“I deserve them,” Narcissa added, yawning and showing off her teeth.
“And you indulged her?” Freya frowned.
“For now.” I shook my head. “Gods know why.” I turned back to Lexi. “But what have you been up to? You haven’t visited my shop in months.”
Lexi nodded. “I apologize. Multiple injuries coming in from the north have kept me busy. I know you’ve been waiting on some of the ingredients I provide your shop. David was very adamant I replenish your store of moonbeams, and look at you now, begging for them.”
“I’m not begging,” I murmured, immediately feeling guilty for reprimanding David about the moonbeams. He’d likely written a note in the books, and I’d overlooked it. He really was more competent than I gave him credit for.
“What’s happening in the north?” Freya asked.
“Oh, a lot has been happening lately.” Lexi sighed. “America is a mess without the Council to oversee things there, but even some of the reports from territories in Australia and Greenland are alarming. Witches seem rather restless lately, like something’s brewing.”
An involuntary shiver ran up my spine. Someone challenging Lucifer was certainly a sign that something was going on. Perhaps the shop had been so quiet of late because of things transpiring in witch territories I wasn’t aware of.
“The Ember King’s territory has expanded another twenty kilometers,” Lexi said. “That brings it to an even 200 square kilometers. And I doubt he’ll remain satisfied with that.”
Freya looked surprised. “He only had thirty kilometers when I was with the council.”
“Yes, he’s been aggressive in recent years. It’s his demon-hounds that are the problem though. No one can go out after dark without being attacked by them, and the remaining towns rely on salt to keep them out. Some poor man from Kingsbury made it to Bristol last month, only to die for his troubles. No one will risk venturing into that territory. It’s at least a two-day journey to Kingsbury, and the roads are all in disrepair, so wagons are out. Carrying any significant amount of salt would make the trek three times as long.”
“I don’t suppose they have any teleportation rune sites in Kingsbury,” Freya said. She shook her head. “If humans weren’t so fearful of witches, this situation wouldn’t be an issue whatsoever. We could bring them salt straightaway.”
“Yet there are witches like the Ember King who make them so fearful,” Lexi pointed out. “And given his rule, they have a right to be afraid. Imagine having witches like him coming and going into every town. It would be utter chaos.”
There was a creak outside the kitchen, and Narcissa leapt down from the table to investigate as Lexi fetched a fresh cup of tea for me.
She set it before me, and I inhaled notes of orange and hibiscus among the black tea. It was precisely the reinvigorating blend I needed just then. And since my friend had made it herself, I needn’t fear cyanide mixed in. “Lexi, you’re a lifesaver.”
She smiled. “I’ve been told that a time or two.” She continued, “But you know, you could have a supply of salt to Kingsbury within a day if I know you at all. A potion to lighten the load, another to put some pep in your step.”
I smirked. “I very well could, I suppose, but I have more pressing matters to attend to. Seeing Auggie to New York is time sensitive, I’m afraid.” I paused. “Maybe when I return, I can see toallthe troubles of the human world, while I’m at it.”
Lexi sighed. “They’re in need, Callum.”
“Oh, Mr. Witch,” Therese chirped, “could you not find it in your heart to bring them some salt? It doesn’t seem like a big ask.”
“A big ask,” I sniffed. “I didn’t ask for those humans to remain in their homes when the Ember King laid claim to those lands long ago. That was their own pride. Why should I waste my time with them, when next week, they’ll find themselves in yet another mess? Better yet, they’ll come for another one of my shops with torches.” I turned to Therese. “They started the last fire with Narcissa still inside. Would you still feel empathy for them if she’d burned along with my livelihood?”
Therese’s frog throat bobbed. I almost felt bad for laying this on her, but she had asked. She was young yet, not corrupted by the human world. Perhaps something I was saying to her would stick with her, and she could avoid the worst of human failings.
I sat back, crossing my arms. “They call us unnatural, unless it suits them. The townspeople sought out my parents for tinctures and tonics to heal them, yet when someone was too far gone before a potion could do its job, they dragged my parents from their shop and burned them at the stake. I couldn’t even bury them, you know. The wind carried their ashes away, scattering them before the mob left.” I took a deep, calming breath, running a hand back through my hair. I sent Therese a brittle smile. “Apologies, little one. But humans have caused me nothing but grief over the years. Time and time again. Present company excluded, of course.”
Silence enveloped the room until Narcissa returned, a ribbon in her mouth. She took one look at the sober room and settled her gaze on me. “What did you do now?” she demanded.
“Nothing,” Therese replied, simply.
CHAPTER NINE
Lexi harvested moonbeamsfor me that very night. We ventured out to the brackish water of a nearby abandoned mill and sat on the bank as the sun set, giving the illusion of the world on fire.
Narcissa flew over the water, skimming it with her paws and stopping to bat at the random dragonfly. Therese, meanwhile, happily ate the flies that collected around a dead badger.
I’d taken some time to give back to the earth during the day, hoping to attract local pollinators to Lexi’s garden with flower seeds. The rest of the time I’d focused on meditating to replenish my energy. I continued to do so now beneath a weeping willow, its branches draped over me as I felt my energy sink into the grass around me like roots, seeking the power of the earth. My muscles relaxed, and my energy poured deeper into the soil, threading past rocks and busy ants, fanning out as the earth offered me its magical essence. It traveled up through the grass into my limbs, strengthening me. When my own strength was overflowing, the orb at my chest began to fill again as well. It was a lengthy process, and my pod wouldn’t be quite full again after this day’s efforts, yet I retracted my tendrils of energy and sighed, feeling content.
As soon as the lavish colors of the sky gave way to deep purples and blues, Lexi walked directly into the black water, ripples disturbing the lily pads with gentle, rolling waves that sent mosquitoes buzzing. When she was waist-deep, she tilted her chin up to regard the moon overhead. It wasn’t even at half strength, yet it brilliantly lit up the countryside with its ethereal glow, reflecting in the dark water so that Lexi seemed to be surrounded by the haunting light.
Lexi gracefully lifted her arms and began to weave them through the air in a beautiful sort of dance. I wondered if she was writing runes in the air, but only Freya would know. She had remained back at the house, in case another witch came for Auggie, and because I was nervous leaving him alone with Xander, so I couldn’t ask her.
