by Nora Lee
Down the roots, and shooting all the way through the earth to the Samhain Grove, Rowan could feel the Elder Tree.
It was like the whole village was singing.
Someone knocked on the front door of Orianna’s apartment.
Surprised, Rowan released her grip on the magic. The animated vines collapsed to the floor in a tangle.
Garrett pushed the door open and poked his head through.
Warmth rushed to her cheeks and she felt sure she must be blushing. “C’mon in.”
He glanced around the living room. “What happened? This place looks like a jungle.”
“Orianna likes greenery,” Rowan said, knowing that he wasn’t likely to fall for it. “Not that I mind…but why are you here?” She had left him behind at Nana’s house hours earlier and hoped he wouldn’t figure out where she was hiding.
Garrett looked surprised. “Fern called me.”
The little elemental darted across the room, jumping on Garrett so that he had no choice but to scoop her up in his arms.
Rowan’s eyes narrowed. She reached over to ruffle the girl’s hair. “Et tu, Fern?”
The child beamed, flashing those bright white teeth. She had no shame.
“More pretty!” Fern demanded.
She shut her eyes tight against the tears threatening to fall. “I don’t think so, sweetie. I’m glad you had fun, but I shouldn’t have done all that. Our power isn’t a game. People can be hurt if we’re not careful.”
“Don’t stop on my account,” Garrett said. “I’m more rugged than I look.”
“Let’s go finish your broccoli, Fern,” Rowan said. Fern clenched her lips together and shook her head.
Garrett squeezed her. “Growing girls need to eat. You want to be big and strong like Rowan, don’t you?”
“Yes. Okay.” She smiled so angelically that Rowan could practically see the halo.
“You little beast,” Rowan said.
Fern batted her eyelashes at Rowan, and she didn’t fight when Garrett carried her into the kitchen.
She managed to get Fern to eat most of her brine-infused broccoli with very little fuss, thanks to Garrett’s presence. He talked and laughed with the little girl and she didn’t seem to realize she’d eaten until she was almost done.
“Do I have to eat more?” Fern’s wide eyes pleaded with Rowan.
Rowan was weak to the child’s stares, no matter how much of a manipulative little monster she was. “No, you don’t. You did really well tonight.”
Mostly thanks to Garrett’s help, Rowan conceded silently.
She sent Garrett a thankful smile that he returned with a wide one of his own. For a moment, she imagined them as a couple and Fern as their child, and the realization came over her that she could be very content in a life like this.
The idea was almost as scary as how easily Rowan had fallen back into old magical habits.
Rowan shook herself, clearing the reverie. “Time for bed, Fern. Let’s go brush your teeth.”
“I want Garrett to do it,” Fern said.
Garrett got up and helped Fern out of the chair. “Lead the way, Princess. I don’t know the castle very well.”
They disappeared toward the back bedroom where Fern slept.
Rowan listened to the faint laughter filtering through the walls as she tidied up the kitchen. Once she’d finished, she joined the duo as they emerged from the bathroom. “All done?”
Fern opened her mouth wide. “All clean.” Garrett laughed and nudged Fern over to Rowan. “You can take over now.”
“No. I want Garrett to tuck me in.”
He tousled Fern’s hair. “Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll come tell you the rest of the story about the knight and his pet dragon.”
“Cool!”
Rowan helped Fern into the frilly pajamas. The girl’s bedroom had gotten a revamping when the Ash sisters and Adora had rebuilt the apartment: A mural of distant hills topped with snow was just visible above the top of the castle-shaped headboard, where Fern’s kitten lay curled in a ball, snoring. A tent of silvery fabric hung from a ring attached to the crystal light fixture hanging just overhead, the cloth falling on either side of the bed onto fluffy green carpeting the color of summer grass. Against one wall rested a row of shelves containing a wide variety of children’s books, unsurprising considering the contents of the shop on the floor below. An overstuffed kid-sized chair held a couple stuffed dragons with rainbow-colored scales.
