Magic Heist

The walls of the greenhouse close in as everyone stares at me in shock.

Aris and I are related? How is that even possible? I thought all of my family were dead.

The air thickens with confusion, and I can't help but feel like I've stumbled into the world's weirdest family reunion, where any minute, someone will jump out with a camera and tell me this is all a joke. By the bewildered expression on Aris's face and the way she keeps looking around, she must feel the same.

"Wait a second!" I raise a hand to stop the madness. "How is it even possible for the Rothaven clan to have died out here and in Hartford Cove? And isn't it too much of a coincidence that both sanctuary cities were established by Rothavens?"

Aspen's excitement dims, his focus jumping from me to Aris to the coveted hoard of lost grimoires.

Haut's brow furrows in thought. "Well, in the Founder's Story, the Wendall witch was only the apprentice to the witch in the woods, and she left her village with one of the wolf shifters from there."

Aris's face brightens at the mention of the story. "My grandmother used to tell me about her great-great-grandmother, who came to Silver Hollow with her half-sister, who was a wolf shifter."

Elana's expression turns pinched with distaste. "She had taken her sister as her familiar."

"Whoa, hold on," I interrupt, feeling more lost than ever. "What's a familiar?"

Aspen straightens and clasps his hands behind his back in his teacher pose. "It's an archaic practice of boosting a witch's power. But very few witches still summon familiars, as it puts themselves at risk if the familiar dies."

I glance over at Tris. "Does that mean I could have made Tris my familiar?"

"Only when I was a goose." He winks at me. "We could have had a honking good time."

"That's definitely the type of familiar you'd end up with," Haut mutters.

"Hey!" I protest, feigning offense.

"Taking a human shifter as a familiar is forbidden," Elana cuts in, her tone stern. "If you actually did that, it would be grounds for being put to death."

"Okay, fine." I hold up my hands in surrender. "No turning Tris back into a goose so he can be my familiar. Got it."

I turn to Aris, trying to piece together our confusing family tree. "So, my ancestor married your great-great-great-great uncle?"

Aris looks as puzzled as me, counting the greats on her fingers. "Something like that, yeah."

Aspen's expression turns thoughtful. "It's possible that the witch in the woods fled in the opposite direction as Rowe's ancestor when the feud started. That would explain why the towns share so many similarities. Both witches were working from the same grimoires."

"Which means…" Aris rummages through the stack of dusty books on the table and thrusts an ancient-looking tome at me. "If you carry Rothaven blood, maybe you can open this one. It supposedly has the moon madness charm inside."

Elana sucks in a sharp breath and takes half a step forward before Levi's hard stare stops her in her tracks. The cat's already out of the bag, anyway, on the whole ‘lost' spell. Not like she can stuff it back into hiding with so many witnesses.

I take the book, my fingers itching to crack this puzzle box. But when I try to lift the cover, it stubbornly sticks shut.

Aris points to the spine, where a slender needle protrudes from the book's binding. "You have to prove your bloodline."

My enthusiasm evaporates faster than I can say bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

"Nope! No needles!" I drop the book like a hot potato. "There's no way I'm pricking my finger on that thing! I saw what happened to Sleeping Beauty!"

Haut nods in agreement. "Sounds dangerous. Who knows what diseases it could carry."

"But think about it, Rowe," Levi drawls, his brown eyes sparkling. "You've been wanting an amulet of your own, right? This might be your best shot at getting one."

I hesitate, torn between my desire for a moon madness charm and my very rational fear of needles.

What are the odds that proving my bloodline will lead to anything more than a nasty infection? But then again, what if it actually works?

Gritting my teeth, I snatch the grimoire back up and mash my left pointer finger onto the needle. Sharp pain spikes through me, like I stabbed myself with a dull knife.

"Ouch!" I yank my hand back, dropping the book again.

I pop my bleeding digit into my mouth and wait for the inevitable curse of forever sleep. Instead, the book's cover slowly opens on its own.

A collective gasp echoes through the greenhouse, and Aris's eyes widen with excitement. "Wow, Rowe, you actually did it!"

"Go me." I'm far less impressed with my skills at being born into this weird-ass clan of Rothaven witches.

I reach out to turn the first page, revealing the ancient text of… well, I haven't got a clue what it is, because I can't read a damn word.

Dismayed, I spin toward Aspen. "It's all in German!"

"Let me see." Aspen reaches out for the grimoire.

"Nerd power activate." I pass the book over to him, but as soon as his fingers touch the cover, it slams shut with a resounding thud.

"Only a Rothaven can read it," Aris explains, looking apologetic. "Sorry."

"Great," I huff. "So now we have a grimoire that requires a blood sacrifice to open, and I can't understand the spells."

"Maybe you could try translating it?" Tris suggests with a shrug. "There's gotta be a dictionary at the library."

I throw back my head with a groan. "But we already have so many Wendall grimoires to translate!"

Aspen passes the ancient tome back to me. "Join the nerds. Learn German."

"You say that like it's easy." I turn to Tris. "Give me your phone."

He hands it over without question, and I impale my throbbing finger on the needle again, because what's a little bloodletting between me and ancient artifacts?

The cover opens, and I flip the first page to reveal a cramped line of what I'm hoping is a keynote section. Opening the camera app, I snap a picture.

The cover slams closed, nearly jumping off the table as it rejects this plan. But it wasn't fast enough.

"Ha!" I point my bleeding finger at it. "Modern technology for the win!"

Aspen takes the phone from me, zooms in on the photo, and chuckles. "Congratulations. We now know the births and deaths of those in the Rothaven family."

