“Wait, gold not energy? What do they need?”
“I think it’s probably better if I don’t tell you.” He folded his arms.
I exchanged looks with Ori, then smirked at him. “Perfect. You continue to keep all the secrets while we deal with all the problems—you included.” Assuming another demon portal could open at any moment, and we’d need something to confuse the demons—plus some kind of ward to protect ourselves until I figured out how to get rid of thisfoxglovewizard.
Walking into the bathroom, I leaned on the doorframe for a second as the reality hardened. If the demons truly were looking for something other than the energy they usually came for, I was dealing with something entirely new. But the wizard could be lying.
Some of the glass bottles in my built-in redwood apothecary cabinet were upside down, and none of them were where they should be. I growled and whirled around. “What did you do?” Herbs were my first go-to in a crisis. Someone else touching them defiled my sacred space almost as much as the demons. “You said you reordered the herbs, but it’s—” I waved my hand through the air to describe the emptiness where the words should have been.
Ori leaped up to peer into the bathroom.
Ranth set my book aside and looked up at me as innocently as a puppy who’s standing in a puddle of pee. “You didn’t have the sacred order set. I moved the bottles into the glyph order and fixed the ones you hadn’t warded.” He raised a bushy black eyebrow at me as if I were asking the obvious.
“It’ll be okay Sorrel. We’ll fix it,” Ori said, rubbing my shoulder. I relaxed. Maybe, just maybe, I was overreacting. I closed my eyes for a sec and breathed. “Cool, cool. Maybe you could explain what you did exactly?” I asked, but I was gritting my teeth.
His round brown eyes narrowed. “Mekons, Argemone, and Somnifer, then Ballestera and Kolcha…”
“What are Kolcha and Ballestra?” I crossed my arms.
He disappeared into the bathroom and brought me back vials of crocus and hellebore.
He held up the crocus. “Kolcha.” He raised the etched vial of hellebore. “And Ballestra.” His tone ticked me off, like what he was telling me was obvious.
“That’s not the Latin. Is it some ancient form of it? Oh whatever. You messed with them, so the energy is ruined. I’ll have to use the herbarium in the workshop.” I reached out a hand, and he dropped the vials into my palm. His long fingers hovered over mine as he locked eyes with me. His were inky, divided by an elegant angular nose. An amber scent clouded around me as I studied the way his ear peeked out of chin-length hair. His hair had the blue sheen of a sky before dawn, and he had excellent proportions.
Why was I thinking—I stepped back, breaking the contact, and my head cleared.
That was not good.
I exchanged silent looks with Ori that pretty much said,What are we going to do about him?
Ranth walked over to the bed and examined the pink T-shirt. I raised an eyebrow, and he tugged it over his head. His torso rippled as he pulled it down, the fabric clinging like a second skin and ending above his navel. Not the best look on most, but strangely cute on him.
I rubbed my moon pendant, hoping for some focus to come back. “I need to go downstairs. Stay behind me until I know what we’re dealing with. Okay?” I got a nod from Ori, but Ranth glared with steel behind his eyes. He stayed quiet though. I opened the bedroom ward. If a demon was inside the walls of the house, I’d instantly know about it. All seemed good, no demon energy.
We passed through the shimmer into the hall. I kept my hand on the wall, tuned into the house as we trailed downstairs. I had to keep Ori safe.
Things in the house seemed stable, but my anxiety was amped. Even though I knew it should be safe, it hadn’t been from the Essifer. I’d learned early that physical fear also had nothing to do with common sense. If these demons could interact with real things, then none of us were safe—anyplace. I had to change that.
We made it to the kitchen. Sunlight streamed through the window, catching the hanging crystals and making rainbows on the Mexican tile floor. I peered through the glass in the back door, at the charred remains of the garden.
“Holy hellebore,” I said, swiping at my eyes, but it was no use, the tears wouldn’t stop. The burnt line ran along the east side of the backyard, past the poison garden, and all the way to the drying house. Fortunately, the herb beds on the west looked unscathed. I’d have a new crop to dry in a month or two. Still, it was a disaster.
“What’s wrong, Sorrel?” Ranth’s voice lowered as if he truly cared. But he had no idea what that garden meant to me.
Ori’s hand covered my shoulder. “We’ll replant. It’ll be fun,” she whispered, pulling me into a hug. I breathed in the vanilla jasmine of the hair gloss she loved—and her positivity.
“Thanks, I know, but it’s a lot. Mom’s work is all gone…”
“The mosaic is still there. We’ll fix it.” She patted my back.
“You know you’re the best ever, right?” I said as she let go of me. She smiled, lighting up her aura with gold flecks.
Worry knotted me. Ant was nowhere to be seen, but she’d been freaked out and would probably go on a neighborhood tour before returning. Ant wasn’t quite a witch’s familiar in that she didn’t have any innate magic and didn’t enhance mine, but she was the kitten Mom had brought home to me.
Tears blurred the world as I surveyed the damage, hoping to spot Ant. The center mosaic was a toasted scorch mark of browns and blacks. With demon traces left behind, we’d have to dig it up and start again. I’d grown used to pulling moon energy into the circle. Now I’d have to do the intention oil in the basement with salt lines.
“You and Liesl will fix it.” Ori rubbed my shoulders.
