Duncan inched forward. Fletch narrowed his eyes, as if assessing whether to maul him or not.
After several tense seconds, Fletch stopped growling and allowed Duncan to get closer. He sniffed Duncan’s hand, and I held my breath, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t bite him. He seemed somehow satisfied that Duncan was his friend, and he put his paw into Duncan’s outstretched hand.
“Good boy,” Duncan said warmly, and patted Fletch on the head.
Fletch seemed calmer. He gave me a last angry look and then he turned and disappeared into the darkness.
“Oh wow.” Kate grabbed Duncan’s hand, “You were amazing!” She gazed at him like he’d just saved the earth from a giant asteroid.
I smiled, thinking he’d probably just sealed the deal, from zero to hero.
Sean looked slightly put out; but then, he didn’t realise how close he’d just come to being wolf chow.
The night was over as far as I was concerned. The mood had totally been broken. I’d had a great time with Sean, but seeing Fletch had brought back all my concerns. I had been selfish. I’d been out having a night of frivolity when Fletch’s very life was at stake and when his family was close to being destroyed.
I’d just so wanted a good old-fashioned date, but now I’d had it, I just felt really guilty.
I wanted to go home and gather my supplies and practice the spell, ready for the following night.
Ignoring the fact that I was probably wrecking everyone else’s evening, I started a conversation with Kate, so that she and Duncan couldn’t move away from Sean and me.
I was practically tapping my foot with impatience for my dad to pick us up, when finally his car appeared.
I felt a bit bad for Sean. One minute I was all snugly, then I wasn’t, but he hadn’t done anything wrong. I gave his hand a squeeze and told him to call me, before climbing into the car, but he must have been wondering why I’d suddenly had a mood change. Oh well, what’s the old saying? Always leave them wanting more? I hoped that would work…
Once home, I went straight up to my room and called for Bob. I knew he wasn’t keen on flying around in the dark, so before I left I’d asked him to get a progress report from the wizard ready for when I got back so that he wouldn’t have to go out again. I really hoped he would have some news.
He flew in my window and went straight for his cushion.
“I’m sorry it’s late,” I said contritely. “Are you tired?”
“Well, I ain’t nocturnal, if that’s what you’re asking, Mistress.” He took his time settling himself and then his tone softened, “But I don’t mind coming here any time you need me; it has perks, after all.” He gave a cheeky nod to the drawer where I kept some treats for him.
I hurried to get out some cheese and raisins for him, before asking, “Any updates from the wizard?”
Bob shook his head. “Not really, Mistress. He says he’s had no contact from the wolf, but the other animals have indicated that he’s still in the area.”
I nodded silently. I knew full well that Fletch was still in the area. The question was whether he would turn up for the full moon spell.
I decided I had to assume he would.
“If you’re not too tired, would you mind going over this spell with me?” I pulled it from my school bag and held it out to Bob.
He rolled his eyes. “I can’t read, I’m a bird.”
“Oh, right, sorry. If I read it out a few times, do you think you could try to memorise it? That way, if I get lost or stuck, you could remind me?”
Bob nodded his agreement and I read it to him, over and over, until we were both word perfect.
I was yawning and exhausted by the time we had packed all my supplies. The plan was that I would spend Saturday night at Iris’s house, and so avoid my dad’s ten o’clock curfew. Which basically meant I could be out as late as I liked.
But first I still had a full day of work to get through at the shop, and I knew I’d need my energy.
It was almost midnight when I crawled into bed, but not before I’d spent several minutes with my head out of the window, listening for any sign of Fletch.
I heard nothing.
Chapter Nineteen
It was weird being in the shop and realising it was only the Saturday before that Fletch had walked in to my life.
As soon as I got in I went and found the book he had picked up a week earlier.
Magical Trees in the Forests of Britain. The selection made a bit more sense now; he’d probably been interested in the forests as somewhere to hide out.
As soon as I picked it up, I knew no one else had touched it since. Whether my senses were getting stronger, or whether I just knew Fletch’s vibrations better now, I wasn’t sure. But this time, as I laid my palm against the cover, I felt his emanations clearly coming off it.
A flutter of resolution, mixed with a dash of hope and desperation, and something else… he had left just a trace of his attraction to me. He had been watching me as he’d held the book, and I could actually feel it!
I didn’t want to put the book down. I was genuinely getting real emotions off it, which was a whole new power for me. In the end, I took it to the till, rang it through with my staff discount and put it in my bag. I really wanted to explore the sensations further in the future.
Work seemed nightmare-long. I just couldn’t concentrate. The entire week seemed to have dragged by, and now that full moon was imminent, time was moving slower than ever.
The shop was busy and I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, yet it still seemed like the clock barely moved.
Iris spent most of the day preparing Christmas decorations to go in the shop. It wasn’t the usual stuff you’d expect, though; apparently it was for Yuletide and not for Christmas. There were no angels or Father Christmas or snowman-type decorations. But she was making lots of wooden stars tied with reeds, and stacking large mossy logs and hanging branches of spruce and fir. Some of the things seemed more regular, like mistletoe and ivy, and I loved all the smells of orange, cinnamon and clove that were coming off the new Yuletide stocks of incense. It seemed hard to believe that it would be December in a less than a week.
