A Charm to Pick

The sun rises high in the sky by the time I feel the effects of prolonged magic use. I sway on my feet as my arm drops to my side, my muscles protesting. Pride fills me at how much brighter the barrier now shines, and I wish I could have reached higher to help better stabilize the dome.

"Good job." Tris squeezes my shoulders, a tremor in his hands.

The repairs took an equal toll on him.

"Yes, well done, both of you," Aspen says from where he sits on a log that Levi and Haut had dragged from the healthier part of the forest.

His injured leg sticks straight out, and his makeshift cane rests beside him. While Tris and I worked, he had begun the spell to halt the spread of poison, and a fine sheen of sweat glistens on his brow.

I lean against Tris, though not too much, or he might fall over. "It's not going to be enough."

Aspen nods, his features tight. "Text Mel and have her email over the recipe for the Hartford Cove barrier. We need to start working on that."

"You know what would make things easier right now?" I stifle a yawn. "An online database of spells at our fingertips."

Aspen sighs, and I half-expect him to argue as he always does when I bring up my pet project of digitizing my grimoires, but instead, he dips his chin in acknowledgment. "I had the same thought while waiting for Aris to flag all of her unlocking spells."

A surge of renewed energy shoots through me. "Really?"

"It's still dangerous, though." He gives me a stern stare. "It would need safeguards so that young witches aren't able to access spells they're not ready for."

"Like a test or something?" I think about that as I pull out my phone and shoot Mel a text for the barrier spell. "Or some kind of proof-of-power level?"

"If only we had tests in place for that sort of thing." He mock-gasps. "Oh, wait, we do."

I lift my head from my screen so he can see me rolling my eyes. "Fine, maybe your circle tests are worth something, after all."

Tris glances between us. "Did you guys actually agree on something?"

Aspen's lips quirk. "So it would seem."

"Don't get too used to it." I finish my text to Mel and receive a thumbs up in response.

An angry voice breaks through the moment, and I spot Griffen approaching with Elana practically dragged along by him.

"How dare you force me out of my home and into the woods!" she fumes, her face bright red. "I am a respected member of the town council and leader of Silver Hollow's coven! You will show me respect."

Griffen ignores her and continues toward us.

Haut and Levi appear behind him, the two men returning after running a perimeter patrol to make sure we weren't attacked by the monster while we worked.

"And I demand you release my disciples!" Elana shakes with rage. "How dare you confine them at the pack compound without even alerting me to what happened!"

"Disciples?" Aspen grabs his cane and pushes to his feet, irritation in every line of his body. "They are not your followers. They are apprentices to the craft!"

Elana, who until now was entirely focused on her tirade against Griffen, finally notices the rest of us.

Then she takes in the dead woods that surround us and pales as if seeing a ghost. Or maybe a ghost would be less frightening than the death of a forest to an earth witch.

"What…?" She stares at the brittle, brown trees. "What happened here?"

"This is the source of the barrier's sickness." I motion around us. "Whatever poison killed these trees has spread rot through the barrier."

"No, this isn't possible." She drops to the ground, sweeping away dry pine needles. "I would have noticed."

Griffen relaxes and exchanges a nod with Levi, who had explained the plan when he called his Alpha and requested that he pick up Elana and meet us out here. Based on the coven leader's reaction, she had no part in this.

Tears streak down Elana's cheeks as she gazes at the poisoned forest. "This is…this is awful. How could I not sense this?"

"There's a spell around this area that directs your attention away," Aspen says, his tone gentle.

Her head turns toward him. "We have to stop this from spreading further."

"We will." Aspen eases back onto his log. "I've already started, but I need your assistance. The job is too big for me to do alone."

"Of course, I'll help," she sniffles, wiping her tears away. "I can't believe this happened right under my nose."

"Just don't push yourself too hard." Levi crosses his arms as he stares down at Aspen's leg. "We promised the doctor you'd take it easy. If he finds out about this, I'll never hear the end of it."

"I promise not to reopen my wound." Aspen sets his cane aside. "I don't need to move around to work."

"Phoebe can whip up more of that poultice for your injury, too," Elana offers, her previous hostility forgotten for now. "It will help speed up your recovery."

"I appreciate that." He rubs his thigh and grimaces. "I might require an ice pack tonight. The walk into the forest pushed it a little too much."

"All right." Griffen glances at Haut, and some silent communication passes between them, because he says, "Haut and I will stay here to protect you two. We'll get you back to the SUV and home when you're ready."

Elana hesitates for a moment before her shoulders sag, and she turns to Aspen. "What spells are you using? I assume it's more than a simple root-rot cure?"

Conceding to Aspen's superior strength as a witch must wound Elana's pride, but Aspen doesn't revel in the victory as he pats the log beside him. "Come, I will show you."

Haut walks over to me and kisses my forehead. "Stay out of trouble."

He looks at Tris. "Both of you."

"Aww, you big softy." I wrap my arms around Haut.

Tris joins the hug. "Such a good boy."

Haut growls before he embraces us both and squeezes hard enough to make us squeak. "No shenanigans, and listen to Levi, you hear?"

"Yes, Daddy," we chorus together.

Haut nuzzles the top of my head, releases us, and moves to join Griffen.

With a wave toward Aspen, Tris and I scamper over to Levi and stop in front of him with salutes. "What are your orders, Captain?"

Amusement twinkles in Levi's eyes. "Hop to. We're heading back to the Jeep."

With a grin that doesn't bode well for us, he spins on his heel and lopes forward, his long stride eating up the ground.

