Patricia snorted, “It’s all about intent. Not all spells need to be flashy.”
“We could finish the curse with water and salt,” Maggie suggested. “Douse our flames with salt water. Do you think that will provide enough exposure?”
Yes, this will work.
“Yes,” Ivy answered, “That’ll work.” She felt confident with il cuóri annodáto guiding her.
Lawrence ran into the kitchen. She heard cabinets being thrown open and metal hitting the floor. The sink turned on.
“Let’s get the wording right and then we can worry if we have enough power when we have the time to worry about it,” Stella said turning to the other women
Stella and Patricia huddled together and began going over the curse. Maggie fueled the fire with one hand. With the other, she picked up Patricia’s abandoned shovel and continued putting peridot into the flames.
Something hit the front door. Ivy screamed. She heard growls and clawing on the other side.
Ezra, Ezekiel, Cassidy, and Pat came running down the stairs. The men immediately went to the door and braced against it. Cassidy ran to a recliner and dragged it over. They braced it against the door.
“We’ve got to barricade the windows and doors,” Ezra ordered.
Ivy and Cassidy grabbed the coffee table and put it up against the window in the living room. Ezekiel tipped over the bookcases and started dragging them towards the coffee table. Lawrence rushed over to help him.
Pat moved aside the curtain, “We’ve got a dozen wolves on the front lawn. Some of them are in human skin.”
“Keep working on the curse,” Lawrence ordered the Coven. “We’re going to buy some time.”
Everyone else ran around the bottom floor and started throwing things against doors and windows. Ivy ran into the kitchen and piled the table and chairs against the door leading to the garage. Cassidy came in to help her.
“Are there any other ways people could get in?” Ivy asked her.
Her eyes darted as she thought. “The sliding doors!” She gasped before running towards the back of the house.
Ivy ran after her. She followed Cassidy into a mud room with a massive glass door at the far end. Her heart stopped when she saw a woman at the door pulling on the handle. Cassidy had her body braced against the glass trying to keep the door closed. Ivy looked around frantically. She saw a broom hanging from the wall and raced towards it.
Ivy grabbed the wooden broom and snapped it in half. She shoved both pieces into the track of the door. She stomped on them to force them to fit.
“It’ll hold!” Ivy yelled. “Help me move the washing machine.”
She and Cassidy rocked the washing machine out of its nook. They pushed it until it was flush with the door. The woman on the other side pounded on the glass. She barred her teeth, throwing all of her weight against the door. Ivy flinched with every thud.
Once they had the dryer moved next to the washer, Ivy stood back. She avoided looking at the woman’s face. Her eyes found the necklace around her neck though. It bounced and twisted with each lunge the woman took.
“What’s wrong with them?” Cassidy whispered.
“They’re being enchanted by an evil Coven,” Ivy whispered back.
Cassidy turned to her, “Can you help them?”
Ivy took a breath. She honestly didn’t know. “We’re going to try.”
“Cassidy!” Ezekiel yelled.
“Let’s get back to the living room,” Ivy put her arms around Cassidy and led her back to where the others were.
In the living room, Ivy saw Evie sitting next to an injured man. He was patting her back while she cried softly. Ivy assumed that was Evie’s dad. It looked like Carol did a number on her husband. He had bite marks along his arms and face.
Cassidy rushed over to her friend. Both brothers visibly relaxed when they saw her. Pat stood by the window, a tense expression on his face.
All of the broken furniture was piled up along the doors and windows. She watched the front door shake as something hit it. The growls and screaming coming from outside had everyone flinching.
“Where the fuck is Ben?” Ezra growled.
“Dealing with feral wolfs across town,” Pat answered.
Ezekiel walked up to Ivy. “How fast can you break the enchantments?” He asked. “These barricades aren’t going to hold forever.”
Instead of answering him, Ivy gestured for him to follow her. They went over to where the witches were huddled together. Patricia had taken over keeping the flames burning high. Maggie, Stella, and Lawrence were muttering back and forth.
