“I could use some breakfast,” Jewel said. “Is it wrong of me to want to eat, considering what happenedyesterday?”
Anna climbed out of bed, stretched her arms over her head, then bent at the waist and stretched her back. “We can’t stop living,” she told her. “And at this point, Jewel, it’s kill or be killed. I’m not saying that makes what we did okay, but what else are we supposedtodo?”
“We need to figure out how to turn a woman into a witch without killing her,” Jewelanswered.
“Agreed. But that might mean we kill more as we try to figure it out. Trial anderror.”
Jewel nodded solemnly. “Let’s just try and limit the errors as much as possible.” She, too climbed out of bed. She seemed to be moving just as slowly as Anna. “So breakfast and then we hit some occult shops,”Jewelsaid.
Anna raised her hand and waved behind her as she headed for the shower. It was going to be alongday.
Chapter5
“All people have both good and evil inside of them. On one hand, they have a beast that seeks its own selfish desires above all else. On the other, they have a kind spirit willing to help others. How do we know which one will rule a person? The ruler will be the one a person feeds, the beast or the spirit.” ~Jewel
Jewel stood rootedthe ground with Anna, Z, and Sly waiting for her in the parking lot of Spirit Crystals, the first occult shop on their list. Her feet felt as though they’d been bolted to the pavement beneath her. Every time she thought to herself,you need to move, the harder it wastoobey.
“This is a great view,” Sly said. “But I think it would be even better inside the store, because then we would actually be able to see the person we need totalkto.”
Jewel ignored him. He didn’t understand the burden the girls felt. Neither of the warlocks could possibly understand the pressure they were under. She and Anna were facing a task that was beyond overwhelming. It wasn’t just about making witches now. It was about trying to keep the women from dying. The risk of failure was too great if the ritual wasn’t successful. That made the mission a hell of a lot moredifficult.
“Let’s get this over with,” Anna finally said and started toward the door of the shop. Jewel followed and the pair stepped inside, followed by their warlockescorts.
There were crystals everywhere, hanging from the ceiling, sitting on shelves, and some larger stones even resting on the floor. Jewel felt the power they were emitting. It was like a low hum in the air, and she wondered if the others could sense it. As they stepped deeper into the store, she saw shelves lined with books that boasted of the healing prowess of crystals, stones, and essential oils. By the time they made it to the counter in the back, they’d passed shelves of herbs, poultices, oils, and some jars claiming to contain animal essence, whatever thatmeant.
The young woman sitting on the stool behind the counter was reading a book entitledThe Quintessential Witch. She was dressed sort of similar to Anna—a long skirt, T-shirt, and a thin scarf tied in her hair—very hippy-ish. Too easy, Jewel thought. It was as though someone had handed her up to them on a silver platter. Whether the woman would make it off the platter alive was a differentquestion.
Sly cleared his throat as he leaned his hip against the counter. “Are you a member of acoven?”
The woman looked up from her book. One of her eyes was blue, and the other was brown. The contrast slightly disturbedJewel.
“Excuse me?” the womanasked.
Sly motioned to her book. “A coven. Are you in a witchcoven?”
“Oh.” The woman sat up a little straighter and closed the book, setting it sideways in her lap. “No, I’m just sort of learning. Searching I guess,” she said, looking a tadembarrassed.
“Isn’t that what we are all doing?” Z asked. “Searching.” He held out his hand. “I’m Z. This is Sly.” He motioned to the other warlock. “And these two lovely ladies are JewelandAnna.”
She shook Z’s hand. “I’mRiver.”
“Real name?” Slyasked.
Shenodded.
Jewel held out her hand. “I like your name.” River took her hand and shook it, smiling and nodding her thanks. Jewel wanted to kick herself in the gut. How could they do this to her? She was just a girl trying to figure things out, and they were about to either give her some real truth orkillher.
“If you’re really interested in that kind of stuff”—Anna motioned to the book—“we can tell youaboutit.”
River’s eyes widened. “Are you allwitches?”
Jewel wanted to roll her eyes, but she forced herself to smile and nodinstead.
“We are,” Anna said as she pointed to herself and Jewel. “These two goobers are justwarlocks.”
“Hey,” Sly and Z said at the same time, both sounding considerablyinsulted.
“Just stating the facts, boys,” Anna said while smiling at River. She was attempting to put the girl at ease, Jewelrealized.
