Page 76 of Magic's Rise

Aspen limps forward and leans over the thick book, his gaze falling on the crest. He sucks in a breath, his eyes widening. “These grimoires are from the Rothaven coven?”

“Yes?” Aris quivers so hard her curls bounce. “That’s my family line.”

Tris gives me an excited shake, which does nothing for the dizzy sensation sweeping over me. “Congratulations, you have a cousin!”

A grin spreads over Aspen’s face that doesn’t look entirely nice as he turns toward Elana. “Looks like we’re not outsiders after all.”

“Um, hello?” Aris lifts one plump hand. “What’s going on?”

I meet the uncertainty in her gaze with my own. “This is apparently a Rothaven reunion.”

MAGIC HEIST

The walls of the greenhouse close in as everyone stares at me in shock.

Aris and I are related? How is that even possible? I thought all of my family were dead.

The air thickens with confusion, and I can’t help but feel like I’ve stumbled into the world’s weirdest family reunion, where any minute, someone will jump out with a camera and tell me this is all a joke. By the bewildered expression on Aris’s face and the way she keeps looking around, she must feel the same.

“Wait a second!” I raise a hand to stop the madness. “How is it even possible for the Rothaven clan to have died out here and in Hartford Cove? And isn’t it too much of a coincidence that both sanctuary cities were established by Rothavens?”

Aspen’s excitement dims, his focus jumping from me to Aris to the coveted hoard of lost grimoires.

Haut’s brow furrows in thought. “Well, in the Founder’s Story, the Wendall witch was only the apprentice to the witch in the woods, and she left her village with one of the wolf shifters from there.”

Aris’s face brightens at the mention of the story. “My grandmother used to tell me about her great-great-grandmother, who came to Silver Hollow with her half-sister, who was a wolf shifter.”

Elana’s expression turns pinched with distaste. “She had taken her sister as her familiar.”

“Whoa, hold on,” I interrupt, feeling more lost than ever. “What’s a familiar?”

Aspen straightens and clasps his hands behind his back in his teacher pose. “It’s an archaic practice of boosting a witch’s power. But very few witches still summon familiars, as it puts themselves at risk if the familiar dies.”

I glance over at Tris. “Does that mean I could have made Tris my familiar?”

“Only when I was a goose.” He winks at me. “We could have had a honking good time.”

“That’s definitely the type of familiar you’d end up with,” Haut mutters.

“Hey!” I protest, feigning offense.

“Taking a human shifter as a familiar is forbidden,” Elana cuts in, her tone stern. “If you actually did that, it would be grounds for being put to death.”

“Okay, fine.” I hold up my hands in surrender. “No turning Tris back into a goose so he can be my familiar. Got it.”

I turn to Aris, trying to piece together our confusing family tree. “So, my ancestor married your great-great-great-great uncle?”

Aris looks as puzzled as me, counting the greats on her fingers. “Something like that, yeah.”

Aspen’s expression turns thoughtful. “It’s possible that the witch in the woods fled in the opposite direction as Rowe’s ancestor when the feud started. That would explain why the towns share so many similarities. Both witches were working from the same grimoires.”

“Which means…” Aris rummages through the stack of dusty books on the table and thrusts an ancient-looking tome at me. “If you carry Rothaven blood, maybe you can open this one. It supposedly has the moon madness charm inside.”

Elana sucks in a sharp breath and takes half a step forward before Levi’s hard stare stops her in her tracks. The cat’s already out of the bag, anyway, on the whole ‘lost’ spell. Not like she can stuff it back into hiding with so many witnesses.

I take the book, my fingers itching to crack this puzzle box. But when I try to lift the cover, it stubbornly sticks shut.

Aris points to the spine, where a slender needle protrudes from the book’s binding. “You have to prove your bloodline.”

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