“How else would this fairness be enacted if not through punishing the killer?” Brock asked.
Willemena shrugged, but I wasn’t buying the nonchalance of her gesture. The witch seemed fascinated with the idea of a challenge. “That’s the tricky part, isn’t it?” Her wicked smile lit up her face, making her look far younger than her eighty years or so. “We have to think outside the box and figure out what would satisfy a spell conceived of to punish a killer for taking a life. What else could Evie give in exchange besides her own life? What else would be fair?. The sacrifice must be real, and sufficient to bring about balance, or it won’t work, and Evie will die.”
Minutes ticked by while Tianna and Willemena appeared to consider our shitty situation. Brock stood and began to pace, stomping across the dining room as I cycled through an endless loop of some variation of fuck-fuck-fuck me-holy fuck. I was wondering what kind of creative cursing Cass might be cycling through in his own mind when Molly stepped forward and cleared her throat.
“I have an idea,” Molly squeaked, pinning wary eyes on Willemena.
The witch crossed her arms across her chest and threw an accusatory glare at Molly, who allowed it to bounce right off her.
“I don’t know if it’ll work, but it might,” Molly said, seeming to be pep-talking herself.
“Spit it out, then, girl,” Tianna encouraged, “because I think we’re all out of ideas at the moment.”
“If the spell can only be satisfied by balance, then maybe it isn’t that big of a leap to think it might accept a life for a life.”
“Go on,” Willemena said, though I wasn’t sure I was following yet. A life for a life? If Molly was about to suggest we kill someone, I wouldn’t allow it.
Molly’s eyes flashed to Brock. “Well, one of the alpha’s wolves died maybe forty-five minutes ago. The body’s probably still warm.”
‘Molly!’I hissed inside my head, sending to Cass or Brock—I wasn’t sure. My apprentice had lost her damn mind. Just what was she suggesting?
Tianna jumped in before Molly could explain. “Which means that if Evie were able to somehow trick the kill spell into thinking that Nathan’s dead body was hers…”
Molly shrugged. “I realize it’s a bit of a stretch...”
“So great of a stretch that it might not work at all,” Willemena said, and Molly seemed to deflate a little. “But it sure beats sacrificing Evie’s life. It’s definitely worth a try. It might actually be genius.”
“That’s what I thought!” Molly beamed.
“It might just work,” Willemena said, and you could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. Her eyes grew sharp and her lips puckered. “If the spell interprets it as a true balance, it might solve our problem.” Her voice quickened with excitement.
“Hold on just a second,” Brock said. “You can’t seriously be suggesting that Evie … swap places with a dead man? How on earth would she manage that in the first place, and what if it doesn’t work?”
When he put it that way, it did sound really farfetched.
When neither of the women replied right away, Brock pressed, “It’s not possible. Unless one of you has some magic that will make Nathan look like her, and if so, now’s the time to mention it.”
Willemena paced the area, stroking her chin. It didn’t inspire confidence. Clearly she had no idea.
“Maybe if I kill a chicken and use that death sacrifice to bind—” A knock sounded at the door, cutting off her words.
The door popped open and Haru peeked his head inside. “I know exactly how she can do it.”
Willemena threw her arms up into the air. “By all means, do come in, then.” She continued on to mutter: “Since you’re already eavesdropping anyway.”
I’d already been wondering if my protector warriors were human. They definitely had extraordinary hearing and super quick reflexes. Hmm, I’d have to ask them about it later—when I wasn’t dying.
Reo settled on Molly’s other side as both brothers stepped into the room and leaned against the wall next to her, crowding the small dining room.
“Most kitsune possess transformation magic to some degree. If Evie’s is strong enough, she’ll be able to essentially transform Nathan so that he looks like her,” Haru said before Reo took over, his eyes serious.
“She might even be able to project herself as Nathan, transforming her fox form to look like him.”
Brock’s head whipped around as he asked Willemena, “Will that work? Will that be enough to lift the spell?”
The witch stared blankly ahead for a full half minute before saying, “If Evie can pull something like that off, then it could work, for sure it could. She wouldn’t need to hold the transformation for long, just long enough for the spell to consider the debt paid—or the balance managed. The moment the spell’s terms are met, the threat to Evie will dissolve.”
Umm, did she hear what crazy Reo just said? I’d have to somehow make Nathan look like me, and then somehow make me look like him, all while shifting? Were they all fucking high? I couldn’t do that! I didn’t even have an inkling of where to starttryingto do that.
