Page 10 of Destiny of the Witch

I nodded at myself, at the determination in my face. The first step in achieving anything is self-belief – and I believed in myself in spades.

Time to save Lucille.

I poured over the DeLea potion bible. There wasn’t anything in there that could help Lucille directly, but I made notes about a few potions I thought I could combine.

I’d started work last night before exhaustion had pulled me under. Despite the nightmare, I felt fresh and my brain was clear. My main problem was that I didn’t know what was ailing Mum, and Mum and Lucille were intimately and permanently connected. I’d been so sure it was temporal displacement, but the potion hadn’t worked – not because it wasn’t right but because the issue with Mum wassomething else entirely. Without knowing exactly what was wrong with her, it would be difficult to fix.

Lucille’s problem was that she was giving too much of her energy to keep Mum going. I needed to give her both a physical and a magical energy boost until I could get to the root of the problem and help Mum.

My ORAL potion gave a magical boost, but it didn’t have a physical energy component. I was pretty sure I could add to it, but potion interactions are tricky. I pored over my old textbooks, checking for mention of any adverse reactions with kelpie waters. Unfortunately there was none – because no one had survived the kelpies long enough to borrow their waters. That put me slap-bang in unknown territory. Luckily, the unknown doesn’t faze me.

My best bet was to combine the energising and the ORAL potions, but I’d have to remove certain elements from the energising potion that would react badly, then I needed to substitute other ingredients to reflect the reductions. I would definitely need to remove corydalis, but I was confident I could bring in velvet bean and griffonia without any adverse effects. Motherwort, of course, to strengthen Lucille’s heart. I had neither of those in my personal store, but the Coven store was sure to have them.

I reviewed the potion that I’d been researching to help Kass with her fibromyalgia. I could take the rhodiola, which is used for chronic exhaustion, from it. Confidence surged through me as I realised I had a very good starting point; I just needed to work out what amount of each ingredient needed to be added, and that was a matter of gut instinct rather than science.

I frequently measure with my soul rather than my weighing scales; that is my true gift in potion excellence. Something – instinct or the Goddess Herself, perhaps – tells me exactly the right amount of each ingredient as I brew. It is the one thing I’ve never managed to impart when I teach. I can teach the acolytes how to follow a potion recipe, but to make them into potion masters is something else. It is a calling, not simply a job.

I dashed down to the potion store with Bastion on my heels. I’d walked into the bedroom while he was in the middle of his workout and a fine sheen of sweat covered his body, but he’d pulled on a T-shirt and insisted on coming with me. I tried hard not to get distracted as I looked at him and shoved the ingredients I needed into my bag. I signed them out and gave Briony a smile as I left.

I jogged back up the stairs to my apartment; that counted as fitting in some exercise. When we walked in, Bastionshucked his shirt off again and started to do crunches. I left him to it and hauled my spoils back to my lab.

I cleaned the surfaces and decided to get started: there’s no moment like the one you are in. First I brewed a fresh base in my pewter cauldron, making notes as I went so I could replicate the potion exactly. That way I wouldn’t need to listen so closely to my gut when I made it next time, and it would be on hand to teach to others if it proved efficacious.

For now, though, I tuned into my instincts: a little more motherwort, less lemon balm, make the potion hotter… When I was satisfied that it was ready, I added the final ingredient, Lucille’s blood, to maximise the potion’s efficacy. It would bind the potion specifically to her.

I stirred it in and the cauldron shone golden. I grinned in exultation.

Finally, the potion was ready for cooling, decanting and testing. Optimism buzzed through me, a welcome lift from all the negativity I’d been struggling with. This was going to help Lucille, I was sure of it.

Chapter 6

Bastion looked up as I walked in. ‘Success?’ he asked.

I grinned. ‘Yes, I think so. It needs to be tested, but I’ll get one of the acolytes to run it by Liyana or another of her seers if she’s not available.’

‘Hopefully this time, she’ll fit you in,’ he groused.

‘She will. I think we have an understanding.’ I hoped so, anyway.

‘I’ve made breakfast, but it’s more like brunch now.’

I checked the time: 11am! Whoops. I’d gotten lost in the potion. My stomach let out a growl.

‘Better feed the beast,’ Bastion teased. ‘Sit down. I’ll warm it through and bring it over.’

He had cooked us a full English breakfast. I often struggled to eat first thing in the morning, but luckily we were far past that. I attacked the food with gusto, thankful that he’d even done hash browns. When I’dfinished, I pushed the empty plate away. ‘That was amazing. Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘Now probably isn’t the right time to raise this, but I thought that I probably need to learn a little more hand-to-hand combat if we’re going after some evil witches. At the moment it feels like they hold all the power.’

‘Amber,’ Bastion looked amused, ‘the other day you ripped the Earth in two to get rid of some zombie ogres. Believe me, you have power aplenty.’

That made me smile a little.

‘Having said that,’ he went on, ‘there’s no reason why I can’t teach you a few tips and tricks to make you feel more confident.’ He pushed back from the table and grabbed a pillow. ‘Why don’t you show me how you’d kick this?’

I stood, lifted my skirts out of the way and then – without understanding what I was doing – did a roundhouse kick that sent the pillow flying out of his hands. Bastion’s mouth dropped open.

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