After the older Calistro sat back down, Adain addressed them both. "Around the time of Mom's disappearance, she had been investigating the truth behind Grandma's disappearance. She even used Grandma Oleah's room as a base of sorts. Talon and I found a map of the Bismuth caves, along with her notes and suspicions. Mom strongly believed that grandma didn't leave willingly."

"The audacity," Grandpa Alexander hissed. "Shay was suspicious of the gifts given to us as condolences, wasn't she? She believed the Laeramen murdered my Oleah?"

Tears of guilt and relief began to roll down Adain's cheeks. How hadn't he realized that his parents hadn't been acting the same until recently? His dad and grandpa pieced everything together quickly while they weren't under the influence of the bismuth that had gradually made Swiss cheese from their recollections. And yet, Aid himself had been too busy with trivial things to notice their decline. He rushed forward to hug his father tightly and continued to weep.

"It's a lot all at once, I know," Adam consoled as he petted the top of his blue head. The last time Adain had done anything like that was when he was a small boy.

Though he was still in female form, the older man paid it no mind. "Did you not uncover anything about your own curse, son?"

Adain shook his head. "Only that it was Mom who cast it to protect her work. All anyone needed to do to get in was knock. Can you believe it?" He said.

A strained smile formed on his father's face." That sounds exactly like something she'd do."

"Aid's got only a couple days before it becomes permanent," Rosie warned. "Can you think of any ways Aunt Shay would dispel it?"

"I'm afraid not," Adam replied. "Shay's pranks were her trade secrets. This one, however, was not a prank. It was a punishment. Her target must have been any Laeraman trying to thwart her efforts."

"How do you figure?" the redhead asked.

"If there was one thing the whole town knew, it was that my mother was powerful and ambitious. She coveted the influence that only becoming a Laeraman could provide," The older Calistro elaborated. "But, she was always turned down by the Laeramen for being a woman. Knowing Shay, it would have been poetic justice if a Laeraman tried to break through her ward and turned into a woman in the process."

"Aunt Shay was a badass," Avery concluded.

"I don't think mom left us," Adain told his father before turning towards his grandpa. "I don't think grandma did, either. I don't want to say it out loud, but I think…"

Alexander silenced his grandson by gently lifting his bony hand to the side of Aid's face. "We're stronger than you believe us to be, Adain Calistro. And we have the same suspicion you have. The Laeramen must have, in some way, been involved in their disappearance."

"Has it been an hour yet?" Rosie asked.

"Right!" Adain responded as he unlocked his phone and rechecked his e-mails. His eyes widened at the latest update from Della. "We have to get to the caves! Della's asking for as many Witches as possible to join her."

"But, the bismuth…" Rosie warned.

"Dad and Grandpa might not be able to go," Adain said as he grabbed the keys to his dad's van. "But I can at least get you girls as close as possible."

Adain handed his phone to Rosie, who sent an e-mail to Talon and Avery faster than anyone he'd ever seen. Pulling out of the driveway in the van wasn't as smooth as he had liked since it had been a while since he drove it. But, he wasted no time heading from one Calistro household to the next, picking up as many female cousins and family members as possible. By the time they neared the mouth of the bismuth caves, the van had held 10 witches of various ages, Adain not included.

Rosie led the way, using the pictures Della had sent as a guide as they all rushed into the caves' entrance. Adain himself hesitated as he approached the bismuth. He rushed in after his female family members when he felt no noticeable side effects. The opening was speckled with moonstones that were activated by Warlocks when they first discovered it. But, the deeper they descended into the cave, the less moonstone was visible, so the ladies used the flashlight apps on their phones as their light source.

The temperature dropped, and dripping water echoed in the darkness. The group speed-walked for what felt like a half hour until they found a lit pole made up of moonstone in the distance, followed by another. The group thinned out as the path narrowed, but there was a collective relief when more pillars of moonstone showed them the way. As they stepped into a vast, open space, they heard noises. Della's voice was recognizable.

Cesar's wife, Suni, held her hand out as they approached. "Oldest first, youngest last," she demanded before she corrected herself. "No, 'Niada's' last."

"This is bullshit," Adain hissed but remained in the rear as they neared the source of the noises.

Suni rushed towards Della and linked hands with her in a flurry of activity. The others automatically did the same. Adain gasped when his shortest cousin, Aura, gripped his hand tightly. As they worked their way into the open space, they caught sight of a hellish scene.

Adain's mother was held aloft via two ghostly beams attached to her scapula. The beams were held tightly by the poltergeist of a woman Adain did not recognize. The ghost was a pale gray with void eyes of such deep indigo that they seemed black. Shay's arms were held in front of her in what seemed like an endless struggle to contain the power being fed into a wall of bismuth.

"They were on the ground when I got here," Della exclaimed. "Shay showed me her side of it…she went searching for Mondria Oleah's bones but also came across her ghost and became possessed by her."

Aid's heart began to race at the very thought. Did that mean his mother was alive? Had she been alive this whole time?

"But, Oleah's spirit lifted her away from me. I need to get up there!" Della insisted. "If we discover why she turned into a poltergeist, we might be able to undo it."

"She won't let you get in close without a fight," Suni warned.

