Page 57 of Wildfire Witch

Seth took the paper from him, holding it taut between his hands for the fae to reference. Rusty joined them a couple of minutes later with a chunk of white stone in his beefy hand. We all watched the fae bring the diagram to life, one bold chalk mark at a time. No one broke the reverent silence of the moment.

When the casting chalk was reduced to a nub, Rusty handed his rock to Ceridor. It continued the job where the chalk hadstopped. Soon, the fae was carefully angling the rock to make three visible triangular symbols outside of the circle. The white marks stood out starkly on the blackened wood. Air, water, and earth.

“Should we lay her down on top of this?” the fae asked me.

“That was what she was thinking, when this was our plan to break the curse,” I confirmed. “You’re missing one symbol.” I launched from his shoulder and walked to the top of the array, tapping my talons where I wanted it. “Put fire here…for me.”

He obediently chalked the upright triangle where I’d indicated. Then he jerked his chin at Rusty. “Bring her,” he murmured.

The dragon placed Nix down on top of the array. It fit her perfectly as he arranged her limbs to be spread away from her body. Ceridor pointed where they should stand, and then three sets of eyes turned to me. “What now?” the fae asked.

“Be willing when you feel a tug,” I answered. There was no time for nerves or hesitations. The mating marks on them were mere outlines: Ceridor’s handfasting marks, the symbol of an anam cara on Seth’s palm, and the bold red phoenix on Rusty’s sleeve. But the connections remained and would pull with me to bring Nix’s spirit back.

No hesitation,I repeated to myself, setting my talons down after one last shift of my weight. I only had one spark, a single attempted resurrection in me. There was no practice, only a hope and prayer that this would work.

I drew in a deep breath and called on my instincts. A song wove from my beak, wordless and sweet. The golden spark ignited in my chest, shining through my feathers in a beacon of fiery light.It rose and rose, dancing like a candle flame as it emerge from my beak and spiraled down for a landing on Nix’s chest.

My spark shimmied into her body and took its place where her heart used to be. Flesh and blood mended at its touch, bone and skin setting back into place. When it had healed her as much as possible, it pulsated, beating and flexing.

I closed my eyes as the tether of magic formed and cast out into the afterlife. Earth, air, and water twined around the tether, lending strength and support. We sought my witch together and when we found her, I pulled hard, determined to bring back my best friend.

NIX

“Verity,”whispered a gentle, firm voice.

One moment, Lance was digging his hand into my chest. The next, I was opening my eyes with a violent startle to a completely different scene. I sat on a wooden bench in the middle of an overflowing garden. The cobblestone path was overrun by nature but not consumed by it yet. It was like it hadn’t quite been three centuries, everything living and dead frozen in time.

There was no wind, no gentle patter of water from the fountain nearby. It was full of mossy sludge, anyway. But I was still in Melisande’s garden, amidst plants grown lovingly by generations of Nightshade witches and once maintained by my friend personally.

I didn’t know how I’d gotten here. Except…I glanced down at myself and the ephemeral tatters of clothes half-consumed by fire. Then I turned to the spirit sitting beside me, hands folded in her lap as she waited for me to come back to my senses.

“Melisande?” I gasped. My friend was just as I remembered her, her wise blue eyes twinkling as she smiled and held out her arms. We hugged each other hard.

“It’s been so long,” she murmured.

I pulled back to take a better look at her. She wore the formal purple robe of the high priestess, her orange curls unkempt. It reflected how she’d looked when she died. Her smile was sad as she looked me over with the same assessment. “Thank you for coming back and breaking your curse. It sorrows me to see that it led to your death.”

I pressed my fingers to my chest. There was numbness around the killing blow, but the worst pain wasn’t physical. I thought of my men and sobbed. We’d been so close to living a life together. This had been the last stop before we turned a new page, free of the curse and welcome to do anything we wanted.

Melisande rubbed my shoulder, murmuring soft comforts. I cried without tears and tried to get myself together for her sake. “Have…have you been here all this time?” I asked.

“Yes. Any who’ve died in Spells Hollow since Morfran set off his curse remain here, unable to move on,” she confirmed.

I put on a brave face. I’d figured out the land’s curse, and now I was experiencing it for myself. Morfran had turned our once-great sanctuary into a death trap. She’d suffered a worse fate than me, tethered to the ruined land she’d sworn to nurture, as high priestess.

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine…”

She patted my hand. “It hasn’t been all bad. Many beloved people remain here with me, including Royce. We sent outemergency calls for help with the super blood moon and many descendants of the nine original witch families have returned to break their curses as well. I have watched many impressive young witches find their places.” She smiled, and I saw the mother in her, proud of their accomplishments.

“I was thrilled to learn that you remembered yourself as well, Verity. Your curse was particularly cruel and calculated. Each of your deaths has fed fire and energy to the curse on Spells Hollow…but now it is over.” Her expression dimmed as I sighed, deflating. It was a victory, but it felt like I’d gotten a bitter deal all the same.

“It’s over,” I echoed with a nod. “Aodhnait lives, and I’ve died. Just as I would’ve insisted on, had my men not been here to help us break the curse.”

She nodded in understanding. “What good is life at the expense of another’s wellbeing?” She would know, as she’d given her life for our people.

I nodded, lapsing into heavy silence. My regrets still played on a loop, centered on Ceridor, Seth, and Rusty. I knew that they’d save Aodhnait from Lance, but what then? I’d bound them to me, just to die and leave them adrift.

Melisande adjusted her robe as she stood. “Come with me,” she encouraged. “I’ll show you around and reintroduce you to the others trapped here with us. You’ll want to see Royce, I’m sure.”

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