I wanted to remind her of my lack of skills and that a simple bit of cleansing must have been a fluke, but she’d already disappeared into the mass of people inside the hotel.
While Diego droveus back to the house, I told him what happened. “We need to warn Sebastian and Lucas.” Although only witches had been targeted so far, it still meant a murderer was in Salem.
He called Sebastian to fill him in, and I called Gianna. She didn’t answer, so I gave her a quick heads up in a voice mail and asked her to be careful.
“The guys aren’t that worried,” Diego said with a shake of his head. “In fact, they said they’d met some witches and will be sure to go home with them to keep them protected.”
“Probably a good thing.”
Several minutes later, he turned into the driveway. After I climbed out of the car, I glanced around the yard, paying close attention to the shadows and bushes near the house.
“You okay?” Sebastian asked.
“A little spooked,” I admitted with a self-conscious grin.
“Don’t blame you.” He searched the area.
With his vision, he’d likely see more than I ever could.
He placed his hand on my lower back and guided me toward the entrance on his side of the house. I exhaled. That was better than heading into my apartment alone.
One we entered, I stripped off my heels and the wings. Now what should I do? I threw my hands up. “I don’t know how to cast a protection spell.”
He pointed up to my aunt’s apartment. “I bet you could find some tips up there.”
Right, her workspace. It was full of enough magical supplies to stock a storefront.
Diego followed me upstairs. I scanned the bookshelves as I looked for something that might help.
“How about this?” He pulled out a dark blue hardcover that readSpells for Protectionand handed it to me with a lopsided smile.
“Nailed it.” I took the book and opened it. Wicked bats and flying monkeys,there were so many spells listed. Since it was me, I figured it was best to start with the simplest ones near the front of the book. I skimmed the table of contents. “Protecting your home and those within,” I read aloud.
“A perfect match,” he replied with a sage grin.
His expression turned more serious as he searched my eyes. Was he talking about more than just the spell?
Shaking that foolish thought out of my head, I turned the page for the spell I needed. The first part directed me to cleanse the space. Since I’d been able to accomplish that with Diego, I felt confident I could handle that part. I followed the steps to ground myself and then took a satchel of salt. “I need to go outside.”
“What for?” he asked with a worried expression.
“I must spread it around the property line.”
“I’m coming with you,” he declared with determination.
No arguments from me. Diego stayed by my side as I followed the steps of the spell, spreading salt around the perimeter of the house as I walked barefoot over the grass. My feet were cold, but it was better to connect to the earth that way.
While holding hematite in one hand, I repeated a chant to protect the space and those inside. I took seven deep breaths beneath the full moon, envisioning myself drawing energy from the earth and extending it to the sky in a protective bubble. When I actually felt magic moving through me, I was stunned. Was I finally learning how to do magic after all these years? The house hadn’t blown up yet, so that was a good sign. Lastly, I sprayed a mixture of lavender oil infused with various herbs and visualized it as another layer of protection.
After we returned to the house, I plopped onto the sofa in Diego’s living room, noting how I’d spent more time there than in my aunt’s apartment. It was comfortable to be with the guys—and more so with Diego. “Hope the spell works. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.”
He appraised me with a thoughtful stare. “You may be growing more comfortable with your magic.”
A week ago, I would have declared it was impossible, but I had managed to clear the house of dark magic and felt somewhat confident that this spell had taken root.
Shadow strolled into the room and jumped beside me on the couch. “Hey, sweet thing.” I rubbed his cheeks and under his chin, to which he responded with an approving purr.
“Drink?” Diego asked. “You earned it.”
