Page 34 of First Ritual

I tapped my bottom lip. “Once they were together, he always told her his whereabouts. Where he’s going. When he’ll be back. Who he’s hanging out with. You know? Relationship stuff. Anyway, the way you’re constantly finding me reminded me of that story. Can’t help the direction my thoughts take sometimes. About relationships.” I glanced down his body, then back up. “Can I?”

“Not happening.” With those two grunted words, Wild stormed off through the trees.

Gotcha. He was a total commitment-phobe. Grinning, I faced the misty lake. Last night, Wild threw down the gauntlet, and I’d found my defense strategy.

I took a deep breath.

Then another.

Ugh, I could feel him out there. He was ruining my vibe, and I had so much to sort out.

Clearly that wouldn’t happen here. Flipping back the cover of my foraging pack, I found my white-handled boline that I used to cut herbs and plants needed for my kits. The Buried Knolls would have a whole new range of flora to play with.

Excitement stirred in my chest.

Not far back into the trees, a copse of manuka was easily recognizable. The tea was best made from fresh leaves, so I only kept a small amount dried in my stores. I cut off tender leaves, slipping them into a compartment in my satchel.

Birds flew to and from tall flaxes closer back to the water’s edge. They dipped their beaks into the flowers to drink the nectar within. I crouched to cut a small reed. Pushing magic through my divination affinity to infuse the area with calm, I approached the thick flax with soft steps. The birds ignored me as I slipped my reed straw into a flower and sucked. My tastebuds welcomed the tiny burst of liquid sweet.

I harvested as I went, collecting species I knew and some I didn’t to explore at my leisure. I munched on red clover and dandelion leaves, and the sun was over the horizon when I stopped filling my satchel with the purple-black berries from a tree fuchsia. Yum.

I returned to the caves, opting to skip the coven breakfast in favor of transferring my finds into my kits. I’d filled up on fuchsia berries anyway.

Summoning a mug, then heating water with a burst of magic through my battle affinity, I sprinkled in the fresh manuka leaves, and sat on the edge of the bed holding my steeping tea.

My mind stilled.

I took a breath.

Should I stay?

I sipped. This coven wasn’t what I’d expected. Much of what Grandmother told me was true, but either things had changed since she was here or she’d left a few key things out.

Like Caves. Like how she’d taught me and my sister old-school ways. Like how the coven seemed more like a group of individuals in two teams than a community.

Then again, I didn’t come here to truly join their midst.

I’d come here for a time. With a purpose. Now that I’d met the magic of so many magus, the chance of finding the person on the other end of the tether here seemed unlikely. So should I stay just for the slim chance that the person was either a child or was magically shielded somehow?

While finding my tether person in this coven would have been the easiest solution, I’d come here with the knowledge that all covens were part of a network. I could ask for a transfer to another coven, for instance. Then another transfer and another until I found whom I was looking for.

I could also, while waiting for that transfer, take advantage of the coven’s library to figure out more about the sudden appearance of the tether.

Smiling, I sipped again.

Transfer request. Library. In the meantime, I’d scope out younger members I hadn’t met.

Decision made.

Finishing my tea first, I slipped into jean shorts and an oversized T-shirt that I knotted at the front.

I pulled the door to my chamber closed after me.

“We’ve got to stop bumping into each other like this.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Sven. The guy was huge, tall with muscles on his muscles, but that couldn’t distract from the playful glint in his gaze.

I arched a brow. “Our meetings are bordering on indecent. Whatever will the coven say?”

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