Page 39 of Held

“It’s not a Skullstalkerthing,” she argued. “Wick says it isn’t normal for them. He can’t control it. The others can.”

“But I havefoundsomething that can,” Wick said. He reached over and lifted the amulet around Briar’s neck, his claws brushing Briar’s collarbones. “This. The necklace you gave her. Whenever the blood frenzy starts, your necklace glows and makes it go away.”

“Oh!” Marigold’s smile shrank. Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward to examine the amulet.

Briar waited for her to speak. When the only thing that happened was that Marigold leaned further forward, Briar continued, “What did you make it out of?”

Marigold startled. “Huh? Oh! Well, I’ll have to think about it. It was supposed to be for very basic magical protection…”

She trailed off. Her brows wrinkled, her mouth moving wordlessly as she went deeper and deeper into whatever magical theory she was falling into.

Luckily, Briar had witnessed enough deep dives to know how to snap Marigold out of it.

Briar leaned forward and snapped her fingers. “Marigold!”

Marigold jerked, tea splashing over her rumpled skirt.

“Gods!” Marigold brushed the tea away with a wince, then turned back to them with a lopsided smile. “Okay! Ooookay. Salaros sex curse. Blood frenzy. We can assume which methods Salaros used; he always used the same ones for his curses… But ablood frenzy… And it’s affected by the protection amulet…”

Marigold trailed off again, her mouth moving around complicated magic theory that Briar used to sit through for hours at a time while she tuned her out.

Then she straightened, clicking her saucer and teacup onto the table with such enthusiasm that another tide of tea washed over the side.

“Can I look inside your head?” she asked Wick, wiping her hands clean. “It will only take a moment. I have a theory.”

Wick looked over at Briar, alarmed.

Briar squeezed his knee comfortingly. “Marigold’s a great witch. You don’t have to worry.”

Wick’s tail swished anxiously around his legs. But he gave Marigold a brisk nod, leaning toward her when she beckoned him.

“Just a peek,” Marigold assured him distractedly. She had that intense look she always got when she was pouring all her attention into her magic. Her eyes were bright and flinty, her friendly face dropping into a narrow-minded focus that made Briar think back to all those times Marigold’s magic had saved their lives when they were children, mostly by getting them food. Levitation spells on a pie on a windowsill or a brief invisibility spell to let Briar dart into a butcher’s shop and grab a ham hock, both of which left Marigold stumbling and woozy as they made their escape.

There was no wooziness in Marigold now. Only a single-minded intensity that got more powerful the longer she stared into Wick’s fiery eyes.

“Huh,” Marigold whispered.

Then her eyes went flat white. Wick’s eyes followed suit, and then they both sat up ramrod straight as their minds connected.

Briar shifted uneasily. She hadn’t lied to Wick: Marigoldwasa great witch. But there was something spooky about watching her do this type of magic. Levitation and invisibility were one thing. Connecting two minds was another.

Especially when it was Wick. For all his sweetness, there was that untamable rage hiding inside of him. She almost expected him and Marigold to leap up with twin roars, their eyes flashing with fire.

But they stayed there, sitting eerily straight with those milky white eyes, just long enough for Briar to start to sweat.

Then they both jerked, their eyes going back to normal as they sagged forward.

Briar touched Wick’s back between his wings. “Wick! Hey, are you alright?”

“I am fine,” he said, breathing raggedly. He looked over at Briar, and she wondered when his fiery eyes became so comforting.

Marigold wheezed out a laugh, fanning her face. She was sweating, drops appearing on her hairline.

“That was new,” she said with nervous delight. She grabbed her wet teacup, her hand shaking as she sipped. “I-I can cure you. Cure you both, even. And the best news is, I only need one more ingredient for both of those spells!”

“Great,” Briar said. “What is it?”

Marigold grimaced. “That… might be a problem. It’s just up in the mountains, but I don’t have time to go up there right now. I’m behind on some ritual translations for my clients, and I promised I would finish them this week.”

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