by Amy Boyles
I’d quirked a brow.
He’d smirked in amusement. “You don’t believe me?”
“I wonder if you hit your head while you were gone from Magnolia Cove.”
He’d chuckled. “No, not that time at least.”
We’d both laughed, our gazes snagging until I looked away, playing with my hair to break the tension.
Rufus walked to an ancient oak as wide as a kitchen table and leaned against it. He wore leather pants, a leather duster and a black shirt. He plucked a twig from the ground and bent it until the wood bowed.
“You were saying I’m supposed to see my magic.”
He nodded. “Close your eyes.”
“How can I see if I close my eyes?”
“You might see better.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Rufus moved his hand from his chest to his waist. “Close them.”
I did as he said. Grass crunched beneath his feet as Rufus crossed to me.
“I want you to see the stick.” He spoke beside my ear. The hair on the back of my neck rose.
One of the last times I’d seen Rufus was a few months ago, when he’d moved back into town. Things had been normal then—meaning we’d talked about life, regular stuff.
But now, while he whispered in my ear, I felt his raw power—it was like a box of electricity dying to be used. Rufus was a strong warlock, and to forget that would be deadly.
For anyone.
“See the stick,” he repeated. “See it and take it.”
“With my eyes closed?”
“Yes.”
I knew where Rufus was, obviously, from the sound of his voice, and the most sensible thought was that the stick was still in his hand.
I felt my magic flare, and I directed it toward his hands, yanking at them.
“Nice try, but I don’t have it.”
“You tricked me.”
“Never.” He stood in front of me now. “Try again. This time, no tricks. See with your eyes closed, with your witch’s eye.”
I smirked. “What’s a witch’s eye?”
He sighed. “What all head witches have. It’s what makes your powers so unique, why your gifts are limitless.”
“How do I open it?”
“Here.” Rufus touched his fingers to both my temples. An electric shock zipped down my skull to my back.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “My power is flaring today.”
Let’s hope that’s all that he had flaring. I shook my head, forcing the thought from my brain.
“Relax and I’ll help you.”
I exhaled a deep breath, acutely aware of his closeness. Body heat wafted off him onto my bare arms, electrifying the hairs. I could hear the faint beating of his heart, his inhalations, and even the rustle of his clothes as he shifted his body.
“Hold on,” Rufus said.
My brain snapped to life. There was no other way to describe it. It was like someone had lit a torch inside the dark recesses of my mind.
“The stick,” he reminded me.
As soon as he said the words, I could easily see it. Light flowed from my fingertips and zeroed in on the twig. I easily saw it as if my eyes were open.
“Put it in your hand, but keep your eyes closed.”
I nodded. Rufus moved to the side, and I stepped easily, one foot in front of the other until I stood in front of it. Then I reached out and plucked the stick from the sky, where Rufus had suspended it.
The sound of him clapping filled my ears. “Brava, Pepper. Well done.”
“Can I open my eyes?”
“Yes.” I turned to see him beaming with pride. “You did it on your first try.”
“You helped.”
He shrugged. “I only unlocked what was already within you. You have the sight. But now how do you use it?”
I gestured in question. “How do I?”
“What did you see before you found the stick?”
“Light took me to it. It showed me.”
He smiled. “That light is an extension of your magic. Now that it’s open, you can use it for almost anything.”
“Including defending myself?”
“That most of all.” Rufus retreated one stride. “That’s what we’re going to do next.”
My eyes widened. “We’re going to fight?”
“Exactly. We’ll start slowly, with your eyes closed.”
I groaned.
“It’s not that bad. Close them. Time is of the essence, Pepper.”
I did as he said, curious as to how this would work.
Turned out I didn’t remain curious for long. In the darkness, his hands flared as if they were on fire. I could see his power as easily as if I was looking at it in full daylight.
Rufus’s arms moved back, and then magic shot from him. Instinctively I crossed my arms in protection. Ribbons of light wove into a shield that his power could not penetrate.
Good, he whispered inside my head. His voice was soft as a feather, lightly caressing my mind. But it isn’t enough to block; you must fight back.
In the past, when I wanted someone gone, I’d projected as much on them, wanting them away. What usually happened was that they would fly back. But with the light extending from me, I knew I could do more.
I wanted Rufus bound, made unmovable.
Light flew from me, entwining his hands until the halo surrounding his fingers sputtered out.
“Well done. Open your eyes.”
I opened them to see Rufus brush his hands, effectively untying the knots I had bound him up with.
“That was a good start.” He opened his palm, and a water canteen appeared. He offered it to me, and I drank greedily. Cool liquid sloshed down my parched throat.
“How do you feel?”
I paused, considered the question. “Plum tuckered out.”
He smiled. “You’re tired. That’s normal. Now that you’re actually using the magic buried inside you, that’s what you’ll feel. You’ll find it’s easier to use up your reserves and become tired. It’s normal. Don’t fight it.”
I exhaled. “Okay. What else?”
“Now let’s spar with your eyes open. This time I won’t be so easy to defeat.”
