Page 107 of Wicching Hour

“That looks like an entrance but it’s not.”

He nodded and went back to sliding sideways between the wall and thorns.

The bushes were a little thinner on this side of the property. I looked out one of the holes in the foliage and saw what appeared to be a narrow dirt driveway. It was covered in overgrown bushes and trees. I doubt those driving down the road on the other side of all this bloodthirsty vegetation even realized there was a house back here.

When I got to the other corner, I finally felt a hole in the ward, much like that hole in the bushes. It was enough of a weakness, I thought I could unwind what was here and push through.

“Give me a minute. I might have found our way in.” I held up both hands, closed my eyes, and felt my way through the spell. It was a bit like finding a hole in a sweater. I could either pull the threads tight and reweave it or pluck the threads out and unravel it. I was working on unraveling.

“Let me help,” Bracken said. “The spell I found in your borrowed grimoire should work well here.”

Working together, we snapped through the ward like we had scissors. I stepped through the break in the wall, Bracken behind me, followed by Robert. Declan had to squeeze his way through. One of his shoulders brushed the live ward and zapped him like an electrical fence. Robert was there, pulling shirt fibers from the wound and healing what he could in the moment.

I hugged Declan as gingerly as possible. “I’m so sorry you keep getting hurt. It’s not fair.”

He pulled me in tight and kissed the top of my head. “If someone has to get hurt, it’s better that it’s me. I heal faster than wicches.” He looked over the top of my head. “I thought it’d be bigger.”

I turned, keeping an arm around him, and saw a run-down hovel that looked like one good wind would knock it over. “You can’t believe what you see. This is an illusion on the off chance someone gets past the wall. You saw the hail bouncing off the structure. Did it look like this?”

He shook his head, but it was more like a wolf shaking off unease than a simple no. He gently tapped the top of my head. “Smart.”

“Okay, everyone walk where I walk,” I said. “I’m back in the lead. There are more wards.”

We moved slowly over the dirt yard. I almost walked face first into a ward, but I caught myself at the last minute. “Bracken. I think we need that blade again. I smell the faintest trace of sulfur.”

He stepped up beside me and thrust the blade into the air before us.

A sonic boom knocked the men off their feet. I helped Bracken up, the blade still tight in his hand. Declan helped Robert up, who in turn put his hands over Declan’s ears to no doubt stop the ringing. When he was done, he did the same with Bracken.

“Can you heal yourself?” I asked. When he didn’t respond, I figured I had my answer. I wasn’t a healer, but I went to him, held his hand, and called for help.Please, Goddess, help Robert to hear. You know what we’re doing, why we’re here. We have to stop Cal. Please, Blessed One, forgive me for not saying this well. We need your help to right the wrong one of our family has committed. And Goddess, one more thing. Please hold my Gran in your hands until we’re able to retrieve her.

Robert blinked when I let him go, snapping his fingers by his ear. “No one told me you were a healer.”

Relieved, I said, “I’m not. I asked the Goddess to help us, and she did. The Goddess healed you, not me.” I studied the other two. “Are we good?”

Declan was smiling at me. Bracken, brow furrowed, said, “You know the Goddess doesn’t usually do what we ask of her, right?”

I shrugged and started moving again. “I’m not about to question good fortune. Come on. There’s worse ahead. Let’s get to it—oh!” I swung back around and pointed at Robert. “Do not touch any doorknobs. They’re cursed to kill us in horrible ways. In general, try not to touch anything in there. We have lots to do now.” I looked up and gauged the position of the moon. “It’s the wicching hour. Let’s move.”

FORTY-SIX

Wicching Hour

Finally, the real house. It was a huge stone and plaster affair that might have been beautiful in its heyday, but now it looked as though it was in the final stages of a painful and terminal disease.

Vines crawled up the crumbling walls, like the earth itself was doing what it could to pull the house into its grave. The windows, like sunken eyes, with dark, moldy circles under them, stared sightlessly out. Just being near it sent a chill down my spine.

I paused and studied the dirty tiles beneath my shoes. “This was in my vision.”

Bracken moved up beside me. “This is where I died?”

I nodded.

He patted my shoulder. “Not to worry. I promise not to touch any doorknobs. In fact, just to be safe”—he pulled out a pair of my gloves and put them on, handing pairs to Declan and Robert as well—“I thought we could all wear gloves. A fellowship of handwear, as it were.”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek, something the real me couldn’t do without visions.

He went a bit pink around the ears and waved off my thanks while Robert and Declan did their best to fit my gloves on their hands.

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