by Nora Lee
Fox followed her gaze. “The ComePayMe money can be used for new equipment now that you don’t need to use the funds to build this place.”
“I like the way you think,” Gemma said as she envisioned a shopping trip. She’d ordered all her own computers, except her first of course, online. Going to the city to buy enough equipment for each prospective student seemed like an exciting opportunity. Maybe she could convince Fox to help her out since she was also pretty tech savvy.
They found a large group of coven members standing at the base of the sweeping staircase making pleased noises, the finished product as grand as Gemma had imagined when she’d seen the ramshackle remnants of the old one during her childhood. She made her way through the group, excited to be able to put her foot on the lowest step with the knowledge the tread would hold. She shouldn’t have been so surprised, but laughed a little anyway, delighted to be able to climb up to the second floor.
“I bet we’ll find a great view upstairs,” Fox said, her hand caressing the polished wood of the railing, though careful to avoid the twinkling lights decorating the balusters. “That was one of my first thoughts when I came into town.”
At the top of the stairs they found a room made up of almost all glass walls. As they stood together, they not only saw most of Secret Hallow twinkling in the dark, but also the numerous colorful strands of magic whirling throughout the town, as the powers so often did in the aftermath of a big working like the reconstruction of the Academy.
Fox clapped her hands as she gave a delighted laugh.
“This wouldn’t have happened without you,” said Gemma. “You coming to Secret Hallow will be remembered as a very important turning point in the history of our coven. Thank you for all you’ve done.”
“Oh, no. You’d have figured something out.” Fox spoke without taking her eyes off the view. “I have no doubt of that at all.”
Gemma knew Fox had, in her own excitable way, willed the Ash Academy into existence once more. If her friend could’ve rebuilt every board with her own magic, Gemma knew in her heart she would have woken up one day to find the school intact, a grinning Fox bouncing on the front lawn. With a little more training, Fox would be a serious force for good.
“I will admit this might have taken longer without me around.” Fox gave a wooden support a fond caress.
So far, she’d treated the building the way Gemma imagined she’d treat the love of her life. Her smile faded away as she recalled that they’d be casting that love spell for Fox once everyone’s powers returned to full strength. Fox would then be able to treat her new love the way she now treated the school.
The thought hurt more than Gemma could ever have imagined.
Chapter 17
THE REMNANTS OF that night’s magic followed the trio back to Gemma and Enid’s house. Power sparkled in Gemma’s hair like glitter, ran up and down Fox’s arms and illuminated her piercings, and even lit the colorful accents on Enid’s dress.
They stopped and took a group selfie, giggling like school girls on spring break.
Gemma decided she’d do her best to maintain a positive attitude until Fox went back to her own life again. She didn’t want her friend to think they didn’t appreciate all she’d done for the Secret Hallow coven. Fox deserved to be treated with as much respect as she’d shown everyone else in the village. She deserved a lot more than that, in fact. She deserved a happy and fulfilled life.
Other witches stumbled through the streets toward their own homes as the party broke up for the night. In the distance, the Ash Academy stood tall and proud in the moonlight, a testament to the strength of friendship and love.
Gemma hoped the building would remain a positive symbol for generations to come.
If nothing else, it would keep precious little Siobhan in the town.
Once they reached the house again, they crossed the threshold into darkness. The traces of power didn’t follow them inside because most houses in the village were warded to prevent the accidental mingling of personal and group magic. Light continued flashing outdoors, bathing the room in ever-changing swirls of color.
“Looks just like Christmas lights,” said Fox as she shook her head. “My neighbors get carried away at the holidays. They’ve even been on one of those ‘Extreme’ television shows because they cover every inch of their house and yard. You should watch!” She smiled over at Gemma. “I’ll send you a link.”
“That would be fun. They sound lovely.”
“Well,” Enid closed the door. “If you really see that much leftover magic…”
“There’s lots! So much more than I’ve ever seen in one place before!”
Enid gave Fox a fond smile. “I believe you!” She crossed to place a gentle hand on Gemma’s arm. “Tonight may be the best night for us to cast the love-seeking spell. We can tap into all the residual power…”
Pain stabbed Gemma’s heart when the moment she’d been dreading arrived. “Shouldn’t we all recuperate first?” She looked from her sister to Fox and back again.
Concern shadowed Enid’s eyes and she realized her sister didn’t mean to cause her any more hurt; she only wanted to keep the promise they’d both made to Fox, who’d been so helpful to them.
Fox danced in a circle. “You’re totally right, Enid. Let’s get to work!”
Gemma couldn’t remember ever before going from euphoria to hopelessness in such a short span of time.
Her body reacted to her emotions in such a physical way she couldn’t catch her breath. Her heart thudded in her chest in the slow, even tempo of a dirge, the beats thumping against her eardrums. Yet she couldn’t ask Enid to drop the idea when Fox was listening. Gemma couldn’t even act upset. She gripped her shaking hands together behind her back, blinking away the tears threatening to fall from her burning eyes. She managed to say “Enid” in a pointed manner that maybe sounded a little more angry than she’d meant.
