Page 7 of Wildfire Witch

My knee-jerk answer dried up on my tongue. It wasn’t like me to agree to watch the moon with two men, but I believed him. Iwouldbe safer during a celestial phenomenon with a pair of supernaturals who could counter my flames.

“Okay.” I surprised even myself at my easy agreement. “It’ll just be looking at the moon. If it works, then maybe…”

Maybe I’ll remember Ceridor and those other things he’d mentioned. Spells Hollow, alchemy, the symmetry of magic, my family. Even the people, Royce and Melisande.

“And me, as I used to be. A breathtaking vision of fire and feathers,”Aodhnait whispered.

“Or I will remember how to break this curse so I can see you again with my own eyes,”I answered.

She hummed in my chest at the thought.

NIX

Ceridor droppedme off at my apartment and left with his firefighter gear. I spent the rest of the day in my room, packing my things and scrolling the local news for what they were reporting about the café.

I still needed to leave. The Fire Brotherhood would notice this morning’s random act of arson. Even though my name and likeness weren’t a part of the news, there was still a high likelihood the fire bros would still come sniffing around, trying to find me.

It didn’t take too long to split everything I owned between a backpack and a duffel bag. I hadn’t gotten any extra stuff since settling in Seattle and scraping by with my barista job, which was good. I was at my limits for how much I could grab in an emergency, and I hated leaving things behind.

The most expensive thing I owned, besides my antique phone, was an emergency fire protection kit, complete with anextinguisher, fire blanket, fire resistant gloves, and packets of burn gel. The kit came with its own over-the-shoulder bag.

Everything else was also there for practical use. There was little sense in bothering with jewelry when I could burn or even melt it if the curse tried to take me. The same went for my clothes, which were thrift shop finds. I had multiples of anything I had to wear, just in case I ruined an entire outfit.

I rounded the backpack with as many bottles of water and trail bars as would fit. Finally, I counted out my cash and wadded up half of it to slide into the backpack’s inner pocket. The other half of my money, I left on the bed beside a handwritten letter to my roommate, telling her I was leaving and apologizing for the short notice.

With that done, I would watch the moon tonight and leave in the morning. No fire bros would catch me.

“But where will we go?”Aodhnait whispered.

I bit my lip. I’d spent lifetimes trying to get to Seattle. There was no other destination I felt compelled to go to.

Sighing, I ran my hands through my hair.“We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

“I’m tired of running. We found Ceridor. He can help us.”

She sounded like a broken record at this point. Meanwhile, the claws of doubt had sunk into my mind again.“Ceridor wants his wife back. That’s the only reason he’s doing anything for us.”

It was a fantasy to assume any kind of celestial event would bring back who I used to be. When he’d suggested it was possible, I’d let myself get swept up in his hope. But now that I was alone…Iknew it wouldn’t work. How many super blood moons had come and gone in the years I’d been cursed?

“Magic is unpredictable on its own. Remember…variables affect results,”Aodhnait murmured.

“Our curse isn’t some science experiment,”I huffed.

“Magic is science.”

I didn’t know why, but I immediately agreed. It had the familiarity of a saying I used to live by. Well, we had different variables tonight. Ceridor and Seth would be there to make sure I didn’t burn to death, depending on what happened when the moon shaded red.

“Just put your distrust aside for a few hours. Name the worst-case scenario,”she invited.

“We get captured and experimented on by fire bros.”That was only my first thought.“Or we burn to death. Or…”

I hesitated, and she picked up on it.“Yes?”she coaxed.

“Nothing changes.”Somehow, that was the worst thing I could think of. If nothing changed, we were no closer to figuring out this curse. Heading to Seattle was the only lead we had, and to run from it…

“We’ll figure it out,”Aodhnait said meaningfully, echoing my wisdom back to me.“We always do.”

I nodded and gathered my things, leaving the apartment without a glance backward. There was no sense in yearning for stability when I could burn it to the ground in an instant. I just had to keep going. Expect the worst, hope for the best.

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