“Do you like fairytales, Fern?” Rowan asked.
The little girl nodded as she slid between the sheets. “Can he come tell me a story?”
“I’m right here.” Garrett opened the door all the way and stepped inside. “Are you ready, Your Highness?”
Fern giggled. “You’re silly. I like you.”
“I like you, too.”
Rowan curled up and listened as Garrett spun a tale of adventure about a prince who’d been trapped in a cave by an evil magician. She frowned as he told of how the magician used his powers to control the local dragon population into terrorizing the kingdom until the subjects all agreed to do his bidding. Her teeth clenched as she fought the urge to ask why the heck he’d tell such a story to a child with powers of her own. Did he mean to encourage her to do bad things to others?
“Princess Andrea learned that she, too, had powers and she went to the wise woman of the kingdom.” Garrett looked toward Rowan. “The wise woman told her that learning to use her own powers for good would allow her to defeat the evil magician.
“The princess learned from the wise woman and together the two of them were able to capture the evil magician and send him off to a place where he would no longer be able to use his powers to do evil things. With the evil magician gone, his spell over the dragons broke, and they returned to being helpful creatures who lived in peace with the local villagers. Princess Andrea hurried to tell Prince Alec he could leave the cave.”
“And they all lived happily ever after?”
Garrett adjusted the blankets around the little girl. “Of course they did. They always do.” He held a hand out to help Rowan to her feet.
With one foot asleep, she stumbled and fell against him.
He closed his arms around her and their eyes met.
“Prince and Princess!” Fern giggled.
Rowan’s cheeks heated. “Time for sleep now. When you wake up, your mommy will be home.” Rowan shook off the pins-and-needles feeling in her foot before stepping away from Garrett. She leaned over to kiss Fern’s brow.
“Are you going to marry him?” Fern asked.
Rowan smiled at the child’s innocent question. The little girl didn’t understand that real life wasn’t like a fairytale and not everyone found a happily-ever-after with another person. “I don’t think so.”
“Can I marry him?”
She laughed. “You’ll have to wait a few years for that, Fern. You can’t get married until you’re much older than you are right now.”
Garrett also kissed Fern’s brow. “Don’t worry. You’ll find your own prince someday.”
“But I like you,” said the little girl as she gave a wide yawn and snuggled into her pillow.
“Goodnight, Fern,” Rowan said.
Rowan snapped off the light as Garrett headed toward the living room. In the gentle glow of the moon-shaped nightlight, she saw the kitten hop off the headboard and snuggle into the blankets next to Fern, who gave her furbaby a few pats before they both dozed off.
She closed the door almost all the way, leaving it open just enough so she could hear Fern if she called.
For the first time since her return to Secret Hallow, Rowan felt envious of Orianna. It was easy to see why Orianna would have put a precious little witching like Fern ahead of everything else, even her own happiness. Rowan could only imagine knowing a love that intense—and a home as secure as the one Orianna shared with her beautiful baby in a village as peaceful as Secret Hallow.
Chapter 14
&
nbsp; ROWAN LEFT FERN’S bedroom to find Garrett standing over the rose bushes on the windowsill with his back to her. His fingers played over the petals of the blossoms the way that he used to stroke her skin, and Rowan shivered in memory of it.
They had only been broken up for a couple of weeks, but she missed him more desperately than she missed her magic in many ways. She missed his touch, his smell, his kindness. The way that he tried to throw popcorn into his mouth and always, always missed.
Rowan cleared her throat to get his attention. “Do you like kids’ movies? I’d planned to watch this one with Fern before you showed up. I even made popcorn.”
“I’d rather talk,” Garrett said, turning to face her.
“Please, get comfortable while I get our snack.” Rowan hurried out without waiting to see if Garrett would sit down and wait for her.
She almost hoped he’d get frustrated enough that he’d just leave her alone. Unfortunately, when she returned to the living room with the tray of snacks a few minutes later, she found Garrett standing just where she’d left him.
He gave her a look she couldn’t read before reaching out to take her burden. “Let me help.”
