Oakley
Passing the witches decorating themselves in glittering paint, we descended the staircase, following the floating fairy lights out of the yard. They lined the paths reaching toward the pines, beckoning us forth. After planting their intentions and chanting low until they rooted themselves into the ground, a few witches wandered back toward us.
My magic flared in my chest, no closer to replenishing but still feeling the enchanting essence of this night. The small amount I had would suffice, enough to nurture the paper held in my grasp. This was one tradition we all held, whether alone on our garden path, from our kitchen in a small pot nestled in the windowsill, or within the forest’s dark embrace. Even those still hidden away, living on the outside, did this. It was easy enough to keep disguised.
And it was the first magic tradition I’d really taken part in since I’d moved to Starry Night Lane.
“You okay?” Ivy asked, her voice quiet with concern. “Any word from Hazel?”
I blinked away the tears that had begun trailing down my cheeks. “Not yet.”
“We’re going to find her,”Lynx said, reassuring me, and I wished he could siphon some of his calm to me.
I came up next to Ivy and Jade, pines surrounding us in their comforting embrace and fresh scent. “This the spot?”
Ivy looked over at her friend. “She’d be the one to know it. Always finds the best soil.”
Jade held out her hands. It was too dark to see what she was doing, but as we all knelt to the ground, there were little green saplings sprouting from the dirt.
“Harvesting,” she whispered. An answer to a question I knew better than to ask.
We all held our hands to the dirt and with a nod from Jade, began chanting in unison.“Moon Mother, hear our plea. Bless our sacred intention. Be our light in the darkness.”Once we’d repeated it eight times, one for each phase of the lunar cycle, we dug our fingers into the velvety earth.
I savored the dirt scraping beneath my nails, the crumble against my fingers, manipulating it until I’d made the perfect spot to plant my intention. It was unlucky to plant any deeper than six inches. Too close to potentially disturbing the dead.
When Jade put Ivy’s paper into the hole she’d dug, I gave a questioning look. Ivy’s fingers flared to life. “Pyro. I always get nervous I’ll burn my intention up and that just feels unlucky.”
Chuckling, I pushed away the memory of the last Pyro I’d met, pressing my crumpled paper into the ground. Aspen continued snoozing happily against my chest.
Gathering dirt to fill in the hole, I realized they’d both shared with me their specialties, but they weren’t sitting there waiting for me to tell them mine. They were already chatting about the next moonluck and upcoming Hallowed festivities. Nothing suggested they expected me to share in return. But I would anyway.
“Desire,” I whispered, looking at them both and getting wide eyes from Ivy and a smirk from Jade.
“Wow,” was all Ivy could manage to get out. “That’s got to be—”
“Hot as fuck,” said Jade, releasing a breath.
“She has no idea,”Lynx crooned through the line.
“I was going to say, interesting…” Ivy offered with a small smile. “I bet the full moon is especiallyintensefor you.”
“How intense can it get for you, Wicked?”
My cheeks flushed with heat, luckily hidden by darkness, but my lips pulled into a salacious grin. “You have no idea.”
“I’d love to have a better idea. Firsthand.”The heat from my cheeks traveled down my chest, coiling in knots below my belly. Then, after a long pause, Lynx added,“Bet I’m not the only one.”
The only sounds traveling through the wire were two audible gulps, that was until Lynx filled the line with his smooth chuckle.
After chatting a bit more and finishing up with our new moon intentions under the fairy lights, we stood up, brushing the dirt off our hands and knees. I gave my intention one last glance before my gaze drifted to the acolytes above. I hoped beyond hope that they would carry my plea to their mistress, blessing it to take root.
Found.
* * *
We headed backtoward the house, rinsing our hands in the small basin at the bottom of the deck’s staircase. When I got inside, I realized I’d lost Jade and Ivy behind me. They’d been scooped up by the other witches of the coven, who were now helping them out of their clothes and grabbing paint.
Cordelia came up to me before remembering I was wearing Aspen.
