Page 35 of Spirit Witch

I smiled and thanked him for his concern and asked if there was anything I could do for him.

“Are you all right, Will?”

“Will?Oh, nay, good lady, ‘tis not my name.I am but Marcus Morrigan.”

“Morrigan,” I whispered, eyes wide.

Holy fuck.

The fade was an ancestor, and I felt a real kinship with him then as he looked at me, coming into color for once, and I saw the same lavender eyes as my own peering down at me.

“Yes, fair granddaughter, so many generations removed.You must take care.Yes.You must.I shall see to it.You are the last of your bloodline, and such a mighty house must not fall now,” he said before winking out of my sight.

“What did he mean by that?”I asked Judge, who, like me, could see fades.

“I don’t know, Nizhoni.I might not have told you things that could have hurt your healing process, but no more secrets.I know nothing of Marcus Morrigan or your biological family.We can search the memory caches if you like, later.”

“I would like,” I replied, and smiled at him, my heart in my eyes.I allowed him to pull me in for a quick reassuring kiss, then I followed the others outside.

The campus grounds were positively shining that evening.Fairy lights flickered on all the trees and windows.Bright ornaments hung from nearly every surface, and the rich scents of something fabulous cooking in the cafeteria filled the air.

“Is tonight special?”I asked as we crunched through two inches of freshly fallen snow.

“It’s the Solstice, Nizhoni,” Judge told me, and my mouth formed an ‘o’ of surprise.

“It’s a super blue moon too,” Maia added.

“A what?”

“A blue moon is when we get a full moon twice in one month.A super blue moon is when that second full moon appears larger and brighter than the first.It’s kind of rare, but I am taking it as a good omen that we can patch this thing up quick and easy,” she answered with a shrug.

“Shut up, airhead!You just tempted the Fates with that one,” Tana grumbled.

“Will you two knock it off,” Rio replied.

But I ignored the nervous quibbling and pondered the full moon and solstice angle while Mabe led the way through the Winter Forest, using her unique ability to see through the veil to the pulsating flow of magic being sucked from this realm.We followed her to the rip.Only, we weren’t the only ones searching for the hole bleeding magic out of our world.

Winds howled, and precipitation beat down on us from above.It was a hateful mixture of hail, sleet, snow, and freezing rain.Dressed in layers of protective clothing, infused with protection spells reinforced by our mates carefully placed promises to be by our sides, but still we shivered.It was like a ghostly hand had slithered down each of our spines, and our gazes crashed into each other’s in recognition.

Someone was using magic, and it wasn’t for the greater good.Squinting at the figures ahead, I counted over three dozen of the hooded gathering.Negative vibes and dark energy shrouded them, blurring facial features from this distance.

“Who is that?”Jade shouted her question above the roaring weather.

I squinted, my heart squeezing as we forced ourselves to get closer.Putting one step in front of the other took much more effort than it ought.

“It’s a compulsion spell!”Enok yelled.“It wants us to go away.Fight through it.”

“Come on, Nizhoni,” Judge growled, and took my hand.

I watched as the others did the same, helping their mates through the sludge-like air toward the group.As we neared them, I was able to identify some of the faces.It was two groups, in fact, and we all stopped a couple of dozen feet away from where they stood.

“Holy fuck!”Tana shouted.

The two groups of witches and wizards had formed a semi-circle and seemed in the middle of performing some sort of spell.Well, one of them had been.The others seemed to be confronting them, but it was hard to note who was on what side.

At the center were Leanna Stolbright and Headmistress Armstrong.The two were arguing viciously, though I could not hear what they said.Everything seemed to happen so quickly, and yet it was as if it were in slow motion, if that made any sense.

“You six don’t belong here.Neither you, nor your mates!This is Council business.Leave,” Stolbright shouted, pointing at us.

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