Rowan felt his words had a double meaning. “Thanks.” She sat down with her legs tucked underneath her so he couldn’t sit at her side. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to cuddle with him. The problem was that she wanted it far too much.
“How did you make those roses grow?” Garrett handed her a small bowl of popcorn as he looked around the room. “That’s a pretty cool trick.”
“It’s not a trick. I’m an earth witch, so my powers are connected to every living thing in my immediate area. When I open myself to the connection, I can make ‘suggestions’ like encouraging the plants to grow, and the plants can either agree or disagree to comply. I’d never use my powers to coerce a living thing into doing something against their will.”
“That’s amazing,” Garrett said.
Her cheeks warmed. Magic was so “normal” in Secret Hallow that nobody had ever told her that her powers were amazing before. Powerful, yes. But amazing?
His tone made her feel so special.
“Does it feel amazing to you when you look at something?” Rowan asked, reaching tentatively out to touch his fingertips. “Your eyesight is a sense that has been part of you for your entire life. It doesn’t require effort to see. All you need to do is look. That’s what my magic is like.”
“I only appreciate the wonder of eyesight when I’m looking at you, Rowan,” Garrett said.
If her cheeks had been warm before, it felt like they might spontaneously combust now.
“Please, Garrett,” she said, ducking her head. She pressed a button on the remote to play the movie, knowing that neither of them was really in the mood to watch it.
“This is why you broke up with me, isn’t it? Not because we were graduating and you wanted to go to graduate school out of town.”
“I’m sorry I lied. I couldn’t tell you the truth.”
“Don’t apologize,” Garrett said. “I don’t need to forgive you for anything.”
One of the vines had inched across the floor to tickle Rowan’s toes. Garrett grinned at it, delighted by the unconscious interaction between Rowan and her earth magic.
“After seeing what you did here, I’m sure you would be able to heal your Elder Tree,” Garrett said. “The tree is connected to all the soil, water, and other plants in the area, which may be why this area looks like autumn during the early summer.” He reached out and took the hand she’d laid on the sofa between them. “I’m sure the Elder Tree’s sickness is touching the entire coven. They’re all as connected to the other living things here as you, aren’t they?”
Pleasant surprise washed over Rowan and she gave Garrett’s hand a squeeze. Though mundane, he’d grasped the basic concept of magic as though he’d also been born with power. “You’re right. I hadn’t considered that.”
“You’re too close to the problem.”
She looked at their twined fingers. “I didn’t think you’d understand.” Ducking her head, she allowed her hair to shield her face. “I thought you’d be afraid.”
“Why should I be afraid?” Garrett tucked her hair behind her ear before lifting her chin so she’d meet his eyes. “I’ve always loved you, Rowan. Every part of you. I didn’t need to know you’re a witch to know that you’re magic.”
The weight of worry lifted off Rowan.
Garrett set her popcorn back on the coffee table and leaned toward her. His familiar scent caused her pulse to race as her eyes dropped to his mouth. She loved the soft feel of his lips against hers, the touch of his strong hands, and felt eager to repeat an experience she hadn’t had for far too long.
Her eyes drifted shut as he leaned closer.
His hands slid up her arms to her shoulders as he pulled her toward him.
They froze in that position at the sound of angry voices just outside.
Rowan’s eyes flew open. Getting to her feet, she crossed the living room to peek out through the drapes on the window next to the front door.
Two figures stood in the shadows, heads together, entwined in a passionate embrace.
Rowan recognized the two of them.
“Orianna,” she gasped. “Caedmon.”
They were kissing.
Her plan to get her best friend with the obnoxious redheaded warlock seemed to be going well—maybe too well, considering how they clutched one another.
Their kiss broke, and they started yelling again. Rowan couldn’t quite make out what they were saying through the closed door, but got the idea the two were fighting. Since she’d used her powers earlier without causing too much mayhem, she allowed herself to open just enough to reach toward Ori as she tried to get a read on her friend’s emotions.