When Lawrence saw her coming, he waved her over.
“Is the curse’s phrasing done?” Ivy asked.
Stella scrubbed her brow, “It’s rough but yes.” She gave everyone a serious look. “We all need to be on the same page. All of our magic and intent needs to be in sync if we want this to work properly.” They all nodded. “We want these enchantments broken and to drive the Salici Sacri from our territory. We’ll need a pentacle and then we can start.”
Maggie pulled a piece of chalk from her overcoat. She gingerly got on the ground and threw the rug aside. She started drawing the pentagram.
A loud bang had everyone turning towards the windows. The sound of glass cracking echoed through the house. Pat swore, taking a step back.
“They’re breaking the windows,” he yelled. “They’ll be inside any second.”
Ivy saw Evie’s dad grab the girls and rush them upstairs. Pat ripped off his clothes getting ready to shift. Ezekiel grabbed the fire poker and give it a practice swing.
“We’ll hold them off as long as we can,” he promised.
Ivy grabbed him and pulled him closer. She kissed him. It was a desperate kiss. She threw all of her emotions behind it. She was scared, but she hoped he felt how much she loved him. Ezekiel pulled away and smiled.
When he stepped away from her, Ezra took his place. “I love you, Ivy,” he kissed her sweetly. It was quick and tender. He winked as he turned to face the window.
Lawrence ran back in with a stew pot between both hands. He set it in front of the fire. Ivy saw salt swirling around at the bottom.
The window shattered with a terrifying snap. Growls and screams filled the house. The curtains blew inwards revealing a wall of furious faces and snapping teeth. The curtains whipped across the ground, breaking the salt line.
Ezekiel took a swing at a snout that stuck through the broken window. Pat bit a hand reaching around the injured wolf. Ezra had picked up a piece of wood he was using like a bat.
“Everyone to a point,” Stella yelled.
Ivy snapped back to the task at hand. She rushed to the point closest to the fireplace. The other witches filled in the rest of the pentagram. Maggie finished drawing the circle surrounding them and hurried to the last point of the star.
“Ivy, you’ll need to throw the water and break the circle at the same time,” Stella instructed. She didn’t wait to see if Ivy agreed, she closed her eyes and took a centering breath. As the northern most point, Stella would be leading them.
Ivy felt magic begin to permeate the pentacle. Stella drew an immense amount from her stores. Ivy was briefly in awe of how much power she was able to call so quickly.
“Hecate, goddess of magic, we, your loyal followers beseech you to power this curse that we can cast out evil influences, blessed be the goddess,” she intoned.
“Blessed be the goddess,” they all answered.
Stella pulled an athame from her back pocket. She pricked a finger and held it over the center of the pentagram. “Until these stones turn to dust, from these lands the Salici Sacri will be thrust. All your works be undone; your evil spells be unspun. We’re followers of Hecate, we are devote, by Her will we cast thee out!”
She passed the knife to Maggie. A howl went up right outside the house. It drove the wolves into a frenzy. They began howling and hitting the window with more force. Ezra and Ezekiel grunted and screamed i
n rage as more forced their way in.
Ivy tried to ignore the fighting going on around them. It was nearly deafening. Maggie had to shout to be heard over the noise. Quickly, she repeated the curse and passed the athame to Patricia.
A pained cry had Ivy turning. Pat lay on the ground as a woman tried to gouge his eyes out. Ezra took two steps, wound up, and hit her across the face. Ezekiel was overwhelmed by people and wolves. A wolf knocked him to the ground. He punched and struggled to get the weight off of him.
“We cast thee out!” Lawrence shouted. He shoved the knife at her.
Ivy didn’t bother fumbling with it. She grabbed the knife by the blade. She thrust her hand out. Blood dripped down to join the others’ pooling on the wood.
Magic blazed in her veins. She felt the heat of the Benandanti at her back. They fueled her power.
Sister, end your spell by invoking the power of our bond! She heard whispered in her ear. We will carry the magic across the land and cast this scourge out.