Rufus assaulted me with what I could only describe as using a hundred hands to distract me. He tugged my hair. Pulled my pants legs, untied my sneakers. It was literally the most annoying attack I’d ever undergone.
But when I looked for him, I couldn’t figure out where the magic was coming from. I did the only thing I could think of; I used the light to throw his spell back on him.
“Good,” he shouted when he dispelled my attack. Rufus wagged a finger proudly at me. “You just threw my spell on me. That’s incredibly hard to do, but you managed it. You naturally improvised spell creation.”
I cocked a confused eyebrow. “What?”
He smirked. “You aren’t bound by words or formal spell training, so you create your own. It works well because you aren’t confined to the restraints of what you know spells and magic to be—for you power is limitless. As well it should be for any head witch.”
I tried to wrap my brain around what he’d said, but I found it challenging.
“Now what?” I said.
“I will teach you Lacy’s weakness.”
I hiked a brow. “How do you know it?”
“Because I know her,” he said coolly. “I know many witches and wizards, even warlocks.”
A hint of jealousy stirred inside me. I shoved it back into the dark hole it had come from. “What’s her weakness?”
“She uses fire magic. A lot. Your best bet will be to use ice against her—if it comes to that.”
“Do you think it will?”
He picked up a stone instead of answering. “I want you to turn this into ice.”
I stared at him as if he had lost his mind. “It’s a rock.”
“Turn it into ice. It’s not hard. Changing it into something else is simply one part wishing, one part asking.”
“It can be. If you let it.”
He tossed the stone, and I plucked it from the air. I felt the cool weight of it. “One part wishing, one part asking.”
I stared at the smooth brown surface and imagined it was a snowball. I asked and then coaxed, teasing my ribbons of light over it.
It seemed to cool down, but then heat flared. The stone sparked, and it launched into my chest, knocking me flat on my back.
FIVE
Rufus knelt beside me. “Are you all right?”
Fog filled my brain. It took a moment for me to remember what had happened. But then I realized I’d been playing with ice—literally.
“I’m fine.” I started to sit up, but Rufus pressed his palms to my shoulders. “Wait. Give yourself a moment. When you ask and it backfires, the magic often takes more of you than you realize.”
I crinkled my brow in confusion. “What?”
He sat on a patch of grass beside me. “When you ask something to shift and change, you want something, so the magic takes your strength. All of magic is give and take. You can’t always take without giving something. That’s why potions exist, because in some ways it isn’t simply a recipe you’re making, but an offering, a gift to get what you need in return.”
“You make it sound so…philosophical.”
Rufus chuckled. He plucked a blade of grass and smiled. “I suppose it is. More theory than actual physics. It is magic, after all.”
“Yeah, but that magic didn’t do what I asked,” I said, sulking.
One corner of his mouth tipped into a smile. “You can’t master everything in one day. What would be left to learn?”
I studied him—the dark eyes, the fair skin, the ebony hair—he was such an open book but at the same time, a real mystery to me. “What do you have left to master?”
He stared at the sky whimsically. “Oh, I don’t know—necromancy, how to raise an army of the undead to take over the universe, how to hold the ocean in my hand. The usual.”
I shoved him playfully. “I’m serious.”
“Who’s saying I’m not?” Our eyes locked. We stared at each other and Rufus’s lips parted to say something but he thought better of it and shook his head. “Come on. Time to get you home. I think that’s enough for now.”
“Rufus?”
He let the blade of grass fall from his fingers. “Hmm?”
“What did I do wrong?”
“About what?”
It was as if his question asked the world of me—much more than the simple answer I sought.
“About the stone?”
“You may not have asked the right way. It takes some time, the asking and wishing. Perhaps your mind was elsewhere.”
He rose and extended his hand. I tentatively placed my hand in his, and he lifted me to him easily.
As we walked back through the forest, I realized that perhaps I had been wishing for something else all along.
“There’s been a skirmish in a beachside town,” Axel informed us. “The werewolves are a biker bunch. Apparently some witches came in on their territory, unaware it was claimed, and started taking over. They innocently caused problems, and now neither side wants to back down.”
I cringed. “Is there anything we can do?”
Axel’s blue eyes darkened to the color of a turbulent sea. “I can ask around, find out who’s in charge and see if it’s possible to get both sides to sit down, talk it out.”
Betty dropped a skillet full of fluffy biscuits on the kitchen table. It sat beside a heaping plateful of chicken fried chicken slathered in white gravy.
“Y’all eat,” Betty said.
Cordelia, Amelia, Axel, Betty and I sat at the table. Rufus had gone out to look around, see if Lacy and her band of evil witches had returned.
Rufus had been gone for hours. I was getting worried.
“It’s not safe for you to go anywhere alone.” Under the table Axel squeezed my hand. “Nowhere. You must have someone with you at all times.”
“They might try to steal you,” Betty agreed.
“But aren’t there plenty of other head witches out there? Those more powerful than me?”
