But I’d barely gotten used to the twenty-some witches in Elena’s house, and now our makeshift coven was rapidly expanding, with more witches set to arrive in the coming days. Verona had done her job in putting the word out, and her network of witches had picked up and run with it, organizing volunteers with vehicles to drive out and pick up any witches within an hour’s drive.
I wanted so badly to help them. To lead them. I felt it burning inside me, brighter than the fiery torches in the Six of Wands card. When I thought about what the Silversbane legacy actually meant to me, it wasn’t about power or magic at all. It was about bringing people together. Mending old, generational rifts between women who probably couldn’t even remember why their mothers or grandmothers had been fighting in the first place. It was about breaking down old structure and building something stronger. It was about eliminating any force or being that sought to keep us from doing just that.
And most importantly, it was about sisterhood.
For so long, I’d been a solitary witch, so deep in the broom closet I could barelysaywords like “witch” or “magic” without breaking out in hives.
Now I was part of something big. Something important. Something with life-or-death stakes not just for everyone here, but for witches and supernaturals everywhere.
The fire inside me surged, mixing with the magic and burning so hot, I feared I might just combust.
I swept the cards into a pile and tucked them back into the box. There was no advice to be found in the Tarot tonight—nothing I couldn’t divine myself.
Outside my door, I heard someone clomping up the stairs. The rhythm of the footfalls was a dead giveaway.
“Here’s how it’s gonna be,” Asher announced to the entire lodge. Subtly had never been his strong suit. “I’m going in there. Anyone comes through that door who’s not bleeding from a major artery is gonna get flatlined. Got it?”
His protectiveness brought a smile to my lips, and I opened the door, shooting him a glare I didn’t really mean. “I’m fine, Ash. I just needed some space.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here.”
“You know I need space, so you invited yourself up here to invade it?”
“I… Um…” He scratched the back of his head, clearly at a loss for words.
His slightly embarrassed smile was so endearing, I couldn’t help but return it. “Damn you and your sexy incubus charms, Asher O’Keefe.”
“You’re not the first woman to say that, Cupcake.”
“No.” I arched an eyebrow. “But I’d better be the last.”
“No question.”
Laughing, I stepped aside to let him in. Rather than taking the invitation graciously, he marched to the end of the bed, clapped his hands once, then pointed at the door.
“Sunshine,” he said, “Sparkle-butt, you know I love you. But you need to vamoose.”
“Oh, good luck with that,” I teased. “They only listen to me.”
But my loyal hounds, traitors to their name, hopped up and marched out the door, which Asher promptly shut behind them.
“You’re something else,” I told him.
“What? You think you’re the only one who can’t resist me? I’ve got those girls wrapped around my finger like you wouldn’t believe.”
“So you’ve been bribing them.”
“What?” He pressed his hand to his heart, mortally offended. “Sunshine and Sparkle and I have a deep relationship based on mutual respect and—”
“Bacon?”
Asher cracked up. “You know it.”
“So what was the deal with Liam?” I asked, sitting back on the bed.
“He spotted a cave system not too far from here that looked like it could be trouble, but the shifters checked it out, and it’s clear. Hobb’s posting two guards there, anyway, just to be safe. Reva volunteered to go with them and do some of her shadow spelunking, but they squashed that idea pretty quick.” Asher shook his head, smiling. “Crazy girl.”
“Aww. She just wants to help.”