I stare after him in dismay. "Are we supposed to…"

"Move those feet!" Levi barks, not slowing. "Or the Jeep will leave without you!"

"Oh, no, he's worse than Haut," Tris groans as he starts running.

"At least offer us treats!" I yell as I follow, my shorter legs having to do twice the work.

Cold air cools my flushed face by the time we reach the Jeep, parked on the edge of the forest. Levi leans against the side, not at all out of breath from the run.

Tris and I stumble toward the vehicle, legs wobbling like noodles.

"I've gotten so out of shape since I turned back to human," Tris wheezes.

I catch myself against the Jeep and struggle to open the door. "You've definitely downgraded to a four-pack."

Tris's head whips up. "Excuse me?"

"Your Adonis belt is vanishing, too." I try to pat him in comfort, but my shaking muscles turn it into a slap. "It's okay to be soft. I still love you."

"I want a divorce." With a glare, he climbs into the Jeep. "You're dead to me."

He slams the door and clicks the lock into place.

"But I love soft Tris!" I wiggle the handle. "So much better to snuggle!"

Levi's hand lands heavy on my shoulder. "You dug your grave with that one. It's going to take some serious groveling to crawl out of it."

With a little shove, he pushes me toward the other side of the Jeep, where I struggle to climb into the front. As soon as I'm sitting, the last of my energy seeps out of my body, and I sag against the door.

I must fall into a doze, because the next thing I know, we're parking at the pack compound.

Rubbing my eyes, I open the car door and tumble out. Sleep tonight is going to feel so good that I might skip lunch and dinner to start right now.

Like zombies, Tris and I shuffle behind Levi toward the Alpha's house, but as we reach it, a young werewolf rises from the porch steps.

I recognize him as Jacob, Kaela's suitor from the night before. In the bright light of day, I notice his shaggy, brown hair and blue eyes.

He stops in front of Levi, his shoulders hunched. "Hey, um, I wanted to ask about Kaela. Does the Alpha think she had something to do with the poisoning last night?"

"We're not sure of anything right now." Levi ruffles his hair, making it even more messy. "But she and the others are being treated well while we investigate. For now, stay away from the witches, you hear?"

"Okay." Jacob drops his head and shuffles away.

As Levi leads us into the house, he lets out a heavy sigh. "I hope Kaela isn't involved in all this."

He glances back toward the door and lowers his voice. "Jacob hasn't shown interest in anyone since his high school sweetheart broke his heart and left Silver Hollow. And now this happens with the first person he's opened himself up to again."

"I hope none of the young witches had a hand in this mess." I like Aris and really don't want to find out another member of my family—however distantly related—is evil. She deserves better than what life has dealt her.

Everyone is so excited that I'm part of the lost Rothaven coven, but she's more of a Rothaven than I will ever be. She's earned the right to gain access to the ancestral grimoire and fully embrace the power that was denied her simply because her however-many-greats-grandma was adopted into the family.

"Come on, I'll show you where we store the moon-madness amulets, so we can put that question to rest." Levi leads us through the living room and down the hall on the right, into their personal quarters.

With everything else going on, I had almost forgotten about that, and now excitement shoots through me. If Aris turns out not to be an evil cousin, maybe she can look at the charms again under Aspen's guidance to see if our great and powerful mentor can give her some insight into their recreation.

We follow Levi past a series of doors, and he stops in front of what appears to be solid wood paneling. He presses his hands against it, and the entire wall shifts inward, and then slides to the side.

"Holy shit," Tris breathes. "A secret treasure room."

"Well, I don't know if I'd call it a treasure room." Levi steps into the narrow, dimly lit hall that's been revealed. "But it is secret, so lips zipped about this."

Even though he can't see us, Tris and I mime zipping our lips.

I struggle to orient myself. "Does this lead behind the kitchen?"

Levi shakes his head. "It's between the pantry and the powder room."

He stops in front of another door and pulls an ancient key from his pocket, fitting it into the lock. "Only Griffen, Ezra, and I have a key to this room, so even if someone found our secret passage, they wouldn't be able to get in here."

The door pops up to reveal a narrow room just large enough to hold a six-foot-tall safe. Levi's body blocks our view as he punches in a code to open the heavy metal door.

He reaches inside and lifts something out before turning to face us.

A slender, flat box rests in his hands, which he opens to display five ugly amulets nestled within. "As you can see, they're all accounted for."

"Great." Tris's chest presses to my back as he peers over my shoulder. "So we can rule out a rogue werewolf using one of these bad boys to try to murder us."

"Seems that way." I reach for one of the moon-madness charms, then jerk my hand back when Levi snaps the lid shut.

"No touching." Grinning, he puts them back into the safe and shuts the door. "I don't want you to claim finders keepers with our heirlooms."

"Can't fault me for trying." Disappointed that solving the puzzle wasn't so easy, I rock on my heels. "Fine, your amulets are all where they should be, but what about the other amulets?"

Levi turns back around and raises an eyebrow. "There are only five, as you saw."

"Sure, sure." I rock faster as my thoughts pull together. "But the coven has been attempting to recreate the spell for generations. What did they do with all the failures?"

Levi's head cocks to the side, as if he had never thought to wonder.

"Rowe's got a point." Tris grips my arms to hold me still. "With that many decades of experimenting, they had to have gotten close at least once."

"We can't assume we're in the clear because we've got these amulets locked up tight." I turn and push Tris back out into the narrow hall. "We need to find out what happened with all of those other ones. And I know just the charm witch to ask."