Ruby frowned. “Even if that’s true, Ethan’s not a witch, right? And the ex is gone, so shouldn’t her magic have gone with her?”
Honey shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. It’s rooted in the ley lines. Blood magic ties a witch’s energy to the land whether they want it to or not, especially if they’ve made oaths, raised children, spilled anything sacred here. The orchard’s saturated with it.”
“Okay…” Ruby said slowly. “So what’s the big deal? Isn’t more magic better?”
“Not to the bureau,” Honey said, a bitter edge to her voice. “Two major ley lines from two active witch families in one location is considered a territorial instability. It's a violation of the Magical Zoning Accords. Witches aren’t supposed to share power centers unless there's a formal alliance.”
Ruby frowned. “So, what? Some witch left her family and her magic behind, and now the kids are going to lose their home over it? Tell that witch to come get her power back.”
“I would if I could,” Honey said, her voice quieter now. She wished it were that simple. “But Ethan doesn’t evenknow where she is. No one does. She was taken away and disappeared.”
“Nothing ever really disappears.”
“The only clue he had was from Clover:You don’t leave behind something precious unless you're following the core of who you are.”
Ruby stilled. “Wait. Say that again.”
“You don’t leave behind something precious unless you're following the core of who you are.”
Ruby swore softly. “Shit. I know what that means.”
Honey blinked. “You do?”
Ruby dragged a hand over her face. “There’s this…place. In the city. I’ve only been called to it twice, and both times it was off the books. No police, no reporters. Witches call it the Core.”
Honey’s stomach dropped. “What kind of place?”
“The kind people give everything to be part of,” Ruby said. “A buried power source. Collective. Old. Secretive as hell. If Leticia left behind her family and her magic, it was because she was pulled into something with serious gravity. Something that promised her more than she thought she could ever be on her own.”
Honey’s voice was barely a whisper. “And you think she’s still there?”
“I think if she’s not, someone there knows where she went. No one gets out of the Core clean.” Ruby’s eyes locked on hers. “And no one goes in by accident.”
“I’ll find her.”
“Even if I’m right, you think she’ll just…come back after years and hand him everything?”
Honey had no idea what Leticia would do, but she truly believed that she was the key to saving the orchard. It would hurt—of course it would—especially if Leticia couldn’t stayor wasn’t ready to be the mother the girls needed, but Honey couldn’t ignore the possibility that her return might heal more than it harmed. The orchard, Ethan, the girls—they all deserved the chance to keep their home, and if finding Leticia was the only way to give it to them, then Honey had to try.
“I don’t know,” Honey admitted. “But I have to try.”
Ruby stared at her for a long moment. Then she reached out and took Honey’s hand.
“Well, you’ve got three things going for you,” she said. “You’re charming, you’re scary when you want to be, and you’re way too stubborn to fail.”
She smiled. “And I’ve got you?”
“Obviously. I didn’t come all this way to let you save a magic orchard without me.”
Chapter 32
Honey
While Ruby waited in the cab, Honey watched the Hale family. Melly sat on Ethan’s shoulders, a sticky cider donut in one hand, the other pointing as she called out turns through the corn maze like a tiny general.
“Left!!” she commanded, and Ethan laughed, pretending to stumble.
Emma trailed behind them. Brody Fitch walked beside her and whispered something that made her giggle.
