“What if your being there puts us in more danger?” Clara asks, giving me an apologetic wince. “If Tharuzel can access your dreams, what if he can read your memories or hear your thoughts? What if you unknowingly tell him our plan?”
The room falls quiet.
I blink at her, feeling sick. “I, uh… never thought of that.”
“We need an Occlumency spell.” Asher frowns when the group stares at him. “In, like, year five or something, Dumbledore had SnapeteachHarry Occlumency to prevent his mind from being penetrated and influenced by Voldemort.”
Wylder blinks, and I’m preparing to defend my bestie from the ridicule that I expect to ensue when he dips his chin. “Not exactly a real thing, but the premise is sound. Izzy, look into ways to safeguard Poppy’s thoughts through psychic shielding. Do you know of any offhand?”
Izzy nods. “Yeah, I helped put together a potion using Angelica root and crushed obsidian dust a while back that worked really well for the customer. They wanted to strengthen the natural barriers of their mind to better compartmentalize thoughts. I’m sure we could adapt it to keep Brigade details secure.”
Wylder nods. “Good. You and Clara are on that. Until you have it, we don’t finalize any plans in Poppy’s presence.”
Mica frowns. “How long will that take? Because I kinda need the Brigade’s help with something that I think will help with finding the Cinderheart forge.”
Wylder looks to Izzy. “Any idea how long you need?”
Izzy stands. “I can pull together the ingredients and the spell in an hour. Is there any chance I could do the working here withZoe or Sebastian to help me? It’s a straightforward spell, but I’d rather have a senior practitioner overseeing, considering we’re trying to block a major demon.”
I nod. “Mom will make herself available, I’m sure. And we can call Sebastian away from bolstering the wards, too, if needed.”
Izzy shakes her head. “No, that’s just as important. Clara and I can work with your mom. I’m sure that’ll work.”
Asher scans the room. “All right. Let’s break for now so you ladies can work on the potion for Poppy. Then, when you’ve got it sorted, we’ll regroup and work on Mica’s forge issue. Does that work?”
Orion nods. “And in the meantime, we can all have our thinking caps on for ways to identify the demon-marked citizensen masse, and for a plan of how to break their tethers to Tharuzel without sucking Poppy deeper into his hold.”
The room buzzes with purpose, and I’m damned impressed. I’m also bone-tired and have a headache rooted deep behind my eyes.
Mica, Clara, Izzy, and Reid file out, still debating approaches in hushed tones.
The door closes behind them, leaving me with Asher, Wylder, and Orion. The quiet of the living room is a welcome relief.
"That was..." I trail off, searching for words.
"Awesome." Asher supplies cheerfully.
"I was going to say stressful and chaotic."
"Potato, potahto."
Orion drops onto the sofa, legs sprawled. "Actually, next to coven meetings, that went really well. Nobody threw anything, or swore hexes, or cast a nasty spell on anyone."
"That’s a disturbingly low bar." But I smile despite myself. “I hate the idea that I’m the weakest link. I never even considered Tharuzel using our connection to spy on us.”
Wylder moves to stand beside me, close enough that his warmth seeps through my shirt. “It’ll be fine. The important thing is that we thought of it and we’ll get some added protections up for you.”
I scrub my hands over my face. “Some leader I am.”
He pulls me closer and hugs me. “You did fine, Poppy."
"I was out of my depths."
"You're not supposed to have all the answers." His voice carries that steady certainty I've come to depend on. "That's why you have a team."
"Speaking of which." I ease back and turn to Asher. He’s raiding the leftover popcorn bowl and looks deep in thought. "Thank you for taking over when I was drowning. I heart you hard, Hendrix."
He wrinkles his nose. “I heart you right back.”
