Throughout the long drive down the west coast, the mood improved only marginally. As they turned into the mountain pass, the radio died—courtesy of her, Shanna assumed—and they rode on in silence. The clouds and low-hanging mists were left behind, along with the lush, evergreen forests. On the other side, they were greeted by the sun and dry, bare mountains, draped in the pale gold of the late fall. Chris made them stop at a viewpoint; Shanna followed her out of the car, and then Simon as well, having no other choice.
Cold wind battered Shanna in the face, this high up on the pass, but the view was more than worth it. Below them, mountains from all sides descended toward a long, squiggly lake, its color such a vibrant cobalt blue it nearly hurt Shanna’s eyes. Chris was already taking photos and turned to Shanna when she approached. “Come on. I have to take one of us.”
“This is really not the time, Chris,” Simon, standing the maximum possible distance away, grunted.
“No, dumbass, this is literally the only time,” Chris said, as if she was explaining basic arithmetic to a mathematical genius. “You’re likely never gonna stand on this road again, whether you get assassinated or not. So come over here and take a picture with me.”
“She does have a point,” Shanna said gently. She stepped to Chris, shoulder to shoulder, facing her back toward the lake.
“You too, JFK,” Chris shouted at Simon.
Simon joined and even mustered a smile as Chris took a slew of selfies. Then, the phone’s screen blinked out.
“Huh. It still had enough battery,” Chris said.
“It’s me,” Shanna said. Second electronics failure within hours—that had to be a record even for her. She turned to Simon. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.” His voice was so neutral she couldn’t tell if he was upset—either because of the phone or the events of the day.
The wind blew Chris’s beanie off her head. “Holy shit!” She chased after it, picking it up as it lodged under the car’s tire.
Shanna stayed at the viewpoint, letting that same wind flow over her. There was nothing material to blow away here—only her worries and doubts, her fears and her curses. Did Mom stand on this same spot once, too? Watch this wild, breathtaking nature spread as far and wide as the eye could see, and feel freedom? Freedom that there was no one here to forget her? That she could go anywhere and each day leave the life of her previous day behind?
Maybe that was the way out of the hurt. There was a quiet calm to a place like this, where one couldn’t see another human for dozens of miles. The earth, the water, and the air—Shanna had always used items representing those elements in her spells, but she’d never felt as connected to them as she did now. They beckoned her to stay, to give up. To accept their soft, protective embrace. To forget, like Mom did.
Something brushed her arm, and she flinched in surprise. Simon stood next to her. Of course, he couldn’t go back to the car without her. He stayed silent, but his eyes softened, and his expression relaxed as he gazed at the lake.
If New Zealand was the three elements, he was the missing one. Fire. She still felt it burning inside her, like she felt his lips and hands marking her skin, making her his. In a surge of emotion, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it, begging him to never let her go and, at the same time, making peace with herself knowing he’ll have to.
“Let’s go,” he said after a minute. She nodded, and they drove off.
In the afternoon, they reached Queenstown. After days of relative peace, the hustle and bustle of the lively lakeside city was a shock to Shanna’s senses, but the pleasant atmosphere made it easier to adjust. They parked near the city center, and Chris led them down the slightly sloping streets to find a shop where they could repair Simon’s phone.
Fall had painted the leaves of the trees brilliant shades of orange and red, contrasting against the snow-covered mountain peaks rising in the distance. They passed streets of low buildings—restaurants, clothing stores, tourist information points—until something tugged at Shanna. Not the tattoo on her wrist; Simon was walking right beside her. As if drawn by an invisible force, she turned down a pedestrian-only street.
“Uh, the phone shop is over there,” Chris said, her voice faltering toward the end of the sentence.
“Give me a minute.”
Simon had to follow, so Chris followed, too. Shanna scanned the storefronts, knowing in a second which one drew her in.The Witchy Swarm, the sign said in bold, black letters. She might have dismissed it as tourist bait if it weren’t for the letter S in the title, prolonged into a spiral with radial lines reaching out of it. It was a sigil—a real one, even if Shanna had never seen it before.
Upon entry, the shop certified its status as a legitimate witchcraft store. Crystals, carefully packed herbs, oils, chalices of all materials and sizes, symbols etched on wooden plates, or hung from little decorative trees, to be bought for charm bracelets. A few shelves had gaps in them, though, of items missing, and many were marked as on sale.
“Hello.” A young woman behind the counter greeted Shanna with a friendly smile. “Can I help you? Anything in particular you’re looking for?”
“Just browsing.” Although she should replenish some of her stock. The spell grid and the basil oil she’d lost in The Great Wellington Spillage, and she’d used up all the rose oil-based concoction in … as she felt her face flush, she brushed the thoughts away. “Do you have rose and cinnamon oils? And I’d need some white willow bark, too …”
“Oh, you know your stuff.” The woman walked around the counter and led Shanna to the shelves housing the items. “Is it your whole family, or are you discovering the craft for yourself?”
“The whole family.”
“That’s nice. My parents don’t really get it.” The woman showed her the selection of oils, picking the ones Shanna chose.
“You have a shop, though. That has to mean something,” Shanna said.
“It’s not mine. I just work here. And even that, not for much longer.” She walked back to the counter. “On the plus side, you get a twenty percent discount for the twenty years of the shop!” She laughed lightly. “If you need whatever else, get it before we’re gone.”
“So the shop is closing?”