Heartache and loneliness bled from Orianna into the ground and spread outward.
Rowan opened up a bit more and “saw” the darkness ooze through the soil. The negative emotions caused the trees on either side of the door to droop, rose petals to fall from the plants on the windowsill, and drove the few birds near the house into startled flight.
“What’s wrong?” Garrett whispered. A chill traced her spine despite the warmth of Garrett’s breath as he whispered in her ear.
“She’s unhappy.” Turning from the window, Rowan motioned toward the now-bare rose bushes. “Her pain is causing a negative ripple in the local environment.”
Garrett stepped up behind Rowan and wrapped his arms around her. “You need to help.”
He was right.
Rowan didn’t need to heal the Elder Tree. She needed to heal all the heartache in her coven—beginning with Orianna and Caedmon.
☆★☆
The next morning, Rowan and Nana worked together in the kitchen of the little cottage, warmed by air scented with pumpkin and spice. Rowan shook a sloppy handful of pumpkin guts into a bucket at her feet and grimaced. She didn’t like the slimy, sticky feeling, or the way the pumpkin dyed her hands orange.
Nana laughed at her expression. “Trouble, granddaughter?”
“It’s the pumpkin guts,” Rowan said. “Gross.”
“It’s easier to hollow them out with magic,” Nana said.
Rowan gritted her teeth. “I know, Grandmother.” She took up another handful of the gooey mess, which oozed through her fingers. It was so gross, but totally worth it for the bounty to come: tasty, salty pumpkin seeds, and Nana’s world-class pumpkin pies.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come on in. It’s open,” said Nana as she continued to roll piecrust on the wooden table.
Orianna bounced in, Fern on her hip. Rowan couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her best friend looking so vibrant. “Good morning!” Orianna placed a kiss on Nana’s wrinkled cheek and settled Fern into a worn chair. “What can I do to help?”
“You can take over for Rowan. She’s squeamish.”
As Orianna hurried over, Rowan gave
a grateful smile and removed her hands from the pumpkin. She hurried to the sink to wash off the goo. “Thank the Goddess for you, Ori. I’m not cut out for pumpkin murder.”
“How about nutmeg murder?” Nana suggested, waving a hand at a bowl and grinder. Fresh herbs were piled all over the counter.
“I can do that,” Rowan said.
“You smell delicious,” said Garrett. He came up behind her and placed a kiss on her neck. They hadn’t gotten to spend much time together the night before, separating when Orianna came home to Fern, but there was warmth between them that Rowan hadn’t felt for weeks.
She nudged him back with a shrug of her shoulder. “That’s the pie you smell, silly.”
He gave a masculine growl against her shoulder. “I don’t think so.”
She giggled and elbowed him.
“Prince and Princess sittin’ in a tree,” Fern sang, swinging her feet on the barstool. She mashed pumpkin guts with a spoon, splattering them on her white shirt.
Rowan shot an embarrassed look at Orianna, who only laughed. She would be no help restraining her daughter.
Orianna had obviously needed the night away from taking care of her child. She was vibrant, shiny-eyed, and beautiful. She had even showered and put on makeup. Best of all, she was drenched in magic from the previous night’s esbat.
“I’m not the only one who’s been k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” Rowan said.
Orianna’s cheeks flushed. “What? What do you mean? Someone is kissing? Who’s kissing?” She buried her hands in another pumpkin. “Hey! Let’s talk about pumpkin pie!”
Nana cackled wildly. “Ah, to be young again!” She snapped her fingers. “Sparkles! Whisk!”
The tiny owl swooped overhead with an explosion of feathers, dropping the utensil into Nana’s hand before taking over her perch in the corner again.
Rowan was eager for the opportunity to change the subject. “Didn’t I just put Sparkles’s perch outside?”
“You may have,” Nana said.
“What is she doing back in here again?”
“I need someone to help me prepare for the fundraiser, and unlike the lot of you, Sparkles never leaves me. I like having her in the kitchen! She’s good company!”