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Sky snickered as he trailed after them, carrying a satchel in his arms. He winked at Moon but said nothing about his “boyfriend” comment.
Moon’s fingers slid down to caress Chen’s long fingers without actually threading them together. “So…you’re not only a badass fighter and a scary vampire when you want to be, but you’re also an artist?”
“It was part of my education under Shifu. The study of martial arts and the precepts of our sect are more than just fighting. We must also understand history, philosophy, ethics, and the arts,” Chen explained. It was a struggle to not capture Moon’s teasing fingers and hold them tight. “I enjoy painting the most, but I find designing gardens and working with plants relaxing as well.”
“I guess it’s a shame you didn’t get tangled up with an earth witch. You’d be in heaven talking about gardens and plants all night long.”
“No,” Chen snapped. He wanted to say that he wouldn’t trade the blood witch in front of him for any earth witch, but a snicker from Xiang as he strolled by trapped those words in his throat. After glaring at the back of his brother’s head, Chen turned his attention to Moon, who was also smirking at him. “We should help your friends.”
Moon continued along the stone path, heading deeper into the thin woods filled with a variety of maple, oak, and dogwood trees. Small garden lamps dotted the path, providing just enough of a golden glow to keep them from tripping. The pair of earth witches were spreading out a map of the state. Several other maps stacked off to the side. A variety of different colored crystals held down the creased paper. Over it, they set up a tripod with the wooden sticks pushed into the soft dirt. A misty white crystal dangled from the center, swaying in the spring breeze.
As Moon drew close, both Maddox and Redstone glared at him.
“Over there,” Red said, pointing toward his left. Chen followed their finger to find Sky leaning against a tree. The necromancer’s lips twisted into a wry smile, and he waggled his fingers at them in a wave.
“You sure?” Moon asked, though there was something about his tone that made Chen think the witch was teasing them.
“Go, Moon,” Maddox replied, his eyes dropping to the map while Red pulled more objects out of his bag. “Assuming this works at all, we’re going to need to cast this spell multiple times to home in on the exact location. It’s better if we have as little interference as possible.”
Chen followed Moon as he strolled over to Sky and leaned on the other side of the tree. He glanced about to find his brothers and sisters spread out around the witches, watching them work.
“Why do they think you would interfere?” Chen inquired.
“Because we don’t understand the workings of Moon’s type of magic,” Sky said. He tilted his head and grinned at Chen. “My brand of death magic can sometimes dampen their spells because death magic and earth magic are natural opposites. Though they can work in tandem with each other under the right circumstances.”
“Like trapping hellhounds,” Moon offered.
Sky scowled at Moon. “They weren’t hellhounds. They were dandy dogs, and yes, we were able to trap them with a basic barrier spell.” When he turned his attention to Chen, his expression shifted into a scowl. “Right now, they are trying to track emergent earth magic, which means my energy will get in the way. Sidelining poor Moon with me is a precaution.”
“My mom is the only blood witch I’ve ever known, and she passed away before she could share all she knew about that type of magic,” Moon volunteered.
“But—” Chen started but stopped himself. He didn’t want to be rude. How he studied martial arts with a sect did not translate to how witches trained.
“Go ahead,” Moon prodded. The witch even nudged him with his elbow.
“I don’t wish to presume…”
Moon turned to face him. “Chen, if we’re going to learn anything about each other, we have to be comfortable asking questions. You can’t worry about hurting my feelings. I know your curiosity isn’t coming from a malicious place.”
The ball of discomfort in Chen’s chest melted away, and he allowed his question to tumble free. “Didn’t…didn’t your mother train you from an early age?”
“Yes, and no. My mom exposed me to magic when I was young because she suspected I inherited her gift. She got me comfortable with the idea of how our magic worked, but I was almost thirteen before I began working spells on my own.”
“So late?”
“Yeah, ’cause what mom wants to teach her kid to cut himself?” Sky muttered.
Moon growled and kicked at Sky. The necromancer giggled and dodged. He returned a second later and pulled out his phone, appearing to get lost in whatever he was doing and forgetting about them.