“Until these stones turn to dust, from these lands the Salici Sacri will be thrust.” Her voice resonated with the force of hundreds of witches. “All your works be undone; your evil spells be unspun. We’re followers of Hecate, we are devote, by Her will we cast thee out!”
“Ivy!” Ezra screamed.
She didn’t look up. She grabbed the pot. “I invoke the bond of il nostro cuóri annodáto! So mote it be!” She threw the water as her foot slid over the chalk line.
The salt water hit the fire with a hiss. A cloud of white smoke exploded out of the fireplace. It blew past her, knocking Ivy on her ass.
The smoke continued out to fill the room. Ivy heard thuds as people hit the ground. She shook her head trying to clear the disorientation. She flipped around, but the smoke was so thick that she couldn’t see.
She crawled towards the window, desperate to help her men. Her palms cut on broken glass but she didn’t stop. She heard masculine coughing and turned.
Her hands found a familiar leg. “Ezra!” He whipped up, grabbing her face. “Are you okay?” She coughed.
“Yeah, are you alright? One got through,” his hands never stopped searching her for damage.
“I’m fine. Where’s Ezekiel?” She shouted, “Ezekiel?”
“Here,” came a weak reply.
She and Ezra stumbled towards his voice. He was just sitting up when they reached him. She still couldn’t see but she threw herself into his lap. His arms wrapped around her.
“Are you okay, Ivy? Are you hurt?” He asked.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Did it work?” The question was whispered in her ear.
Ivy leaned back. The smoke was just beginning to clear. She saw bodies moving in the cloud. All of them were sluggish. Her eyes focused on the humans struggling to get up. None of them were rushing to attack. They were rubbing their heads.
The smoke dissipated enough that she started to see the rest of the room. A wolf lay, unmoving, next to the broken pentacle. It had almost broken their spell. Maggie poked it with the hilt of the athame. Nothing happened.
The room looked like a bomb had gone off. The smoke was starting to settle like ash. It didn’t look natural. Broken glass littered the ground. There were pained sounds coming from the people around the room.
“Holy hell that packed a punch,” Patricia shouted between coughs.
Lawrence helped Stella stand up. She pat his arm. Both were shaky on their feet. They looked around, amazed.
Humans and wolves were scattered around the room. The people in their human forms were looking around confused. They had bruises and blood covering what skin she could see.
Pat had shifted back to his human form. He had bite and claw marks all over his body. He limped over to his clothes and pulled a phone out of his vest.
“What happened?” A woman asked.
No one answered her. Cassidy came sprinting down the stairs. She gasped when she saw the living room. When she saw their little trio, she flew towards them. She threw her hands around them. “I got so scared when I heard the glass break. I’m so glad you’re all alright.”
Ezra pulled Cassidy into his lap as she started to sob. He murmured calming words. Ezekiel brushed the hair out of her face. Ivy sighed. She was so glad Cassidy was alright.
Lawrence picked up a shattered necklace. “Yes!” He laughed manically. “Take that you bastards!”
He wrapped Stella up in his arms and started dancing with her. She laughed and began leading him in a waltz. They both were grinning ear to ear. Maggie helped Patricia stand and then they both joined in, hand in hand.
They still needed to scatter the peridot around the territory but Ivy’s heart felt light. They’d done it. They’d actually done it.
Well done, sister.
Ivy stood up and walked over to the window. Her legs shook. She pushed aside the ruined curtains.
There were wolves and humans lying across the yard. Some were starting to move. They looked dazed. None of them even noticed her.
She felt her heart settle. It had actually worked. A hand rested on her shoulder. She turned to see Ezra behind her. He had bruises all along his face. He was smiling though.
“I think it worked,” she laughed.
Epilogue
“Holly and I couldn’t get a hold of the Carson sisters. They weren’t picking up their phone. So, we decided to drop by their cabin,” Anne explained, rubbing her head. “Then it all goes blank until I came to halfway between their house and downtown Black Bird.”