Her sister’s sympathetic look almost caused her to lose all control over her emotions.
Shaking her head, Gemma began to walk away. She could go up to her room and play music and pretend none of this was happening…
No. She couldn’t pretend. She could play music so no one could hear her cry, maybe.
Before Gemma could get past the first step, Fox grabbed her hand.
“Hey, babe.”
She turned to find her friend watching her with a confused expression instead of her normal ear-to-ear grin. Stepping up next to Gemma, she spoke in a low, soft voice. “The school’s ready. Now’s the time for my spell…and you know this means I’ll be leaving Secret Hallow tomorrow, right?”
Fox didn’t need to tell her that. Of course she’d already known. If Fox found the love of her life, of course she’d go in search of her right away. She’d have no reason to wait. They’d wasted enough of her time already.
Gemma nodded for Fox’s benefit.
“Please don’t go upstairs. I don’t want to lose the last of our time together.” Fox squeezed her hand. “Stay with me for the casting? Please?”
A part of Gemma that saw the moment for the opportunity it was. She could break off their friendship, a clean break, let Fox go find her love, and fade into the background of Fox’s memory.
If she were lucky, they might manage to salvage an acquaintanceship that would allow them to check in with each other from time to time. Fox would have the life she deserved, and Gemma would have…well, the same life she’d had up to this point, just with less Fox interaction and more coven time. Would that be so bad?
Yes, said a pathetic little voice in the back of her mind. How will you survive without her?
She couldn’t prevent the spell from happening. Gemma knew well enough that the hardest times in life happened whether she wanted them to or not. She’d grown up in Secret Hallow, where maybe things didn’t evolve as much as they did in the mundane world, but nothing remained the same.
People grew up, married, bore children, and died. Not everyone stayed in the village
for their entire lives, either. Look at Rowan’s parents. Even now, with the Ash Academy rebuilt, Rowan might yet decide to take her family to another place. Garrett might find a job he really wanted elsewhere and take his family with him. Enid might just reverse her stance on love and move away.
Cauldrons! Though she thought the situation unlikely, maybe Gemma herself might feel the need to move on, too.
At this moment in time she had Fox here. The other woman held Gemma’s hand, asking Gemma to stay for the casting with both her words and eyes, the stiffness of her posture an indication of just how much she hoped Gemma would agree.
And Gemma wanted to stay.
“Okay,” Gemma said, her voice steadier than she’d expected. “Of course I’ll stay.”
Fox gave Gemma a brilliant smile and squeezed her hand. They then walked into the kitchen together to find Enid hovering over the cauldron. Her sister gave a smile that Gemma recognized as a promise that everything would be okay. Though a little forced, in a happy but worried way, Enid looked as though she’d pushed her smile a little farther than was natural for her.
“We need to join both our hands as I cast this,” Enid said to Fox. “Do you want Gem to hold onto you while we work?”
“Absolutely!” Fox said. “Ooh, do we get to do that chant we talked about earlier? I’ve been practicing in my head over and over again so I wouldn’t forget.”
Enid snickered a bit. “I have the words written down, you know,” she said, nodding toward a piece of paper lying next to the cauldron. “And it’s only two sentences.”
“You’re ruining how impressive this is!” Fox winked at Gemma. “You start, I’ll join in.”
Enid squared her shoulders. “I seek true love from a natural degree,” she said in a voice that reverberated throughout the kitchen. “Please show me where to find it, so mote it be.”
Gemma choked back a laugh that could have just as easily been a sob. Spells didn’t often go with such showy behaviors. Enid must have been milking that one for some reason. She just couldn’t figure out why.
Fox met Enid on her level, repeating the two sentences, eyes closed, standing as tall as possible for her short stature. A gentle smile curved her lips, her snakebite piercings glistening in the firelight.
Magic spiraled out of the cauldron and circled around them all, brushing through Gemma with a soft touch, then encompassed everything until the room became a glowing sphere of light. Gemma knew the spell would increase in power until the brilliance almost blinded them before bursting in a shower of sparks and reforming into a cord.
The cord would remain visible to Fox for as long as necessary, but people like Enid and Gemma, who used magic all the time, would only see the first few moments and only again if they accessed their magic.
If the love of Fox’s life were mundane, she’d probably never see the cord at all. She would never see something so beautiful—something that could tie her to Fox for the rest of her life.
Gemma closed her eyes before the spell reached its peak. The intensity of the light didn’t hurt as much as the expression she imagined she’d see on Fox’s face when she first saw the link leading off to the love of her life.
With her eyes closed, Gemma’s other senses sharpened and everything became extra intense: from the feeling of the ridges on Fox’s shirt against her palm, to the smell of pumpkin and herbs, and the ringing echo of the chanting voices in her ears. Even with her eyes closed, she still registered the burst of magic, both because the brilliance shone through her eyelids and from Fox’s gasp of surprise. If the spell were anything like the ones she’d seen before, the effect would be pretty spectacular, especially to someone unfamiliar with the experience.
She wasn’t sure what she expected to happen. Enid wishing Fox good luck, maybe. Fox asking what she should do next.