"I can get Della over there," Rosie's mom suggested. "But, first...Aura, can your blue fire reach the wall?"

"Yeah, easily," The smaller Witch responded.

"Pretend as if you're using it to destroy the wall; it should distract the poltergeist while I get Della up there," her aunt explained. "Beatrice, in the meantime, I'll need you to spark up a wind vortex around us for protection. Everyone else, help keep that ghost's attention on your affinities, not what Della's doing."

Leave it to Rosie's mom to think of something on the fly. Adain now knew where the redhead got it from. The plan even worked. Rosie's mother raised Della on an earth platform while Aura shot her blue fire at the wall. The threat on her conductor caused the poltergeist to double down on the wall, and the surge made Adain flicker between genders. He fell to his knees and broke the hand chain. Aid thought he was hallucinating when Avery rushed in to take his place, holding onto their smallest cousin's hand. He felt Talon's arms around him, realizing it wasn't an illusion.

"Let's get you out of here!" Talon insisted.

Adain shook his head vehemently. "No, I'm not leaving yet!"

The cackling roar of a fire drew everyone's attention to Della's black fire. The Witch had magnified the flames so that the image almost filled the entire region. Adain's form stabilized into his female one as he stood back up to see. They saw the scene unfolding within Della's flames as if they were witnesses. 

"How dare you try to play me for a fool!" The image of Mondria Oleah argued as she shook herself free from the hold a Laeramen had on her upper arm. "Corralling me into a cavern will do you no good. Not when I can steal the oxygen from your lungs."

As if to illustrate it, she began drawing out the oxygen from one of the older Laeramen in the cave. The man fell to his knees, then braced his hand on the bismuth wall and broke her suction by attacking her with leaves. They stuck to her eyes and upper face so firmly that she couldn't remove them no matter how hard she tried. Blinded, she let out a growl.

"If anyone was a fool here," one Laeramen mused aloud. "It's you, Mondria. Have you forgotten that stones can be used as conductors? The bigger the stone, like this bismuth wall, the stronger it amplifies any powers channeled through it. This is your last chance. Give up on your quest to usurp us."

"Never!" Mondria Oleah responded. She let out a startled gasp when she felt a hand slide up her thigh. She shoved it away, but more hands descended on her. They began to rip apart her clothing. "Wh-what are you doing? I'm a married woman!"

"You had your chance. Now, we'll make use of you before ridding our town of your filthy existence."

Mondria Oleah's wailing echoed in the cave, and they realized that it not only came from the image in the fire but from the poltergeist herself. Della broke the connection when the ghost shoved her off the platform. Avery and Aura rushed to her mother, breaking the hand chain, as the spirit shrieked.

"You've been avenged!" Adain yelled so that the poltergeist could hear him above the sound of her own voice. "Grandma, those men are either gone or nearly dead!" He rushed over to Della, stumbling and nearly falling along the way. "Show her my memories!"

Della didn't hesitate to place a hand on his forehead and project his memories in the flame. Adain showed her the decline of their male family members, including Oleah's husband and son. He showed her the conversations with Nikoal, where she explained that most of the Laeramen were already dead. Finally, he showed her the memory of when Della and Aid had gone to see the comatose Lewis and even the memory-within-the-memory of him doing all he could to help Shay uncover the truth.

The poltergeist stopped shrieking and let Shay's body go. As she plummeted to the ground, Talon caught her in his arms. The indigo void of her eyes faded until they were her normal blue ones. They were Calistro blue, just like Adain's. Mondria Oleah floated down until she was in front of Adain. She waved a hand over his head, and he again shifted back into his male form.

But, unlike before, Adain felt that the curse was indeed lifted. Oleah went from one family member to another as if looking into their souls. She then rose back into the sky and gave a firm nod before dissipating into mist. Shay wheezed in a haggard breath just then.

"Mom!" Adain cried out as he rushed over to her. She caressed her knuckles down his face, and he began to tear up again. "Mom…"

Shay's gorgeous copper hair had faded to a dull peach hue. She had far more wrinkles on her face than the average forty-five-year-old. In the process, Adain didn't need Suni to verify that much of her lifespan had been leeched from her.

Rosie's mom immediately began doing the math. "If Shay is 45, and the curse drained the rest of her proposed lifespan… that'd be 55 years."

"55…well, there are 11 of us here," Rosie pointed out. "So, what? Five years each?"

"Five years each," Della affirmed as she rolled her sleeves. "You girls ready?"

The Witches began another hand chain.

"Wait, wait, what do you think you're doing?" Adain questioned as he wiped his tears to better see his family's antics.

"What does it look like?" Avery retorted. "We're giving Auntie Shay the life back that she lost."

"But, she wouldn't want you to sacrifice five years of your lives for her like this…." Aid whimpered. "I won't let you!"

"Talon," Della instructed. "Get him out of here."

Talon didn't hesitate to lift Adain in his arms and rush out.

"No!" Adain cried out as he struggled against him. "Talon, don't let them do this!"

"It's called tough love!" Avery's words echoed in the cave. "Get used to it!"

A bright light blinded Adain's vision. He felt a wave of drowsiness hit him. The next thing he knew, he lost consciousness in Talon's arms.