“At least look at the spell and see what it says,” Petra encouraged.
A sudden wind swept through the garden. The candles flickered and dried leaves danced across the ground and the pages of her book fluttered. Antonia looked at Samantha.
“It was not me.” She held up her hands in defense. “I had nothing to do with the wind.” Which was a power she possessed.
The wind settled as quickly as it had come.
“Have we been warned?” Maia asked in a whisper.
A chill snaked down her spine, then Antonia shook it away. “What are we being warned of? It isn’t as if we would truly turn a wolf into a man.”
Maia glanced around. “Goddess Gaia may have just sent us a warning not to alter nature.”
“Is there a warning with the spell?” Samantha asked.
Antonia could not recall, and flipped the pages until she came to one for a wolf.
“No,” Antonia answered, then focused on the page, trying to read the script of her ancestor. As there was no wolf around, she did not fear reading the spell. “Transform renew. Begin with the new moon. Cast out that which is man. Bring about the beast within.” This was not the spell she read before. “Wait, this is wrong.”
“What?” Samantha asked.
Antonia frowned. “This is to turn a mortal, non-magical man into a werewolf.” She looked up at her friends. “Why would anyone want a spell to do that?”
Her friend shrugged.
Antonia turned the page again, and that is where she found the spell to change a wolf into a man. It was clearly marked with a faded red “W” and a line slashed across it. It had been placed in the corner of the page and large enough that the reader could not miss it and thus, would not cast a spell.
A sense of foreboding swept through her. The wolf had asked her to do something that she clearly should not do. It concerned Antonia so much that she would not even silently read the spell for fear that it might work.
“There is a warning with the wolf spell,” she told her friends.
“But not for turning a man into a werewolf,” Samantha stated in disbelief. “One would think that was more dangerous.”
Antonia agreed, but as she had no intention of casting either spell, she was not concerned. With those thoughts, she glanced at the sky. Thank goodness there were no men or non-witches around because she had just cast that spell under a new moon.
Chapter Three
“What were they about?” Philip asked.
He and Amcaster had just left their horses in the stables after returning from drinking ale at the Mermaid’s Kiss in Bocka Morrow when he noted his two cousins, and their two friends walk into the large magical garden.
“They are four witches. It is a new moon,” Amcaster dismissed without concern. “The new moon gives off a powerful energy and this is the best time for a witch, or anyone I suppose to manifest their intentions and desires.”
Desires? Perhaps he should do the same. Philip may not be a witch, but he wanted to know his future and had a desire to know Lady Antonia.
“They put forth their dreams and intentions, then focus on what they want to bring into their life,” Amcaster explained.
“You are a witch, why aren’t you doing a ritual?” Philip asked.
Amcaster shrugged and wandered toward the house.
Maybe he should see how the ritual was performed and then do one himself. As his mother and sisters were witches, perhaps he could manifest his intentions and desires too.
It was nearing midnight, and even though they were at Nightshade Manor Philip could not recall anyone in his family casting spells or performing rituals at such a late hour. In fact, it was practices such as these that caught the attention of the witch finders, not that any could be found at Nightshade Manor.
His steps were quiet as he wound his way down the various paths of the magical garden created by his ancestors and measuring near an acre and filled with plants, trees, bushes, many of them harmless, but some deadly. To most, it would appear to be wild and overgrown, far from the ornamental gardens on other estates, but the purpose for this garden was more than simple enjoyment and had only two entrances; one from near the house and the other from the grove, and it took some time before he located the four women though he should have known that he’d find them in the center.
Seated in a circle, bright candles pushed the darkness away as a light haze of smoke hung in the air. Lady Antonia sat with a book open upon her lap and Philip stepped closer, but not close enough to be seen, and strained to listen to what she read, but could not make out her words.
