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“My dear girl, that certainly can’t be you, can it?” she said, her voice sounding both haggard like a crone and youthful, full of energy at the same time.
I didn’t miss the flush to Ayla’s cheeks as she, too, took a step forward. “Hey there, Zara. Did you miss me?”
“Oh my dear!”
Suddenly, the woman was in front of Ayla and tenderly pulled her into a hug. I could still feel Ayla’s nerves bubbling within her, but it warmed my heart nonetheless to see her embraced by family. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for her to have isolated herself for years, so it was incredibly nice to see her receive actual, familial affection.
“I’ve missed you terribly, my sweet.” The woman’s hands stroked Ayla’s hair, then her face, fondness radiating from her. “But what’s with this weak thing here?” At that, she lifted Ayla’s arm where her anti-psychic amulet was mounted into a leather bangle. “I'd understand if it was at least stylish, but this is like wearing one of those tacky human charms.”
Darla’s mouth fell open, and it looked like she was going to say something, but Zara seemed completely unaware of the rest of our presence.
“Well, never mind that. I’m sure you have your reasons.” It certainly seemed like the woman couldn’t stop touching Ayla, but it never felt creepy, either. In fact, it was maternal, full of care, wonder, and perhaps even a little disbelief that Everton was actually there. “You’ve grown up so much since you ran away from us. It’s incredible. You’re a grown woman now, aren’t you? How much time we’ve missed together.”
Maybe I was being nosey, but curiosity piqued inside of me, and I found myself listening in more intently than I should have, taking note of how either woman’s scents or expressions changed.
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Ayla said, gently catching Zara’s wrists. “I hate to rush things, but my friends and I have things we must discuss with the coven.Urgently.”
“Your friends?” Zara said, finally looking at us and only just noticing our presence. “I think we both know that’s not true, otherwise they wouldn’t be alive anymore.”
The rest of the team definitely all heard that, and the concern in the air now was palpable. As for myself, I felt a lot all at once. First was the confirmation that Ayla was indeed telling the truth about her curse. I hadn’t ever doubted her, really, but it was still a relief to hear someone confirm it without having to directly ask.
Second was the part of me that hoped somehow Ayla was wrong, that she didn’t have to live her life with the awful evil that'd been placed on her as a child, died right then and there. It hurt me deeply to even try to imagine everything my mate had gone through, let alone the difficult world ahead of her.
But at least she didn’t have to be alone anymore. I was dead serious about supporting her through everything she could possibly need, and once things were settled, I'd scour the entire world to find this person who blighted us and shove their own curse down their throat until they choked.
“I assure you, all of us are stalwartly in support of your daughter,” I said, turning on my charm. I figured it couldn’t hurt to make a good impression, even if the woman was doubting our intentions.
However, the look she gave me was one of complete and total disinterest. “I don’t recall askingyou,interloper.”
Once more, a crackle rose in the air, as if she were going to strike me down for even speaking. Strange, while Ayla had said her coven wasn’t the most welcoming, she hadn’t mentioned they’d be outright hostile.
“Zara,” Ayla cut in, gripping the woman’s arm. “If you would just let us speak, I’d be happy to do a magic swap with you.”
Magic swap?
I’ve never heard of such a thing, but Zara was visibly pleased by the idea. “Oh my dear, why didn’t you lead with that? Stick close to me now.”
Apparently it really was that simple, because the woman turned away and started leading us off like she hadn’t subtly threatened all of us. I could tell the other members of our crew were ill at ease, but I gave them a small nod to follow along.
I was lucky they trusted me, because I was pretty sure that we were all acutely aware of the possible trap we could be walking into. It wasn’t exactly like we’d been greeted with open arms, after all.
“Do be careful,” she said as we approached the door of the closest building. It was a large one, and it reminded me of the community longhouses I’d seen when I was acting as a diplomat to several indigenous cryptid settlements. “Step too far out of place and the wards we have here will rip you apart on a molecular level.” Zara looked over her shoulder and sent us a smile that would've looked right for a countryside auntie about to serve her homemade lemonade. “I assure you, that would be most unpleasant.”
“Yeah, we did manage to put that together,” Darla muttered, clearly still put out about the amulet.
“That is a relief, then,” Zara continued, as if Darla had spoken out loud. “You would be surprised at how folks’ minds can get scrambled when going through our barriers. Especially the mentals.”
“Mentals?”
“It’s what we call anyone with psychic powers,” Ayla explained softly. “Telepaths, telekinetics, oracles, empaths, sensates… the whole spectrum basically. It’s an older term.”
“Ah.”
Zara didn’t seem offended by the side conversation, so I took that as my chance to ask my own question.
“What exactly is a magic swap?”
“Um…” I thought she was going to give me the brush off, but no, Ayla thought about it for a moment before continuing. “It’s like a rapid exchange of information through magic. Like watching a whole movie condensed into just a few seconds.”
