#currently trying to get chapters out by christmas and then working on yt videos as well

[iknowshocker]

so chapter 25 is painful, your honor

Bonnie flinches back from the shadows of the cave, the sudden brush of cool water hitting her skin from the falls making goosebumps rise along her arms.

Next to her, Jo faces the waiting dark in silence, tears still streaming from her eyes, though she makes no move to scrub them away.

There's a strange stiffness to her body, each of her movements jagged and rough - as though she's fighting through the sensation of being turned to stone. Despite the fact that her switch has clearly been flipped back, an eerie sort of calm settles over her, another pulse of Kai’s magic spreading out from her pendant. 

It breaks the moment they round the corner into the main hall of the cave and see the body. 

Ric is on his knees beside Kai, one hand braced over his own ribs, the other tugging a charred stake from his brother-in-law's chest. His desiccated, unmoving, perfectly still chest - 

Jo’s hand slips from Bonnie’s as she flashes away, making Ric jump as she lands in the dirt across from him. The sound she makes as she looks down at her twin nearly sends Bonnie to her knees, her mind struggling to catch up as Jo’s fingers clench in the ruined fabric of Kai’s shirt. 

Magic howls through her blood, thrumming with the unbearable truth, but Bonnie pushes it away, shaking her head as she stumbles back. Even if it is real, it can't be permanent - Kai always has a plan.

If he's dead, then there must be a good reason.