Betty and Axel exchanged a look. Amelia spoke up. “You’ve never been trained. Your power is raw. That’s why they want you.” She shrugged. “Or your power. It doesn’t matter to them.”
“That’s why I told you that you needed to learn how to wield your gift,” Betty added. “Because of fools like that Order.”
Axel gave me an encouraging smile. His lips curved devilishly. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry. They won’t get you.”
The door flew open, and Rufus strode in.
“He can just walk in now?” Axel snapped to Betty.
Betty rolled her eyes. “I’ll take all the help I can get.”
“They’re here,” Rufus said. “Lacy’s returned with reinforcements.”
“Is it bad?” Betty said.
Rufus covered his mouth. When he his hand away, he spoke. “Come see for yourself.”
We rushed from the table to the front door. It took a moment for me to realize, but standing on every corner was a witch or wizard in dark robes.
“It’s like that throughout town,” Rufus explained. “They’re everywhere—keeping watch, intimidating citizens, you name it, they’ve got the lock on it.”
Lacy’s voice boomed through the clouds as if God had handed her a megaphone. “All we want is Pepper Dunn. Pepper, turn yourself in to the Head Witch Order and we’ll leave. Remain here with your guards, and we will take over your town piece by piece until you don’t recognize it anymore.”
I frowned.
Lacy’s voice continued. “From this moment forward, Magnolia Cove is on lockdown. No one goes in or out, which also means the food supply will be rationed. A member of the Order will dole out your weekly supplies.”
Lacy’s voice hardened. “When what’s on hand is all gone, then I’m afraid it’s either give up Pepper or starve.”
SIX
I gritted my teeth. “I won’t let this town suffer because of me.”
“What about Garrick?” Cordelia said. “Maybe he can help.”
Betty pulled a pouch of tobacco from her blouse pocket. Instead of filling her pipe, she opted to chew it outright. The stress must’ve cracked her. Things must look bad if Betty was chewing tobacco instead of smoking it.
I might as well go ahead and turn myself in to the Order.
Just kidding.
“Garrick can’t help,” my grandmother answered. “If the High Witch Council approved the Order’s actions, he’s bound to follow the rules. Plain and simple.”
“I don’t want to be part of any witches that allow this Order to come in and do whatever they want,” I argued.
Axel rubbed my shoulders. “We can’t go to the council. Some of the members are tight with the Order. They turn a blind eye to Lacy’s antics. There’s no way to know who to trust on the council.”
“But Lacy isn’t joking. She’ll starve our town for me.”
“There’s food to last awhile,” Rufus said. “Don’t worry about it, Pepper. No one’s going to let the Order have you.” His eyes darkened. “Not for their purposes.”
As we watched out the front door, staring at the sentinels set into place, a bad feeling washed over me. I couldn’t put an entire town in danger simply because I was being selfish.
Perhaps I could come to an agreement with Lacy. I twisted my fingers and ignored the knot in my stomach. The least I could do was try.
But how? I couldn’t leave the house alone. Not that I wanted to see Lacy alone, but I had to do something.
As I stood watching the witch sentinels, other folks opened their doors. They looked outside as well, getting a good idea of what we were in store for.
As our neighbors took stock of the situation, I felt their gazes land on our house and inevitably me.
A shiver raced
down my spine. Our neighbors might be my friends for a while, but once the going got tough, they’d turn on me.
I retreated from the doorway and excused myself to my bedroom. I had a plan to figure out.
Once I was there, I started to piece things together. I couldn’t meet with Lacy, there was no way. But what about Bee? At least she had a kind look to her, enough to make me think she might not steal my powers and leave me for dead.
As I put my plan into place, a knock came from my door. I opened it and found Axel.
“They’ve called a town meeting.”
I hiked a brow. “The Order?”
He nodded. “In one hour. Everyone must attend.”
I nodded slowly. I felt my face crumple. Axel swiftly pulled me into his arms.
“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured into my hair. “Everything will be fine.”
I curled my fingers into his shirt. “Axel…” Words caught in the back of my throat. This whole thing was a mess—all of it.
“It will be fine,” he repeated. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
All I could do was shake my head. He pushed me back, and I stared at him. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course.” Tears sprang to my eyes. Axel brushed them away with his finger.
“Then trust this. I won’t let anyone take you.” His blue eyes darkened. “Over my dead body.”
“Don’t say that,” I snapped. “It could happen that way. With these people. With that Lacy.”
He threaded his fingers through mine and pulled me toward the door. “At least I’d die happy,” he joked. “Knowing I protected you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want that to happen at all.”
He smiled playfully. “But it’s a good option. You have to admit it.”
As much as I tried to stop, a smile spread across my face. “Whatever. I’m not going to laugh about this.”
He kissed the back of my hand. “Come on. Let’s go see what these witches want.”
Every person and animal left our house for the meeting, which was to be held in the park beside Bubbling Cauldron Road. There wasn’t an enclosed space big enough to fit all the town, so outdoors would have to do.
Witches in dark robes still stood stationed on every corner. I shivered.