Ivy was listening to Anne explain what had happened to her yesterday. They were having a Pack leadership meeting to discuss what had happened. This meeting was different than the one that had been called in her apartment. First off, it was at the local diner on Main Street. Nearly everyone had a beer sitting on the table in front of them. The casual feeling had more to do with the fact that everyone was exhausted from yesterday than anything else. Ben was still doing that silent grilling act from before but even she could tell he was tired.
The other thing that was different were the faces around the table. Lawrence was sitting a few seats down from her nursing a coffee. He was getting a lot of shady looks but no one had said anything about him being there.
Sitting around him like a protective flock were the Black Bird Coven. They were the only ones with tea cups. Ivy would bet her rent check that there was brandy in those cups.
Patricia was giving everyone a death glare. Stella had on a very form fitting track suit. Maggie was trying to keep her Coven sisters in line.
“Yeah, I came to when the smoke was clearing,” Holly said agreeing with Anne’s story. She gave Ezra and Ezekiel a sheepish look. “Sorry I tried to kill you.”
Ezekiel shrugged like it was no big deal.
Anne and Holly were the last of the Pack to go through what had happened yesterday. From what Ivy could tell, when she and Lawrence had released il cuóri annodáto it had triggered the necklaces. Anyone wearing one had honed in on il cuóri annodáto. She wasn’t sure exactly what they had been spelled to do but she had to guess they had been instructed to kill whoever had Benandanti magic. Unfortunately for Ivy, she was now included in that group, hence why they had been attacked in the woods. It was just bad luck that Anne and Holly had been nearby.
While they had been breaking the enchantment, the rest of the Pack had been trying to contain ‘feral’ wolves. Ivy hadn’t realized how many necklaces Anne had sold but the Enforcers had been busy. Most of them were sporting bruises and bite marks.
Ben sighed, “Alright, we’ve heard from the Pack.” He turned to the Black Bird Coven, “Would you like to explain exactly what happened?”
Maggie sat a little straighter. She gave him a smile that in no way came off sweet. “So kind of the Alpha to deign to include us in this little meeting after we saved you,” her chin tilted up until she was talking down to him.
Ben scrubbed his face, “I’m sorry my Pack has been less than friendly. Some of th
em are stubborn old fools-”
“Emphasis on the fools,” Patricia muttered to Stella.
Ben ignored her. “We are very grateful that we have such a forgiving Coven inside our borders. I hope we can get past previous unpleasantness so that we can foster a better relationship. We would welcome you being a part of our monthly meetings.”
The three women shared a sly look. Maggie gave a small nod, “That is a start. As far as what happened yesterday, our newest member is the resident expert.” She twisted slightly and gave Ivy a nod, “Sister, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Wait, what?” Anne exclaimed. “Ivy’s in the Black Bird Coven? When did that happen?”
“Yesterday,” Maggie answered.
“She’s a member of the Black Bird Pack,” Ben said none too happy.
Maggie wasn’t phased by his tone, “She’s a witch. That means she belongs in a Coven. Really, you wouldn’t know how to deal with witch problems, Alpha.” She gave the two older ladies side glances, “As we’ve seen. We’re doing you a favor.”
He sighed heavily, “We can transfer her records.” He nodded to Paul who pulled out his phone and started typing.
Once everyone settled back down, Ivy cleared her throat. “I still need to do some research but as far as I can tell the Salici Sacri intercepted a shipment to Chic Chick and replaced it with spelled necklaces.” Anne groaned and put her head in her hands. “They acted as remote enchanters that allowed them to control Pack members. They had to have been very powerful if they were meant to control wolves. Hence why when Betsy wore one, she got sick. She’s a human and the magic drained her body of energy.”
Every Robbins brother growled. Paul got visibly angry. None of them interrupted though.
“How do they work?” Ben asked.
“We don’t know right now. I’ll need to see the necklaces Anne has left. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a better idea how they were able to enchant people without being here to cast a spell on them.” She needed to destroy all of the necklaces anyways, might as well learn something before then.
“Can you be my magic sniffing dog from now on?” Anne asked from her hands.
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