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I locked the front door and then ran down to Ashworth’s borrowed SUV. Once we reached Monty’s, I ran inside to grab his kit. This apparently didn’t please Eamon, who greeted me with a hiss and a flash of his dangerous claws. This time, though, he missed—deliberately, I suspected, if the glint in his eyes was anything to go by.
It didn’t take us long to drive to the location of the tree cave, but getting through the forest with any speed with Monty on crutches wasn’t easy. At least this time he avoided falling over.
When we did finally reach the clearing, Ashworth said, “Interesting spell.”
I glanced at him sharply. “Why? It’s a simple trigger spell.”
“There’s nothing simple about that. Not when the wild magic is present and concealing it.”
I frowned. “How can wild magic conceal a spell? It can’t act without direction…”
My voice faded. Except that some of it had, ever since Katie’s soul had become a part of it.
“I suspect it’s not deliberate concealment.” Monty stopped beside me, the scent of his sweat stinging the air and his breathing a little ragged. “But rather the force of it overshadowing your spell and muting its power.”
“Either way, its presence could be very useful,” Ashworth said. “We’ll use your simpler spell to hide our trap one.”
I frowned. “Your trap has to be pretty powerful to contain the Empusae, and I’m not entirely sure the wild magic will conceal it.”
“We’ll run a second concealment spell through the weave,” Monty said. “Between that and the wild magic, we should be right.”
I hoped so, because right now this was our one and only hope of stopping at least one of the remaining Empusae.
“Can you disconnect your spell so that we can weave ours along the inside of it?” Ashworth said.
I did so, and then tried not to feel like a third wheel as they set up their protection circle and stepped inside it. This was the main reason why I couldn’t be the reservation witch, no matter how deep my connection with the wild magic got. I simply wasn’t good enough at spell craft.
Which didn’t stop me learning from every spell they did. I might not have the knowledge, but I did have a good memory.
I crossed my arms and watched through narrowed eyes as their magic rose around the inside of my deactivated trigger spell. The two of them worked well as a team, and the spell was intricate and powerful. I wasn’t entirely sure I’d ever be able to replicate the thing in full, but there were certainly bits of it I could apply to the spells I did know. Monty might have warned multiple times about the dangers of ad hoc spelling, but I’d been doing it for nearly half my life now. When you didn’t have the training, you simply adapted.
Once they’d tied off and activated their trap, Ashworth glanced at me and said, “Right, your turn.”
I immediately reconnected my spell, then silently studied it. Ashworth was right. Between the pulse of wild magic and the concealment spell they’d threaded through their snare, there was no outward evidence of our magics around the tree cave.
Ashworth helped Monty to his feet and then collected their spell stones. “Now it’s just a matter of waiting.”
Monty nodded. “Let’s just hope the pair of them aren’t out hunting for another victim to strip tonight.”
“If they are, there’s not a lot we can do about it.” Ashworth glanced at me. “Give us a call the minute your spell goes off.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not daft enough to come out and confront this thing all by myself.”
His expression was skeptical, though his eyes twinkled. “I’m not entirely sure that’s true.”
I snorted. “For that, you can pay for your next coffee.”
“And I’m more than happy to do so, lassie.” A smile tugged at his lips. “In fact, I think Monty should do his bit to support the café, too, and start paying for all those cakes he demolishes.”
“I demolish the old stuff, not the new. I’m considerate like that.”
I shook my head at their continuing banter and followed the two of them out of the clearing. Ashworth dropped us both off and then continued home to Eli. I didn’t bother going back into the café—I simply went around the back to collect our SUV, headed across to the supermarket to grab some food, then drove down to Aiden’s place.
Once I’d let myself in—again without setting off the alarm, which maybe meant I was getting the hang of it—I went upstairs for a quick shower. He still wasn’t home by the time I’d finished, so I pulled on a loose-fitting summery dress and went back down to help myself to some of his rather fine whiskey. He rang just as I took my first sip.
“Have you got an alarm on your booze cabinet or something?” I said by way of greeting.
“No—why?”