But nothing happened. They all stood in silence for several moments as the magic faded.
Keeping her eyes closed wouldn’t cause her to hurt any less. She just needed some extra time to adjust to the knowledge that nothing could ever be the same after tonight. Her life would change in ways she’d couldn’t yet imagine.
Gemma winced, balling up her free hand as she worked up the courage to open her eyes.
“Look!” Fox said with a little laugh. “Gemma.”
Her heart thumped. Fox never called her by name.
Gemma’s eyes opened from the surprise of that alone.
The cord glowed a gentle orange and looped around one of Fox’s wrists. Gemma expected the cord to trail from Fox out the kitchen door as she’d seen seeking spells do in the past.
But the cord didn’t leave the room. It didn’t even droop to the floor.
Gemma followed the soft glow from Fox’s left wrist, up her arm, up, up…
…until the cord looped around her own wrist, the one resting on Fox’s shoulder, like a glowing bracelet.
She glanced at Fox, back to the cord, and then to Fox again.
Fox cast a startled glance at Enid. “Is this right?”
“The spell worked,” said Enid, meeting her sister’s eyes. “Right, Gemma?”
Gemma blinked, but the cord wouldn’t disappear until someone declared the spell ended, whether that be Enid, Fox, or Fox’s potential love match…which meant Gemma herself could declare the spell ended.
After everything she’d prepared herself to face, she hadn’t expected this.
“I don’t understand,” Gemma looked at her wrist as though the appendage belonged to someone else. Glancing at Enid, she said, “I…I’m barely functional. As a witch, or as…as a person? I didn’t think…how could I?”
“Hey.” Fox looked up at Gemma with…fondness? “That doesn’t matter to me.”
Surprise prevented Gemma from responding.
“I can’t say this comes as a shock,” Fox said. “I mean, you are one of the best people I know. You have been for years. And I don’t want you to think I expect you to be some perfect, idealized version of you, okay? I expect you to be you, babe. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s all I need.”
Dazed beyond the ability to put together a coherent sentence, she just said, “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Tension tinged Fox’s nervous laugh. “I want…whatever you have to offer. I want you.”
With that, Fox placed her left hand over Gemma’s right. The spell shone bright around both their wrists, and, with so little distance between their hands, the cord barely registered, so they saw just the two of them, joined together within the gentle glow of love.
Gemma leaned forward as though she were going to kiss Fox the way she’d wanted to for so long. She got close enough to feel the warmth radiating off Fox’s skin and paused. What if this wasn’t what Fox wanted? She hadn’t said anything about them moving beyond friendship. Could they share a platonic love relationship? Was such a thing possible?
“Oh, come here.” Fox placed her hands on Gemma’s cheeks, her touch gentle, not pulling her any closer.
Gemma closed the rest of the distance between them.
The first brush of Fox’s lips caused Gemma’s heart to soar. She’d been afraid she’d be awkward with someone as worldly and attractive and, well, like Fox. But Fox threw her arms around the back of Gemma’s neck and pulled her closer. They kissed with the ease and perfection of two people meant for each other. She felt no awkwardness in the touch.
But then, even if the kiss had been awkward, Gemma still would have felt this as the perfect experience. She couldn’t imagine anything less. Not from the great love of her life. Not from Fox.
Then the kiss deepened until she could no longer think. The two of them became one.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when they broke apart. Her eyes looked down into Fox’s, the love she felt reflected back at her, and the tears she’d been fighting for so long that night started streaming down her cheeks. Only they were no longer tears of grief at the idea of losing her good friend, but tears of joy at having found the love of Fox’s li
fe. She couldn’t believe she’d been so afraid of the spell casting that she’d planned to head up to her room to hide.
Gemma looked over to find Enid staring at them with a very pleased expression on her face. Her sister lounged against the counter, at ease amidst what must have looked like the ending of some bad rom-com, watching with no hint that she might be a third wheel in the situation. Getting alone time with Fox in this house might be a little difficult with her darling sister around.
Plus, Gemma knew she’d never hear the end of this. Enid must have insisted on them doing the spell right away because she’d already known the outcome. In fact, she must have known all along what would happen during the casting. The smug, self-righteous, know-it-all…
Enid winked and started to laugh.
Then Fox once again pulled Gemma into an embrace and she found she couldn’t bring herself to care about how much her sister annoyed her at that particular moment. She and Fox might as well have been alone in the kitchen.
And soon they were…
☆★☆
Days later.
“How’s the Academy coming along?” Fox asked.
Gemma grinned down at her screen. “Everything’s great so far. Classes will start whenever Rowan’s ready. Nana said that might be sooner rather than later since she’s getting a little stir crazy at home with Siobhan all day.”
“So what are you working on now?”
“Ritual spaces.” Gemma held up the tablet and pointed. She stood in the glass-walled room, a space she felt to be more than appropriate for spell work since the young witches could see the outdoors so well. “That’s what all the tables that popped up during the rebuild are for. But we’ll still need computers. I think future witches, even in this town, will want to keep most of their paperwork digital.” She turned the tablet so she could once again see the screen.