The Once and Future Witches

Juniper refuses to believe Lee’s news that the tower is burning. She uses the summoning portal that Agnes drew to travel to the tower, where she sees Hill supervising the burning. Hill spies Juniper and congratulates her for helping him destroy magic once and for all. Juniper returns to her sisters with the bad news. They know they will soon be hunted and must take shelter with Quinn’s mother in New Cairo. After everyone is settled for the night, Bella shares Quinn’s bed, and the two women make love. 

Bella slips out early the next morning to survey the wreckage of the tower. It is a smoldering ruin, and workers rake through the debris as Hill looks on. Bella performs a shielding spell, and the tower disappears right before the eyes of the astonished workers. Hill’s rage “reminds [Bella] of their daddy when one of them thwarted him: red fury stretched thinly over gray terror” (343).

That night, the sisters confer with Quinn and Araminta. Their first instinct is to flee the city, but eventually, they resolve to stay and fight, combining the resources of the Sisters of Avalon and the Daughters of Tituba.