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As soon as I acknowledged her, she pressed against me like an overeager German Shepherd, clawing to let herself out.
I sighed.You know I can’t practice magic when I’m a wolf.
She didn’t seem interested, however, and I—well, I knew I couldn’t ignore her forever, especially if Ididcomplete the ritual on the solar eclipse. I’d be a shifter forever, and that was a long, long time to fight someone.
Maybe I’ll feel better if I burn off some energy.Whenever his wolf was hassling him, Fenris usually seemed more collected after a run, so I didn’t see why that wouldn’t work for me, too.Okay, I told my wolf as much as I told myself.Let’s try this. Maybe if we just—
I didn’t get to finish the thought before my wolf was chomping at the bit, barreling through my consciousness. I stumbled with the force, and when I landed on the sand, it was with four paws. She yipped happily, prancing in the afternoon sun, her bushy white tail waving like a banner. It was obvious that she was elated to get out and stretch her legs, so much so that it was difficult to be upset with her. If I could’ve smiled, I might have, even if I was still a bit annoyed to be barreled over like that.
Curious, we turned and pranced down to the water. I sighed, trying to urge my wolf to justrunso we’d burn off some energy, but she sprang forward, slapping her large paws into the wave. She yipped gleefully, doing it again before ducking down to take a drink.
No, wait—YUCK!We gagged at the salty taste and shook our head, fur flying as we stamped our paws in outrage.Gross!
We whirled around, taking off up the stretch of sand, charging away with our tail spinning like a propeller. The faster we ran, the further I felt pushed into the back seat until I was just a passenger. My wolf blasted down the length of the island, not stopping until we reached the far end.
She panted, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she looked around, taking in her new home. This was wildly different from the cell, and though she did not know what to make of the heat just yet, there was the space! The sounds!The smells!It was so much better that she couldn’t even quantify it, and as soon as she’d caught her breath, she pressed her nose to the earth, nostrils flaring as she began to catalog the island the way a wolf would.
I zoned out while she continued to sniff, making her way back to the mansion much more slowly than on the way out. When I finally pressed her again, we could see Fenris’s home. Evidently satisfied with her little adventure, she didn’t resist at all when I took back control. I stepped forward, back on two feet and only wobbling a little. Something so simple shouldn’t have made me smile, but it did. I was practically beaming as I made my way to the kitchen, following the faint sound of someone stirring something.
“Oh, Val!” I joined her at the stove. “That smells lovely! What is it?”
Val glanced over at me and took a step back from her pot. “I’m cooking a stock so I can make herbed rice pilaf. It’s one of my comfort foods, really. You can have it with almost anything.”
My smile grew. “A little homesick?” I asked gently.
“A bit,” Val said as she looked back into the broth, where green flecks of herbs swirled around. “Part of me wishes I could take off as easily as Walter or Fenris, but I wouldn’t want to leave you alone. Besides, this is just a very happy food for me.”
I reached out, touching her elbow. “It’s okay, Val. I’m a big girl, I’ve lived alone before! If you need some time—”
Val looked back at me. “Stop it. I enjoy my time here, and it’s nice to have a purpose beyond charming a jet for the Lunar Lord twice a month. I enjoy our conversations greatly. I’ve never considered myself a social butterfly, and being constantly surrounded by my coven can be overwhelming at times. Having a student has been rather lovely for me.” She smiled warmly. “Plus, it gave me a reason to finally get my niece to the island. I’ve wanted Morgan to visit for ages, but…well, you know how Fenris can be about new folks. Or used to be, perhaps.” Her eyes twinkled knowingly. “I think you’ve had a positive influence on him.”
I flushed a little, ducking my head. “You’re in a very good mood,” I noted. “Less homesick, then?”
Val looked away, and I narrowed my eyes. “What happened?” I inhaled. “Val…”
“Walter and I had a long walk on the beach before he and Fenris left for Florida last night,” she said. She walked to the chopping board and prepared more herbs, but she couldn’t hide her grin from me. “It was nice to talk with him.”
“Val!” I couldn’t stop myself from squealing. The only reason I didn’t race over and give her a hug was that she held a knife and I didn’t want to risk her cutting herself. “Was it romantic? Did he give you a goodnight kiss?”
There was something incredibly charming about an older woman blushing. “Perhaps,” she said, gathering her herbs and returning to the pot. “Whatever happens between Walter and me, I am grateful for the little nudge you gave us, Celeste.” She finally turned to smile at me. “Now, would you mind preparing the vegetables?”
Val and I cooked dinner before we ate it out on the patio, enjoying the moon as it slowly crept up from the horizon. It may have been a calm night, but it was one of the nicest evenings I’d had in a while. Val was like the aunt I’d always wanted Esme to be, and being able to chat with her about anything and everything—magic, men, vacations to Mexico—fed my soul in a way I hadn’t realized I needed.
After we ate, we returned to our usual clearing in the woods to practice under the moonlight. Yet, as Val helped me work through slightly more advanced elemental magic, I still felt we were moving too slowly for me to be ready for the eclipse. I knew there wasn’t much I could do until Fenris’s contact uncovered the old Handmaiden records, but when Val retired to a guest room for the night, I felt I ought to be doingsomething.
I lasted about three minutes in the master bedroom before I headed down to the library. I didn’t reallyknowwhat kind of spells were required of me, so it was difficult to practice. I just didn’t want to waste energy on something that wouldn’t be important in a few months. At the library, at least I could read up, and if something seemed particularly important, I could query Val about it tomorrow. We’d touched on all classes of magic except one: dark magic.
I frowned while looking around at the massive shelves. I kept the light low—after working under the moon, I didn’t want to be blinded.Should I really be looking into this?Nothing anyone had mentioned to me about the Handmaiden witches seemed to have anything to do with dark magic. The onlyexampleI’d seen, if it could even be called that, was Sabine’s manipulation of the minds around her.
And transportation.
Delila used transportation magic. She seemed…well, a bit weird, but no weirder than my Aunt Esme. And certainly not off the chain or violent like Sabine.
After standing in the middle of the library for another minute or two, I decided it couldn’t hurt tolook. I was just gathering ideas and certainly had no intention of taking over anyone’s mind.
Thankfully, there were books in the library detailing dark magic. Morgan and I had looked at one a few weeks earlier, when we were trying to figure out how to free Abi and Cody from Sabine’s grasp. But I didn’t seeA Practical Application of Dark Magicanywhere on the shelf.
Maybe Morgan borrowed it to take notes.She kept more detailed notes than anyone I’d ever met, myself included.
