Page 52 of Warrior Witch

I brought my palms together and visualized the electric barriers that every sci-fi movie made in the last ten years used to demonstrate containment and imagined weaving a web stretching between each hand.

“It’s a member of the nightshade family that is reported to grow in areas that have been exposed to high levels of magical disaster. What we know of the area makes it a good candidate for the conditions necessary for the growth.”

I cursed as the energy snapped back and scorched my pinkie finger.

“But what does it look like? Smell like? Do you know what you’re looking for exactly? Or just hoping you’ll accidentally knock yourself out, wake up and be all Eureka!”

“Sure. This guy gets powers, and I’m stuck in dud witch land,” Addie muttered.

“Jealous?” I asked, sending the tiniest spark to zap her grumpy butt.

She squeaked, harrumphed, and continued to gripe about her poor luck while I tuned her out to focus on Kylen.

“It only blooms under the light of the moon, or when threatened, to spread its pollen, which is the source of the sedative effect we’re hoping to harness from the plant. Plant identification is difficult because many who have tried to find it have succumbed to the effects long before they could reach the bloom, but they did report a strong scent of candy floss and blue cheese on the breeze before losing consciousness. During the day, it looks like any other plant bulb except that its roots are blue.”

“Candy floss and blue cheese sounds disgusting.” Addie stood and stretched, ambling over to where Kylen kneeled. She dropped down beside him, and I zoned out, staring at their matching dirty blonde hair with unfocused eyes as I worked through the scent profile Kylen had described. I had smelled that before.

“Let’s go for a walk,” I said, offering a hand to pull Addie to her feet before doing the same for Kylen.

“Okay…?”

It was a decent walk into the woods, and I had a moment’s hesitation.

“Actually, Addie. It’s a bit far. Can you go hang with Harlow for a while?” My mate would kill me if anything happened to her chosen sister. I grabbed the girl’s shoulders and gently pushed her in the direction of the town.

“But what if she’s boning one of the others?”

Jealousy flared in my gut before I pushed it down again. My mate was a powerful witch who needed several mates. Just because I didn’t like to share didn’t mean I wouldn’t. Plus, sharing her with Hendrix had been crazy hot. Maybe if I could solve all the mysteries, we could do it again.

“Then find Lindsay.”

She made a rude noise but stomped uphill toward the town, her back ramrod straight and attitude pouring off her in waves so potent it was almost a form of power all on its own. Teenagers were scary.

Meeting Kylen’s curious eyes, I nodded in the direction we needed to head and led the way.

We walked in silence for the first half hour, Kylen stopping periodically to inspect different leaves and shrubs. When he leaned close to one covered in small white flowers, I cringed, hoping it wasn’t one of the ones I’d pissed on in my other form.

“So… Addie,” I said, hoping to start up a conversation that didn’t include my urine.

“She’s a spitfire, isn’t she?”

I hummed. That wasn’t quite what I was talking about, but I wasn’t sure how, or if, I should follow through on the thought forming in my mind.

Apparently, my brain-to-mouth filter had taken a vacation because, with very little finesse, the next words toppled out of my mouth. “She’s your family. Biologically.”

“What the actual fuck, dude? What are you talking about?”

How did he not understand it? He was the nature guy, for fuck’s sake, and I’d made it as clear as I could.

“She’s biologically related to you,” I said, hoping that by saying it at half the speed, he’d have twice the understanding.

Kylen scowled at me. “You already said that. How could you possibly know that?”

He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop on the path. Did he want to find this plant, or not? I could be playing with electricity right now if it weren’t for him. When he folded his arms, feet firmly planted and a single eyebrow almost in his hairline, I decided to spell it out for him so we could get moving again.

“You share a ridiculous number of genetic markers in your facial features and bone structure. Including the attached earlobes, single nostril flare when you’re both angry, and dimples. You smell the same. You have the same hair and eye color. Not similar. The. Same. Also, and most definitive, I can taste the same genetic markers in your blood.”

“When did you taste our blood?!”

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