Page 18 of Wildfire Witch

Shit, if this was online too, anyone could access it. Especially the fire bros.

“We need to get to Spells Hollow,” I blurted.

“Okay. I’ll start packing too,” he said without missing a beat. “You’re like, okay right? With me being your anam cara and…stuff?”

He was eyeing me uncertainly when I turned away from the wall. This was a lot to process…but I needed him. That fact was evident to me, and fate had placed him in my path at the exact right moment.

“Relax, cutie,” I said with my old confidence. “If you’re my anam cara, then consider yourself along for the ride. We’ll figure it all out. You’re still cool with me using your shower?”

He nodded again and I left the room, returning with my bag of toiletries and a change of clothes. I breezed by him, not even noticing that I’d flustered him with a pet name and the sway of my hips as I sauntered past and closed the door behind me.

Showeredand comfortable in a change of clothes, I watched the two men pile up our bags for the trip. I was into my second mug of matcha, my hand busy with a pen and piece of paper. I drew arrays while they argued and occasionally referenced the internet on my phone to see if the supernatural side had any existing rituals I could borrow from.

“Spells Hollow is in New York. I can fly Nix there in a matter of days,” Ceridor said, eyeing the three bags Seth intended to take.

“I have to be there too, remember?” he replied.

“Someone has to take the car,” the fae said with icy haughtiness.

“All three of us are taking the car.”

“I refuse to be stuck in that human-created metal death trap more than I have to.”

I looked down at the array I’d doodled and scribbled it out in frustration.“It’s missing something,”I said to Aodhnait.

“The earth element,”she answered.

I halted my pen, looking over the circle one more time.“Unless you know where we can conjure up a man with a strong earth affinity, we have to make this work with what we have.”

There was no such thing as a flawless curse. Morfran had thought to cover up the weakness in mine because the process of death and rebirth would erase my extensive knowledge of magic and turn me into a hopeless shell. Now that I was restored, I attempted to ponder the intricacies of the balance of the elements…

But Seth and Ceridor kept getting louder. “Could you two shut up?” I snapped, clutching my forehead. “Why can’t weallfly if it’s such a problem?”

Both of them turned to look at me. “Fear of heights,” Seth answered.

I tapped the tip of my pen on the paper, spreading more ink over the chaotic scribbles I’d created. “And there’s only one car?” I asked.

The water witch shot a glare over at Ceridor. “Yeah, and it’s mine. I taught him how to drive and he’s nearly totaled it several times,” he said.

“Don’t make yourself out to be a victim.” The wind fae rolled his eyes. “I’ve supplied you with a place to live and money for your interests.”

“Because they’ve helped us find Nix,” Seth said.

“Regardless, they remain skills I’ve funded for you?—”

“Oh, so sorry. Mister ancient moneybags over here?—”

“Stop,” I repeated, massaging the headache forming behind my temples. “No matter how we get there, it’s going to be a wasted trip if I don’t figure this out.”

Since they’d stopped bickering like children, I got to work drawing a new array. Seth abandoned his bags and pulled up a seat next to me. “That looks complicated,” he commented.

Ceridor peeked over my shoulder. They both watched me as I inked in lines, alchemical symbols, and theoretical places for us all to stand.

“If we had an additional person with strong earth-based magic,” I said once it was mostly finished. “We could work a ritual to pull Aodhnait’s fire free of me. Her possession of my heart is resulting in a catastrophic imbalance of my symmetry, which is the primary effect of my curse.”

“Your symmetry,” Seth echoed curiously.

I eyed him, considering how to explain such a complex topic as succinctly as possible. “Yes. The study of alchemy is a philosophical one as well as an art. The idea is that all matter is connected, made from one original thing. It gets more complicated from there, but that’s a discussion for another time. What matters is that, it extends the same idea to the elements, that all four were originally one, theprima magicae. Insideeverybeing with access to magic, you can find the four elements.”

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