Page 105 of Wicching Hour

Follow the Leader

“Ihadn’t considered how difficult it would be to see rain spatter in the dark,” I whispered, not wanting to distract Frank and Faith.

Declan grinned at that, taking my hand and pulling me toward the bow of the boat. His eyes went wolf gold, and then, like I had earlier, he went out as far as he could. As he had excellent balance, he didn’t have to crawl.

He returned a minute later, nodding, his eyes darkening to their usual warm brown. “It’s there. The hail helped me see it.”

Faith’s eyes were still closed, but she smiled.

“Should she keep the storm going?” Elizabeth asked.

I shrugged. “Cal knows we’re coming. Now she knows we’ve found her. I say let it taper off so others don’t notice as well. With any luck, the people on either side slept through it.”

Faith dropped her arm and blinked her eyes open. The poor thing looked exhausted.

I patted her shoulder. “You did your job. Thank you. It’s our turn now. Sit down. Relax for a bit.”

Robert pointed ahead. “The house next door has a dock. Use that so we can get off, then move back. I want you close enough to see us but not close enough to get hit by anything. We have no idea what she’ll do when she’s cornered.” He turned to his son. “I’m sorry to ask for more, but can you extend that chameleon charm to us when we go ashore?”

Frank’s expression was strained but he nodded.

Elizabeth brought the sailboat alongside the dock, nice and easy. Robert jumped off and then helped Bracken. Declan gave me a big kiss, grabbed the front of my jacket, and said, “Stay safe.” His hand trailed over my stomach as he turned and hopped onto the dock.

“Arwyn? What are you doing?” Mom said. “They can’t do this without you.”

“I know. I made a promise, though, and I’m keeping it.” I took off my coat and handed it to her before diving overboard. While the sailboat moved away, I let myself drop to the ocean floor. It was deeper here than I’d thought it would be.

Already pushing out my magic, I opened my eyes on the dock beside the men as the real me felt myself hit the sandy, rocky floor.

Declan ran his hand down my arm and nodded. “Say something.”

“The water is deeper here than I’d thought,” I said.

The men shared a look and Declan shook his head at me.

Damn it. What was it with me and talking? I focused on my throat, my breath. I knew how to talk, but trying to walk my other self through doing it was frustrating. I tried again. “The water here is deep.”

“It is,” Robert agreed.

“Good. Um, is it a problem that I can see all of you guys just fine?” Maybe the boat was too far away. I didn’t know how close Frank needed to be for his spell to work.

“It’s because we’re all together in the bubble of his spell,” Robert explained. “Someone looking out a window from this house here wouldn’t see us.”

“Oh, cool. In that case, I’ll add a muffling spell.” I flicked my fingers. The two wicches nodded. Declan looked unsure, so I clarified. “Meaning we can talk amongst ourselves and those outside this bubble won’t hear us.”

“Nice,” he said.

“Okay, I’m in the lead,” I said, heading off toward the spelled property.

“Why is that?” Declan argued, walking beside me.

“Because you can be killed. I can’t—at least I don’t think so. Assuming Cal doesn’t go scuba diving with a big knife, I’ll be fine.” I patted his arm. “I’m not really here, remember?” I pushed him behind me and he fell back.

“You look and sound so real, it’s hard to remember,” he said.

“True,” Bracken chimed in.

As we neared the end of the manicured lawn and headed toward what looked to me like a thick bramble of dense bushes and tall trees, I heard Robert call, “Wait.”

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