Page 66 of Magic's Rise

My mentor snorts. “Like I’d let you go poking at the barrier unsupervised.”

“I figured you’d all want to take a better look at it before meeting with the local coven.” Levi brings the Jeep to a halt, alerted by something I can’t see that we’ve arrived at our destination.

We climb out, Aspen wincing as he puts weight on his injured leg.

“Need me to carry you?” Levi offers, coming around to his side.

Aspen shakes his head. “Thanks, but I’ll manage.”

“Stay right there.” Levi trots off into the woods, leaving us alone on the road.

As we wait, I turn to Aspen. “Did you get a look at whatever attacked you?”

He shakes his head. “No, it happened too fast. All I could do was cast a circle to keep it from getting me again. I wasn’t its primary target, though, and as soon as you guys left me behind, it chased after you.”

My shoulders hunch with guilt. “Sorry about that.”

He studies me with curiosity. “What did you do to fight it off? I felt a surge of power rush through me, similar to when you draw on the barrier in Hartford Cove.”

“Oh, I was…uh…trying to be one with the ether.” I dig the toe of my shoe into the dirt path, feeling a little sheepish. “But I accidentally made contact with the barrier around Silver Hollow. I’m pretty sure I could have drawn on it the same way I do in Hartford Cove, but it would have damaged it more.”

“Did you make it to town before you were attacked?” Aspen asks.

“No, we only made it a few yards from where you went down before the monster was on us.” Haut looks toward the woods as he remembers the night before. “We were still about a half a mile from Silver Hollow.”

“Interesting.” Aspen’s head tips back, studying the sky, where gray clouds promise rain. “It’s possible an ethereal witch set up the barrier and linked it to the forest. Whatever is hurting the barrier may be causing the magic to spill over into the trees, which is why it’s losing power.”

“Great!” I brighten. “So all we have to do is find the leak and plug it.”

“Let’s hope it’s that easy.” Aspen chuckles weakly, leaning against the Jeep for support.

A rustle in the nearby bushes signals Levi’s return, and he emerges with a thick branch in hand, which he offers as a makeshift walking stick to Aspen. “Here, to help keep the weight off your leg.”

“Thank you.” Aspen grips the branch, and the tension in his face eases. “We came up with a theory while you were gone.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “We did?”

“We did.” Aspen gestures to the road ahead of us. “Try to connect to the magic the same way you did last night.”

I shift from foot to foot, self-conscious under everyone’s attention. “I’m not a performing monkey.”

“I’ve seen you climb enough cabinets to know that’s not true.” Aspen gets that stubborn set to his jaw that says he’s not going to be swayed on this. “It’s the same people who were with you last night. No one is grading you.”

“Except for you,” I mutter under my breath, but he either doesn’t hear me or chooses to ignore it.

Aspen painfully lowers himself to the ground, his injured leg stretched out in front of him, and rests his back against the wheel of the Jeep, closing his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Concerned, Tris steps toward our mentor. “Are you feeling lightheaded?”

He cracks one eye open. “No, I’m waiting for Rowe to get over her performance anxiety and get on with it before I expire from hunger.”

With a groan, I stomp around in a circle, trying to shake off my nerves before squatting next to Aspen and pressing my hand to the ground.

When nothing happens, I frown. “I don’t feel anything.”

“Actually try,” Aspen snaps, his patience wearing thin.

“The wand is way up there today.” When he ignores me again, I close my eyes, concentrating hard on generating that prickly sensation I felt before.

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