“Cl-cl-cluck.”
“I do pay attention in class,” Gael scoffed. “It’s just they’re rare.”
“They’re more common than most people realize,” Jennifer said with a glum sigh. “The levels of magic offered for rituals and spells vary. The bigger the cosmic event, the more people it draws, thus more witches attempting to harness the energy of the celestial event. The smaller ones might go unnoticed by most and offer less magic to draw upon.”
“I didn’t realize people still channeled celestial events,” Jamius said, thinking to some of the texts we’d covered in history. “Thought that stuff was super old school.”
“The True Witch is very old school,” I said. “Ancient, in fact.”
“Right,” he sighed.
“And a lot of witches still practice the old ways,” Layla added, thinking of the celebrations her grandmother had dragged her to every New Year’s, every All Hallow’s Eve, and a few other holidays. “They just don’t do them much here.”
Right. Globally, witches in other nations had stronger connections to their history of magic—even though they lost access to it for centuries, they didn’t lose their customs or traditions. America, however, didn’t have the same reverence for rituals.
“So, we just gotta track these celestial events, make sure we find Tara and Caleb before one of them happens,” Gael said.
“But which one will she use?” Gael asked, spikes shrinking sheepishly. “What if there’s like one tomorrow? Or next week?”
“We’ll cross-reference possible dates, find the soonest event, and aim for rescuing Caleb by then.” Kenzo practically snarled.
“And Tara.” Gael and his familiar squinted.
“She’s not at risk of being thrown into Hell,” Kenzo growled.
“She’s still in danger,” I said.
Kenzo scoffed. “Yeah, from her family.”
“She didn’t choose her family,” I said.
“Neither did Caleb,” Gael added. “Seeing as he’s part of Tara’s family, too.”
That quieted Kenzo. Much of his disdain for the Whitlocks became all the more complicated, now knowing Caleb was one of them.
“How are we even going to track them down?” Melanie asked.
“My family has connections with the state divination unit,” Layla replied.
“Yeah, because some lost and found witches can do what the Global Guild never managed,” Kenzo countered.
He wasn’t wrong. Divination units usually focused on stolen items or people skipping bail. They had great successes with simpler tasks, but pinpointing someone or something that hid itself with wards or enchantments… They wouldn’t be much use.
“Then tell the Global Guild witches to get off their asses.” Layla folded her arms, then shot Milo a glare. “Maybe if we knew someone who ranked among them.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Gael pointed a judgy finger. “Watch that attitude. You don’t talk to Enchanter Evergreen that way.”
Oh, Christ. Gael was about one bawk away from starting a full-blown argument with Layla because she insulted his hero.
“Well, do you have a better idea?” Layla snapped her teeth.
“Ba-bawk.”
“Riiiiiight.” Gael’s apprehension washed away, and he smirked. “I grabbed Tara’s familiar.”
What?
“I didn’t want the butterfly or whatever to like suffocate or starve, so I went to her place and grabbed it.”
