Page 104 of Demon and the Raven

“Are you listening?” Toby asked her, squinting.

She pressed her lips together tight, not wanting to draw the ire of the second-grader. “I am. I apologize.”

“Okay,” he said with a huff. “So I say, Friends from the forest, protect me for my highest and best. But you, if you’re not by a forest, you can say for the protection of all, and that’s for you and your friends,” he whispered, and she nodded quickly. He raised his voice when he said, “And the harm of none, protect us all as we are one.”

“That’s lovely.”

“It’s good if it can rhyme like that because it’s easier to remember.”

“Got it.”

“And say so mote it be at the end so the spirits—or if you have an angel like my mom does—then they’ll know it’s time for them to go to work.”

“Your mom has an angel?”

He nodded. “She says he drinks because she’s a handful.”

Shelby turned slowly to Amanda, and I had to cover my mouth so I wouldn’t make a sound.

“Outstanding,” Meijun told Amanda, who waggled her eyebrows at her.

Shelby asked Toby, “Anything else I should know?”

“If you pour it out, the herbs will be all mixed up. There’s lavender and star anise, and sometimes there’s rosebuds and cinnamon sticks and juniper berries.”

“And the tea flowers,” JJ offered.

“Oh yeah, that’s right, chamomile flowers and dandelions and pieces of cedar and oak bark.” He thought a moment. “At Christmas, Uncle Xan celebrates Yule, and at Yule, there’s mistletoe in the casting herbs, but not right now.”

“Thank you so much,” she said softly.

“Casting herbs just means things you throw in the fire or put in a bag or something. My dad says it’s like when he’s fly-fishing and casts his line out like this.” He showed her the motion Eddie Sterling made. “But don’t do it hard, because one time he hurt his back doing that.”

It was Amanda’s turn to cover her mouth so she didn’t burst out laughing.

“Mom says he needs to do what?” JJ asked Toby.

“Strength training.”

JJ nodded knowingly. “Yeah.”

Now Shelby had both hands covering her face.

“But even though the stuff looks like it’s nothing good,” Toby told her, “it’s a mixture, and Uncle Xan, he talks to it and makes it super strong. And when you run out, you can come back and get some more, okay?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her eyes filling.

“You need a hug?”

Quick nod.

Toby put the herb bag down and leaned into her, turning his head so it was on her shoulder as she closed her eyes and tears ran down her face.

Meijun cleared her throat. “Could I have a hug too?”

“JJ,” Toby said.

Amanda’s youngest slipped from the chair, darted around the table, arms open, and Meijun scooped them up and hugged them tight.