I mean, if I can manage not to get myself stuck inside of it, that is. Or accidentally flash myself to some place worse than where I am now. But how hard can it be, right? Ididpass out the first time I rode one, but I’m way better equipped now.
Totally ready. Badass even.
Who am I kidding, this is probably a horrible idea, but what other options do I really have?
I roll my shoulders as I turn right and move closer to the beckoning power. I’m the Bone Witch. One of two left in the entire world. I’ve got this.
Hopefully.
Probably.
Ah, moon shits.
2
Concentrating hard, I work to recall the frequency of the first ley line I ever magically tapped into. I conjure the memory of that night with Rogan in the park, and I can once again feel the awe and nerves I felt as he explained how it all worked. The warm, manly scent of mahogany and teak fills my nose, as though Rogan himself is once again standing near me, guiding my thoughts and actions with his smooth, tantalizing voice. I can practically feel the cool grass under my feet as the park I played in as a kid suddenly surrounds me in my mind.
I can recall the way the moon called to me that night, the silvery light caressing my back in warm encouragement.
All at once, the pitch and resonance of the ley line back home takes over my senses. My mind and magic seem to have cataloged the frequency even though I’ve only tapped into it the one time. It’s like reading my grimoire for the first time and realizing that the literal bones of the information are now with me forever.
Magic is fucking cool.I don’t know how I could have ever thought otherwise.
Relief washes through me. I know I’m taking a risk even thinking about riding a line as an inexperienced baby witch, but the familiar call of where I want to go offers me reassurance. It’s probably a false sense of security, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers at this point. If I want to get away, to stay under the radar as long as possible, this is my best shot.
I start to sense the other frequencies of the lines all around me, my magic now tapping into the grid of magic, all doing their best to tempt me in different directions. I stay honed in on the frequency that leads me home.
Home.
Surprisingly, the thought of that one simple word doesn’t conjure the images and memories that it used to. A sparsely decorated one-bedroom apartment isn’t what pops into my head. Tad and my Aunt Hillen’s house doesn’t make an appearance either. No. Whatnowoccupies my mind is a moss-green gaze, rich brown hair, and the gorgeous face that accompanies a soul that’s so much more complex and resolute than I understood before.
Rogan’s face is as clear in my mind as my own. I can feel his arms around me, sense the way my body, my magic, called to him from the beginning even though I was doing everything I could to fight it.
I love you.
I pull in a deep breath at the memory of Rogan’s unwavering declaration as I lay in his arms, drowning in my own blood, my heart breaking with the realization that I wasn’t going to live long enough to bask in what he was saying to me. I shut that line of thought down, refusing to let the pain and trauma of what happened drag me under. The flash of what went down in that church feels like a bucket of ice water to my senses, and I refocus on the task at hand. If I get stuck in a line, it will all be for nothing.
I fill my lungs with the chilled morning air of wherever I am, a car honking somewhere in the distance. I close my eyes and reach out to the ley line running parallel to the massive fountain I’m currently standing next to. A rush of wind sends some of the frigid mist from the massive water feature my way, and I can’t help but feel like it’s warning me to hurry.
Do they know? Could the High Council and their cronies be hunting me already?
Rogan’s voice sounds in my mind, his careful instructions playing back to meto feel the line and then reach out to it with my magic. Without another moment of hesitation, I connect to it, opening myself up until the hum and cadence I feel and hear in my chest matches what the line’s giving off. A quiet peace crawls through my limbs, and just when I’m about to internally high-five myself for owning this shit, I’m brutally yanked away.
Fuck!
My name unexpectedly rings with warning all around me, as though Rogan is right here admonishing me for getting pulled in. My stomach lurches like I’m on a rollercoaster that’s looping around before executing a sudden death drop. Everything is too bright. I’m tingling all over. Sounds and sensations blur and mix in a frantic disorienting way. I grit my teeth and fight to expel everything from my mind except for the frequency of the ley line that runs through the park back home.
Black spots form in my periphery, and the enticing lull of unconsciousness begins to beckon. I shove it away and quickly adjust the frequency of the line radiating through me to the tone of my destination. Just as soon as I do, my body is hooked sideways at what feels like sickening speed. A grunting squeal of a scream rips out of my throat, the force flinging me around so strongly that the sound is torn away before my ears can really register it.
I want to shut down, to turn this feeling off, but I know if I do, I could get stuck in here or worse. I battle to stay awake and aware, to keep my wits about me. A loud popping threatens to cause my eardrums to explode, and then just as quickly as I was sucked into sound-barrier-breaking speeds, I’m thrust out of them, landing with a dry, pathetic yelp on brittle, unforgiving wood chips.
Ughhhhh, I groan as I lie on my side for a minute taking stock. Surprisingly, I discover that I can breathe, but the rest of me feels very...melty. Like I’m more puddle of goo than person. I lie at the base of a yellow slide and pant awareness back into myself, while also trying to reassure my stomach that there’s nothing in it to try and throw up. My body blobs back together like a lava lamp. That’s what it feels like anyway as I take a moment to settle and once again feel likemeagainst the mulch-covered ground.
It’s later morning here in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and the brighter sunlit sky forces me to squint as my eyes adjust. I take another second to be sure any slow-moving lava lamp bits have time to catch up and reattach to me before I move. I definitely don’t want to get up too fast and realize that I left a tit in the ley line. Running my hands over my body, I double-check that everything is where it’s supposed to be, and then realization dawns.
Holy shit, I really did it.I just rode a ley line.
A smile spreads slowly across my face as pride seeps into my soul. “Wooo hooo!” I scream, and it sounds almost like a battle cry. I shoot up to my feet shockingly fast and steady for what my body just went through. “I fucking did it!” I bellow to the bright overcast sky above me.
