Page 85 of His to Hunt

“No. The spell I originally cast is called the Ritual of Fate. The ingredients we used are there, but there are several more in a second column,” I explain, showing them to him. “Every ritual is a little different.”

He reads the list, then shrugs. “Write down what you need for the first ritual,” he instructs. “If I can’t find it myself, I’m sure Saul or Ingrid can help.”

I stand and walk to the bedroom so I can retrieve a notepad and a pen. When I return, I sit beside Victor and jot everything down. I’ve never heard of some of the ingredients, like aura roots and fire manna. Hopefully Victor or his friends have.

“That’s everything,” I say, sliding the list over to him. “Well, everything except my blood. That seems to be necessary for every ritual.”

“Fuck, I don’t even know what some of this is,” he gripes, taking a picture of the paper with his phone. “Does the book explain where to get it?”

“No, the ingredients are there, but nothing about their location,” I say, looking over the page again. “Maybe the names have changed over the years? It’s been a long time.”

“Over four thousand years,” Victor mutters. “A long time for the world to be so fucked up.”

“A long time for this book to find the descendant of the last druid,” I reply. “I guess that means my grandmother was one. And my mom. They just never tried to cast any of the spells in the book.”

“Probably not,” he says, then he leans closer to me. “Only foolish little girls play with magic.”

“Stop,” I groan. “You don’t have to keep teasing me about that. I think we’re way past playing with magic now.”

“Yeah, we definitely are,” he chuckles.

I let out a sigh and look at him. “Do you think breaking the fate-block just impacted me, or would it impact other people in my family?”

“I don’t know,” he answers. “Why?”

“Well… just thinking about my mom,” I admit. “I don’t know much about her, but she had a really hard life. If the fate-block is broken, maybe she’ll actually find someone… assuming she’s still alive.”

“Why do you care? She abandoned you,” he growls. “She didn’t even care enough to make sure you were okay after your grandmother died.”

“I know, I just… maybe that wasn’t her fault,” I sigh. “My life wasn’t the greatest either. I never believed my family was actually cursed, like my grandmother used to say, but sometimes it felt like we were.”

“I don’t think you would abandon your child,” he says, shaking his head.

I look down at my belly, realizing that could be a reality at this very moment. “Do you think I’m pregnant? After the frenzy?”

“Too soon to know,” he says. “It’s common, but not a guarantee. If you’re not pregnant yet, then I’ll just have to try again when you go into heat.”

“I’m going to go into heat?” I ask, my eyes widening.

“All mates go into heat when they’re bonded with a shifter,” he answers. “Usually happens during a full moon, but sometimes it’s spontaneous.”

“How often?” I ask, a little concerned about this new aspect of my biology.

“A few times a year, usually. It’s nothing like a frenzy,” he says. “But it’s the only time I can knot you outside of one.”

“Hopefully it’ll be a while before that happens,” I murmur, pressing on my stomach. “I don’t feel pregnant.”

“Like I said, it’s still too soon to know,” he chuckles. “If the frenzy resulted in a baby, then it will be a blessing. If it hasn’t happened yet, we’ll keep trying.”

“For now, I guess we should focus on the rituals,” I say, looking back down at the book. “Question is… where? Lighting some place up with eternal sunshine could cause problems, right?”

“Possibly,” he growls. “We’ll find somewhere out of the way if we have to. First, we need the ingredients.”

I nod in agreement and continue flipping through the book. Every ritual has ingredients I’ve never heard of. If Victor’s friends don’t know what they are, then I may not be able to do any of the rituals. Mother Nature may never be reincarnated.

But surely the book didn’t find me just so I could fail.

With Victor at my side, I feel like I can accomplish anything.