sarafine pleads with Lena for her life, but gives away her lack of caring by saying the exact same thing she said when she killed her husband, John. They face off against Abraham, but all Lena can think about is how she killed her mother. The incubus tells them they are out of time.
Abraham uses the Book of Moons to open up the earth and release demons. Ethan and Lena start to run, but there is an earthquake ripping up the ground like a loose seem. Link is heading for them in the beater with Boo running beside it. He uses his traveling power to get to them and rips them all out of there. They end up by some trees and head for the cemetery. The ground starts shaking again and the graves all start to empty. they see a demon animate a corpse and then leave the body behind. Link compares their situation to how the Bible describes the end.
Ethan’s shadowing song predicted eighteen deaths. There are sixteen at the morgue. Ethan is pretty sure he knows who number seventeen is. When he gets to Aunt Prue, Amma, Twyla, Arelia, and Leah are already there. Ethan takes the hand of his great-aunt so he can say goodbye. He is suddenly at the vault door inside the caster club, Exile. Aunt Prue opens the door when Ethan cannot. She asks him to walk a little ways with her like he promised. Ethan looks through the door and sees himself. He gets ready to go through, but Amma and the rest of the girls stop him.
The family scrambles around to try to meet all of Prue’s last requests in the letter she wrote. At the funeral, she shows herself to Ethan. She has a few complaints, but is overall happy with the turnout. Amma reads a prophetic poem.
Ethan dreams about fighting himself on the water tower again. Jon wakes him up and tells him to take him there because he believes he is the two who is one. Liv shows up. They say their goodbyes and John jumps off of the water tower. Lilum says that John is not the one.
Ethan, Liv, and John are transported back to Ethan’s room.
Ethan goes to Mrs. English’s house and starts asking her about the eighteenth moon. He is transported to his ancestor’s field at Wate’s Landing where he waters the field. He knows that he is the one who is two, the crucible. He bargains with Lilum and she promises to save his friends. He is ready. He returns to Mrs. English’s living room and calls 9-1-1 because she collapses again. He leaves before the ambulance arrives and goes to spend his last hours with Lena.
Ethan hangs out with Link and gives him an Aquaman comic book to remember him. Link admits that the Twinkie that started their friendship never touched the floor. Ethan goes to see Marian (who is no longer sentenced by the Far Keep) and Liv. They figure it out quickly and say their goodbyes.
Lena has a hard time dealing with Ethan’s possible death. He gives her his map. She gives him her charm necklace. He tries to get her to promise that she will bind the new order, but she doesn’t think she can.
Ethan goes to the water tower in the middle of the night so that no one will try to talk him out of it. John shows up because Ethan was there when he tried to pay the debt to create the new order. Amma shows up with the bokor, who starts releasing unclaimed souls to stop Ethan. John is useless against them. macon shows up and sucks the souls into holes he creates in the universe and then closes them up. Macon threatens the bokor and he leaves. Amma calls on the greats to stop Ethan, but they abandon her to do what is right. Ethan starts climbing.
At the top of the water tower, Ethan fights with the other half of his soul, who is trying to stop him. They fall off of the tower and Ethan thinks of Lena the whole way down.