Kieran tilted his head back and moaned.After a beat, he launched into a full rundown of the last twenty-four hours: Ash asking to take a break, then the attack, and how he’d felt so pitiful and useless that he thought poetry would help him cope.How he’d misconstrued the act of channeling magic into his words as the thrill of artistic expression and cursed his probably-soon-to-be-ex boyfriend into being unable to perceive him.
“And now,” Kieran finished, voice choked with tears, “I just have to wait six months, fail my Calling, and accept that I was never meant to be a witch in the first place.”
“Do you not even want your magic?”Briar asked in horror.
“Of course I do,” Kieran admitted, shoulders falling.“But…maybe my losing it isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
“Well—let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Delilah quickly said before Kieran could break down in tears.She stood up and pulled him into a hug, which Kieran accepted with a sniffle.As she patted his back, she said, “You know, Klaus has been working for months onmaking a panacea using the magic vein in the Pinwhistle Forest.Maybe I could call him and see if he’d be willing to talk you through his progress.”
Kieran pulled away from the hug, ears pricking at the mention of Delilah’s famous cursebreaker father, Klaus Hammond.Kieran had been positively starstruck the first time they’d met.During his childhood, he had seen Klaus in newspapers and heard his voice over the radio talking about all the complex, powerful curses he’d managed to break.He was known for helping everyone with their curses, from Celdwyn’s common folk to other nations’ royalty.He was charismatic, handsome, and extremely skilled.
And also, something of a fraud, seeing as all his cursebreaking prowess had been fabricated.Klaus had spent decades using a panacea to break those curses, making his clients swear never to speak of how he helped them.Recently, though, his panacea had run out.Hence, his journey to the woods outside Gellingham to look for a new one.
Kieran asked, “You think he’d help me?”
“Generally speaking?No, he’s way too selfish for that.But if I ask him to?”Delilah shrugged.“He’s been pretty desperate to win me over ever since he realized that he’s been a terrible father.So if I frame it as a favor for me, he’ll almost definitely say yes.”
Kieran let out a sigh, his shoulders relaxing.“That would be a massive help.Thank you.”
“Anytime.I do, of course, apologize in advance for the fact that you’ll have to deal with my father, but what can you do.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.I just appreciate the help,” Kieran said.He pivoted to his sister, who sat at the table worrying ata hangnail.“And, Briar, I…I know that panaceas are kind of a touchy subject—”
Briar held up a hand to stop him.“Just promise me something, okay?”
Kieran closed his mouth.He nodded, eyebrows raised in question.
“Don’t…don’t try to use anything on Ash unless you’repositiveit’s an actual, functioning panacea, okay?”Briar wrapped her arms around herself, absentmindedly touching a raised pink scar on her arm.“Promise me that.”
“I promise,” Kieran said without hesitation.“I would never do what our aunt did to you, Briar.I swear.I’d give my magic any day before I hurt someone else on purpose.”
“Good.Then I’ll help you however I can.”Briar cracked her knuckles.“Happy to punch anyone who looks at you funny.”
“Me too,” Delilah agreed—though she quickly added, “About the helping part.I try not to punch people unless absolutely necessary.”
Briar snorted a laugh.“Don’t want to break your thumb again?”
“I thought we agreed not to bring that up,” Delilah shot back.
“Thank you,” Kieran cut in before the two of them could go off on one of their usual flirting-by-mocking tangents.“Really.I can’t express how grateful I am to have both of you in my corner.”
“You’re certainly stuck with us,” Briar replied.
“I’ll call up Klaus now and see if I can set something up.”Delilah squeezed Kieran’s arm.“It’ll be all right, okay?We’ll figure this out—just as we did before with your curse.”
At that, Kieran felt the closest thing to relief he’d experienced in days.
The next day, Kieran found himself staring up at the trailhead at the lowest point of the Pinwhistle Forest, outside of Gellingham.
The once-verdant trees had turned spindly with the onset of winter, and the forest was covered in a blanket of fresh snow that glittered in the sunlight.Squirrels and chipmunks sprang between tree branches, knocking off little puffs of snow.Red cardinals darted through the air, chasing each other between long, dripping icicles hanging off the trees.Rabbit and deer tracks dotted the snow, along with boot prints from hikers.The sky was a cloudless blue.
The onlynot-beautiful thing was the trail, which, while mostly clear of snow, was composed entirely of mud and ice.
“Well.”Kieran exhaled, holding fast to the walking stick he’d brought.It had been a gift from Ash, who was a much stronger hiker than he was.“This’ll be fun.”
It was, indeed, not fun.
It took Kieran nearly two hours to reach the rendezvous point Klaus had told Delilah about over the phone.In that time, he’d fallen twice.Both times he’d managed to divert into the snow, so while he’d avoided becoming completely mud-crusted, his pants and coat were damp.If the last few days had taught him anything, it was that maybe, just maybe, he should consider moving to a more tropical locale.