I suppose I’d been so wrapped up in my own worries that I’d missed all the Christmas hype creeping onto the high street.
But time moves inexorably forward, and six o’clock eventually came around.
Iris locked the door behind the last customer, and I sank down to rest my feet on the pile of logs she had just stacked by the counter.
Iris gave me a tired smile. “Saturdays are rough. Let’s leave the tidying for tonight; I can do it tomorrow when it’s quiet.”
I nodded in glad agreement. Sometimes it takes ages to put the store straight.
She came and sat on the floor in front of me. Lyra jumped into her lap and began to purr as Iris slowly stroked her. Iris looked unsure of what to say, which was totally unlike her.
“How are you feeling about tonight?” she said at last.
I shrugged. “Scared, nervous, nauseous. Practically every spell I’ve ever done has gone wrong.”
“What have you tried this week? Nothing too big, I hope?” She tilted her head questioningly.
I frowned my confusion. “I haven’t tried anything this week. Not since the spell I did on Fletcher. I wouldn’t have thought you would want me to mess up anything else.”
Iris looked taken aback. “But, Emily, you have to practice! Magic is like a muscle, the more you use it the better it gets.”
“But I’m always so tired after doing a spell, I thought maybe I should conserve my energy. And Bob is always telling me to be careful about doing things.”
Iris gave Lyra a look, then said, “It’s a Familiar’s job to advise caution; they are there to watch out for you. I know doing magic is draining, but it’s no wonder you get tired if you don’t practice. It’s like sprinting a mile with no warm-up. Or running a marathon without training for it. You have to do small things and build up.�
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“Oh.” I felt dumb for not asking about this before.
Iris read my thoughts easily and shook her head. “No. It’s not your fault. I really should have given you more training and advice; it’s just so hard running the shop on my own most of the time. Let me get Yuletide out of the way and then you and I will do some serious studying of the craft, okay?”
I gave her a small smile, “That would be great, thanks.” I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Do you think the spell will work tonight?”
She nodded confidently. “I’m sure it will. It always has in the past when you’ve really wanted it and you’ve used nature to enhance it. Tonight you have the power of the full moon and you’re using The Seven Sisters, which is a natural power centre. Don’t worry overmuch about it.”
I hung my head. “I wish you were going to be there.”
“Of course I’ll be there! Why the Goddess would you think I wouldn’t be?” Iris sounded surprised.
“I thought the wizard said you shouldn’t come?” I tried to remember exactly what had been said.
Iris laughed. “As if that would stop me. I’m not going to let my only niece face a werewolf on her own!” She got up and put her arms around me. “Emily, you’re the only blood relative I have left. I will do anything to protect you, do you hear me? Anything at all.”
I felt a little teary at that.
Iris took me upstairs and we put my overnight things in her spare room. Then she tried to insist on making me eat something, but I just couldn’t face it; my stomach was a bundle of snakes.
I ran a soothing warm bath, and Iris gave me some relaxing salts to add to the water. I submerged in it for a good half an hour, going over the spell in my head and having a chat with the Goddess, asking for help. I wasn’t sure if that was the done thing, but I didn’t think it could do any harm at least.
After my bath, I dressed in a long white dress that Iris gave me. There was no way on the good green earth that I was going naked this time. Not just because it was practically freezing outside, but also because I would die from embarrassment if Fletch saw me that way now we knew each other.
I felt like a high priestess in the white dress, and kind of elegant too. I was sure it would enhance my magic, and Iris said it would absorb the moonlight, so that could only help as well. At least it was the next best thing to being naked.
I put on my long black velvet cloak and then we were ready to go.
Iris parked the car as close as she could to the edge of the town Common, and then we took torches and walked to The Seven Sisters.
I was really glad to have Bob flying over my head, but was slightly jealous of Iris, who wore Lyra round her neck like a warm living scarf. Poor old Bob was never going to be able to provide me with much extra heat. He was fast as an arrow though, finding the wizard and leading us to him.
The wizard emerged from the woods just as we reached the circle of trees, and we all huddled together to discuss plans.
The bad news was that he still hadn’t heard from Fletch, but he seemed confident that Fletch would come when I called him. I was less confident about it, and decided not to mention his appearance on my date. Of course, I’d forgotten that the wizard could hear my thoughts, but apart from giving me an inquisitive glance, he kept silent.
The wizard seemed unusually quiet to me, and I was convinced that he thought that the wolf had already taken over Fletch.
The wizard shook his head at me. “No, Emily, don’t think like that. Even if the wolf does take him, the transformation won’t be complete until the moon becomes completely full. We still have half an hour before that happens, and until then there is always hope.”
I sighed. The timing of the spell was so crucial. It had to be done exactly at 11.38, when the moon became full. Which added a serious amount of pressure! I would have to start the spell early in the hope of its actually taking effect at that time.
