“Amy…are you mad?”
I almost stumbled. “About what?” I pulled back to look in her face.
“About me?”
I chuckled. “What about you could make me mad, baby?” I tucked her head under my chin as we walked the rest of the way.
“You are so young, and now you have me.” She pulled back as we made it to the door, wiggling until I put her down.
I crouched so I could look at her face to face. “Let me be very clear. Yes, I am young, and I do not have a mate. But never for a minute think I didn’t want you. I might not have any idea how to raise a child, but your father could have asked anyone. And he did. He asked my mom. But you and I knew better, didn’t we?”
Carly nodded. “I’m supposed to be with you.”
“That you are.” I leaned over and kissed her head. “Now. I have to take everyone to grab their stuff. Hanna and Micca have to return to their packs, and I have to figure out a way to get our stuff here.”
Carly’s eyes grew wide. “You have a lot to do.”
“I do. But the most important thing is making sure you are safe.” I pulled her inside with me.
“Daddy said the magic that your daddy did failed.” I turned to face her.
“What?”
“He said that the spell your daddy did wasn’t going to last forever, with everyone searching for us. And last night it failed. That’s why those men turned up. People are searching for me.” Sweet Goddess.
“Holy shit.” I turned and ran.
“Amy.” Carly ran after me, her sweet voice calling for me, and I skidded to a stop.
“Yeah sweet pea?” I panted. The need to protect her warred with my need to take care of her.
She pointed to a box on the fridge. “Daddy told me to show you the box.” She bounced on her toes. “He said it was important, but I forgot about it till now.” She looked worried.
“It’s okay, baby girl. You did great.” I ran back to the box and pulled it down. Another note was taped to it. I wanted to laugh, because the man thought of everything. I brought it to the table and Toya stood from the couch when I slammed the box down.
“What’s going on?” She walked over to us and patted Carly on her head. “Are you okay?” I opened the box only to find more herbs and four little statues. “What’s this stuff for?”
As I looked at the supplies, I knew this was the start of a new barrier spell. I grabbed everything from the box and thought back to the spell in the book. The herbs were here. The statues were here. There was a lock of hair from everyone in the house that needed to be cloaked. But everything else is here.
“A barrier spell.” I put everything back into the box and then went for a pair of scissors. I dropped them off at the table and then ran upstairs to Carly’s room and grabbed the bag of small rubber bands that I used on her hair today and made my way back to the table. “Guys, I need you down here for a minute.” I dropped the bag on the table and pulled my hair free.
“What are you doing?” I sectioned a tiny portion of my hair off and I braided it. Toya came closer. “Why are you braiding your hair?”
“Come over here, baby girl.” I waved my hand as I grabbed the scissors. Then I cut the braid from my head and chucked it into the box. Carly came over to me. “I have to do the same to you, baby.”
“Okay.” She turned, and I undid her hair. “Why though?”
“I’m going to use it in a spell to keep us safe.” I looked at everyone. “I need a piece from all of you, too. Just in case you come and visit, I don’t want someone to be able to trace you here.” I explained, but my friends were already braiding their hair.
Toya just took the scissors and snipped off her braid. “There.” She smiled as she tossed it into the box. One by one, my friends tossed a chunk of their own hair into the box. I finished the tiny braid at Carly’s nape and cut it off, then I quickly redid her hair. “Look at how pretty you are. You can’t even tell.” Toya smiled as she pinched Carly’s cheek, earning a giggle. Then she turned to me. “What are our next steps? For the spell, I mean.”
I kissed Carly’s head and then grabbed the box. “Wendy, grab the big metal bowl from the counter.”
“The one with the fruit?”
“Yeah. Just leave the fruit and fill it with water, please and thank you.” I turned to Carly. “We always say please and thank you because it’s…”
“The nice thing to do?” She looked at me, confused.