The grimoire doesn't have a face, but it still looks smug from where it sits tightly locked up.

"New idea." I clench my fists. "We rip the pages out."

A whimper escapes Aris. "Please don't."

Tris wraps his arms around my head, patting me soothingly. "There, there. Calm the urge to destroy."

I huff, feeling defeated by the inanimate object. "But what are we supposed to do now? I can't read German, Aspen can't open it, and this grimoire has way too many opinions about its personal pages."

"It's almost like you're related," Haut drawls, and only Tris's tight hold keeps me from scratching the man's eyes out.

"You're not thinking broad enough," Aspen says, snapping me out of my contemplations of murder. "The spell to protect the grimoire was set by a Rothaven, and only a Rothaven can undo it. So all we have to do is figure out what kind of locking spell was put on the book."

"Huh." I look across the table at Aris. "Well, cousin?"

"Actually, there are several unlocking charms in my family grimoires." Aris grimaces. "But none of them have worked for me because I don't have Rothaven blood."

"Not your fault the book is blood prejudiced," I reassure her.

She gives a shy smile. "With all the trial and error, I can now open most locks in town, though." Then her eyes widen, and her gaze darts to Levi. "Not that I would ever use them to invade anyone's privacy, I swear!"

"I didn't think you would," he drawls, but I can see him tucking away that tidbit of information to pull out in the future.

Fascinated by Aris's spy game, I lock on to her blushing face. "You're amazing."

Tris leans on the table beside me. "We should bundle you up and take you back to Hartford Cove with us."

"Our coven is great. Very open. Very friendly. Absolutely no hoarding of spells or knowledge," I add as an enticement.

Aris's blush deepens, turning her face the same shade as a ripe strawberry that I want to gobble up.

Haut nudges me. "We're not in Silver Hollow to recruit new residents."

My focus remains on Aris. "I'm fully capable of multitasking when something truly interesting comes along."

"In case you're confused, Aris," Tris whispers, "you're interesting."

Her eyes widen, and she looks pleasantly flustered.

Elana lets out a displeased sound. "There are far more powerful spells in the elemental grimoires."

Annoyed by the sharp censor in her tone, I turn to her. "How important has replicating the moon-madness amulets been to your coven?"

Elana straightens her spine and thrusts her chin up to stare down her nose at me. "It's of the utmost importance, second only to maintaining the barrier."

I raise my eyebrows. "And where is this utmost important spell located?"

She blanches and looks from Levi to the locked grimoire in obvious discomfort.

"Well, let me ask you this," I continue, undeterred. "Have you ever tried your elemental unlocking spells on the Rothaven grimoire?"

"Of course, we have," Elana snaps, her eyes narrowing.

"Okay… And do any of your elemental spells require blood?" I ask, trying to get to the point.

Her lip curls in disgust. "No, our magic is not so base."

"Any other body fluids?" I press further.

"Absolutely not!" she exclaims, looking appalled.

"Then why would we waste time retrying something that hasn't worked before and doesn't contain a component that can be changed to make it work?" I turn to Aspen. "Am I missing something here?"

Elana looks ready to burst with anger, but Aspen steps in to diffuse the situation. "Rowe is extremely rude." He shoots me a reproachful glance. "For that, as her mentor, I apologize."

I roll my eyes at that.

He turns his attention back to Elana. "However, she's also not wrong. We'd like to open the Rothaven grimoire as quickly as possible, to see if it contains the barrier spell, in addition to the moon madness charm."

His glare stops the Duh tripping down my tongue, and I swallow it.

"While we work through the various lock spells, we should review any other protection spells your coven has." Aspen dips his head to Elana in respect. "Especially the elemental ones, as barriers are ethereal by nature."

This seems to mollify Elana, her chin coming down a notch.

Turning to the bookshelf, she pulls out a slender, newer-looking grimoire, and proudly presents it to Aspen. "This contains the joint protection spells from all of our grimoires within our private library. It has been a passion for our coven to gather every spell of this type that we could find."

"Excellent." Aspen takes the book and gives her an appreciative nod. "We'll take this and all of the Rothaven spell books back to the werewolf compound to study."

Elana sputters as she struggles for words, her hands forming claws, barely containing the urge to snatch the grimoire back from Aspen.

"That won't be a problem, will it, Elana?" Levi asks, breaking the silence. "If you're concerned about the Alpha's security, you're invited to come with us, so you can keep your eyes on the books at all times. There's plenty of space for everyone."

Elana pales, her mouth working as she weighs the options. "I…don't doubt the Alpha's ability to ensure our precious tomes' safety."

The concession looks like it physically pains her.

"Are you sure?" Levi smiles, showing his canines. "We're planning a welcome feast tonight for our visitors, and there will be more than enough food and drink."

"Thank you for the invitation." Elana stiffens her spine, her gaze sweeping around to touch on her other coven members, who wilt. "Unfortunately, we are quite busy."

Aris avoids looking at her as she stacks her family grimoires. "I'd like to go. I've never been to the compound before."

At her defiance, Mina raises a hand. "Me, too. I'd like to go."

Beside her, Kaela nods.

Tris grins with excitement. "Let's get packing!"

As we help Aris with her grimoires, Mina and Kaela sneak additional books from the bookcase.

A magic heist? Oh, I am so in for this.

Tris sees it, too, and his golden-brown eyes sparkle. "Ready?"

My pulse quickens. "Born ready."

With the bloodthirsty grimoire hugged to my chest, I spin and race for the front door with my loot.