The wizard put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry so much; it’s going to work, however we time it, okay?”
I gave him a small smile. “Okay.”
Iris clapped her hands and said, “Shall we begin?” like one of my teachers might at the start of a class.
Together we began to put down the points of the circle. All the elements would be placed in advance to give me a head start, which was fine in this situation, as I was casting an open circle anyway.
I needed Fletcher’s body to come into the circle, as well as his wolf, and I had no guarantee that the wolf wouldn’t leave, so if I closed the circle then none of that could happen without its breaking. I just hoped my magic wouldn’t go wide and do something awful to the whole town again.
We put the offerings at each point. The candle, the incense, the mound of earth and the water. I had a momentary panic when I realised I had no matches, but Iris laughed and snapped her fingers on the wick of the candle, and it burst into a strong steady flame. Iris is an awesome Fire Witch.
Iris and the wizard moved out of the circle and seemed to disappear into the darkness, even though I knew they were only a few feet away, watching and waiting.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
Chapter Twenty
With my eyes shut my other senses kicked into overdrive. I could smell the trees and the grass, I could hear Bob’s wings as he circled above me, I could taste the damp air, and I could feel the total lack of breeze and the moonlight on the back of my hands.
But I had one more sense… Fletch… He was somewhere out there.
I opened my eyes, scanning the darkness. I had no idea how close he was. Perhaps a long distance off or perhaps right in front of me. I wasn’t sure, but I knew he was there somewhere. I had a witchy tingle, just like on the day we first met.
I stretched my arms up towards the moon, and turning slowly in a circle I began:
“I cast a circle within these trees
but I leave the circle open
that man or beast may come or go
and the circle remains unbroken.
I ask the Goddess to protect all those
Who enter into this place
In perfect love and perfect trust
I cleanse and bless this space.”
I completed a full turn and then I paused and thought I felt a ripple of power go round the trees. I really hoped that meant that the circle was cast as I intended.
I faced North and began again, ready to turn in each direction as I called on each point.
“I call on the power of the North
to bring Aaron Fletcher the Wolf forth,
I call upon the power of the West
To make Aaron Fletcher’s body manifest,
I call upon the power of the South
To unite them both here in Dremouth,
I call upon the power of the East
To make the human as one with the beast.”
I knew instantly it was working. The circle filled with light. There was no bang, but instead a steady glow grew stronger within the circle. It radiated in all directions and then began to contract directly at the western point of the circle. The light continued to reduce until it became the size of a man, and there, in the centre of the light, was Fletcher’s body.
It had appeared just like magic. Well, it was magic!
It hung in the air for a second, fully illuminated. Then suddenly the light went out and his body dropped to the ground. He was wearing pale blue hospital pyjamas and still looked as lifeless as he had been in his hospital bed.
I made a move towards his body but the wizard’s voice spoke in my head, strong and demanding: “No! Behind you, Emily.”
I looked behind me. Fletch the wolf had just trotted into the circle.
I grinned in relief, but my smile quickly faded when I realised he didn’t look friendly.
I still had the final part of the spell to say, but I needed my timing to be right.
“How long have I got?” I tried to project the thought towards the wizard.
&n
bsp; “Almost five minutes. But anytime around now will be pretty powerful; just do your best.” His voice came back confidently inside my head.
“Hello, Fletch,” I whispered. “ I missed you.”
I held my hand out. He lifted his nose to catch my scent but didn’t come any closer. In fact, the hackles on his neck began to rise, and a low growl started in his throat.
I backed away a step. “Uh, Brian. Something’s wrong. He’s not at all pleased to see me.”
Why, oh, why did I go on that date with Sean? Had it made Fletch this angry? Or was Fletch-the-boy being completely taken over by a wolf who basically didn’t care a damn about me?
“Hang on, Emily, your circle is blocking his thoughts from me. I’ll need to enter it,” the wizard said with his mind voice.
The wizard slowly appeared out of the darkness at the edge of the circle. Only the moon and the single candle still glowing strongly at the south point of the circle lighted the scene, but I could clearly see Fletch tense even further as the wizard appeared.
Iris was close on his heels, clearly worried about me, though she didn’t enter the circle.
Fletch’s growling grew louder. His eyes swung from me to the wizard.
“Oh… dear,” the wizard said, looking really worried.
“What? What is he thinking?” I asked, getting scared.
The wolf’s body lowered slightly, as if getting ready to spring.
The wizard circled widely, moving round towards me. “His thoughts aren’t human, they are primal, animalistic, instinctual.”
I looked at him in horror. “Does that mean…?” I couldn’t finish my sentence; I was too scared that it meant that the wolf had already taken over, and I wasn’t sure I could bear to hear it.
“No, I told you, that won’t happen until the full moon peaks. There is still hope, but we have no time to reach the real Fletcher.”
He beckoned me. “I’m sorry, Emily, but I think you need to move away, his thoughts towards you are confused, I can not read his intent.”
Werewolf Magic & Mayhem (Book Two, Magic & Mayhem Series) Page 11