The three witches didn’t need to discuss it. They answered in unison, “Before.”
After shedding their coats and gathering up the spell-casting supplies they’d brought, the trio of witches wandered into the living room while Nolan returned to the kitchen.
“Whoa,” Red whispered. “It looks even bigger than the pictures you showed us.”
“Agreed. It appears to be a common Spartan juniper tree, and those are relatively fast growing, but that rate slows significantly during the winter,” Mad said. He ran a landscaping company as his day job, and right now, Sky couldn’t be more grateful for his expertise. Mad and Red were both earth witches, but it was Mad who’d come through with finding the right tree during the dead of winter.
“Unless it’s kept inside and receives a regular dose of death magic from an out-of-control necromancer,” Red teased.
“Hey!” Sky cried. “I’m not out of control. It’s the fae. When they were here, they screwed with all the magic in the area. They’re the ones that broke down your protective barrier and woke this little guy up.”
Nolan crossed from the kitchen, carrying a tray with four large glasses holding frozen margaritas. “And I’d like it if you could make it so that nothing else woke up from our neighbors’ yards.”
Red snickered as he grabbed a glass. “What? Afraid your house is going to be overrun?”
“I don’t want an army of vegetation following me across the street to work every day.”
Sky nodded. He also didn’t want to fight more plants for privacy each time he wanted a sexy moment with his boyfriend. But no way in hell he was admitting to his coven mates that a tree had cockblocked him.
Everyone snagged their drinks, and Nolan set the tray aside. They enjoyed their adult beverages and began pulling out their magical supplies. Sky knew he had to keep his distance, because death magic and earth magic didn’t always play well together. More than once, Sky had attempted to help the earth witches and made their spells go haywire. He’d found that his powers were slightly more in tune with Moon’s blood magic. Of course, Moon’s magic could also work with the earth witches occasionally. Blood magic was more versatile.
“Does it really move around the house on its own? You’ve seen it happen?” Red asked, his voice full of skepticism.
“Oh my God,” Nolan groaned, dropping into one of the chairs.
“Of course we’ve seen it,” Sky replied. “How do you think it got in here? It didn’t magically appear. It knocked on the front door.”
Maddox looked up from where he was digging through his big canvas black bag and narrowed his eyes at the tree. “In Red’s defense, it does look to be an ordinary tree. Like you dug it up from the yard and dragged it inside as some cheap Christmas tree knock-off.”
The tree did not appreciate being called cheap or a knock-off. It suddenly poofed up its branches and raised nearly a foot on its roots. It chittered at Red and Mad angrily, its limbs trembling and the ornaments softly jingling.
Mad and Red shouted and scrambled on their hands and knees away from the trees, crossing to the adjoining dining room before they stopped. Sky cackled, almost falling off the sofa, while Nolan snickered softly.
“We might have forgotten to mention that the tree is sensitive,” Nolan interjected.
“And it can clearly understand English,” Sky added.
“No shit!” Red barked, which sent Sky into more peals of laughter.
“Is…is it safe to go in there?” Maddox inquired.
Nolan lifted his glass and took another deep drink. “Yeah. But don’t insult the tree. I’m not fighting it off for you.”
The two earth witches crept into the living room, still keeping a suspicious eye on the tree as they returned to their prep work.
“I was thinking we’d do the standard barrier with Silvery Moonlight Aura to strengthen it,” Red murmured.
“I think the Guardian of the Dead charm would work better than Silvery Moonlight,” Mad stated.
“Yeah, who wouldn’t want to do that charm? But it requires a lot of witch hazel washed in the first full moon of the winter solstice. You got that much prepped witch hazel to toss around?”
“No, but the alternative is the Disrupt Magic Jinx, and the smell from the nettles soaked in cat urine always gives me a headache.”
Red shook his head, nose wrinkled. “That’s the worst, but I’ve found you can also use corn silk braided with iron shavings in place of the nettles.”
“But the corn silk has to be fresh. Where the hell are we going to get fresh corn silk this time of year?” Maddox glared at Red. “You didn’t say we needed to stop at the grocery store to pick up corn still in the leaves.”
“Fine. Then let’s scrap the standard barrier and go with the Seal of Tranquility.”
