Ivy must have seen their confused expressions, “It takes a lot of magic to dowse. Whoever is holding the pendant will be feeding it with their magic. We’ll need to take turns or else someone will burnout.”
“Like a battery,” Ezra said definitively.
“Sure, compare a complex transfer of metaphysical energy to a battery. They’re totally the same,” Lawrence sneered.
Damn, I hate this guy. Ezekiel wanted to punch him. He still hadn’t gotten the asshole back for blackmailing Ivy either. McDowell was saved by the old ladies coming in. Maggie gave them all a big smile. Stella handed Lawrence a length of string. Patricia shuffled in last.
She took one look at Lawrence and stopped dead, “Great, just great. Now we have a witchling and a wolf-witch joining our spellcasting.” She squinted at him then asked rudely, “Do you know how much a laughingstock we will be if someone finds out about this?” He shrugged. She snorted and shuffled over to the kitchen table.
“Ignore her, dear. She is in a mood,” Maggie apologized to McDowell.
“I was up all-night working on this damn spell. I’m also the only one with arthritis from head to toe. When we’re running around the woods and your knee starts acting up, we’ll see how chipper you are,” Patricia huffed.
“Now, Ivy, you wanted to talk about the specifics of our spell before shaking on our deal, yes?” Maggie yelled over Patricia. When Ivy nodded, Maggie turned to Stella. “Stella, do you mind?”
Stella did a little shoulder shimmy. Lawrence looked concerned by the creaking coming from her bones. Ezekiel had to keep his laugh to himself.
“I can’t take all the credit for it. Part of it is a potion Patricia came up with to repel bugs,” Stella said complimentary.
“A damn good potion too,” Patricia muttered. “We haven’t had any ants in our raspberries for years.”
Stella nodded vigorously, “It’s true. Getting back to our spell. It’s part bug repellant, part curse.”
No one reacted. Stella waited for a moment but when she still didn’t get the reaction she was expecting, her shoulders drooped. She huffed.
Maggie coughed lightly, “Maybe you need to go into more detail, Stella.”
“Patricia made a super batch of her bug repellant. It’s got a few added ingredients so it will repel people, not bugs. We called in a favor to have a bag of peridot sent to us express. Patricia soaked the stones in her potion all night.”
“And chanted over it the whole time so they would absorb the potion,” Patricia added.
“Yes, now they are super charged with the repellant. The curse part is where we all come in. We are going to perform a modified fire of stones curse. We’ll change the words around to target who you want to cast out and then we will need to hide all of the peridot throughout the territory. The spell should work.”
“What’s a fire of stones curse?” Ezra asked.
“Stones are placed into a hearth and burned. While the fire burns a curse is spoken. The fire is then put out and the stones are scattered,” Stella explained. “The curse will last until the stones turn to dust. You hide the stones so no one can go around and crush them.”
“It’s an old Irish cruse. It’s usually used by farmers who had been evicted by landowners. Stones are burned in the hearth of the home they’re being forced out of. It varies from caster to caster but the curse lasts for a long time. Especially when a lot of stones are used and they’re hidden very well,” Ivy explained. She looked distracted.
Lawrence paced two steps then turned around, “May I see the components of the repellant potion? We’re casting out a particularly nasty group. It needs to be very potent.”
Patricia’s spine went straight for the first time since Ezekiel had met her. “Have you ever held back a force of nature? That’s what my potion does but sure, I’ll show you my notes. Impertinent little pup.” She stood up and gestured for him to follow him.
“How will we tie it to the territory?” Ivy asked.
“It will need to be worded into the incantation said while the fire burns,” Maggie answered. When Ivy didn’t look convinced Maggie asked gently, “Maybe if we knew who you wanted to cast out, we could help tailor the spell better.”
“I expected us to be blasting out the witch-wolf to be honest. Or his little group of rogues,” Stella admitted.
Ivy glanced back at Ezra and Ezekiel. They both nodded. The Coven should know.
“A Coven has invaded Black Bird. They’re looking for the altar we’re dowsing for. They snuck in somehow and have managed to bewitch one of the Pack’s wolves. We’re not sure how far their influence reaches. They’re dangerous though.”
Maggie’s demeanor changed. Her jaw tensed and she puffed up like an adder about to strike, “Who dares enter our lands?”
“The Salici Sacri. They’re an old Coven from Italy. They followed a Coven of witches to this area and have been searching for the magic they left here ever since,” Ivy answered.
“How dangerous are we talking?” Maggie asked.
“They’ve been trying to kill Lawrence for a year,” Ivy answered.
“They used a wolf to attack Ivy inside Black Bird Memorial Hospital. No one has seen the woman since,” Ezekiel added.
“The Alpha never noticed that she had been taken,” Ezra said.
Maggie honed in on him, “He didn’t feel her bond break?”
Ezra shook his head, “He didn’t even feel a disturbance.”
“Very subtle,” Maggie murmured. She squared her shoulders and gave Stella a determined look. “No secretive Coven of witch killers is coming into our territory to cause havoc.” She turned to Ivy. “You, missy, need to decide right now if we have a deal or not. Not one of us is strong enough to cast out a Coven but if we stand together, we have a good chance to kick them out.”
Ezekiel heard Ivy inhale slowly. She glanced back at both of them. It was a quick look but he felt the weight of it. She rubbed a spot over her chest almost subconsciously.
“Why do you want me as a member of your Coven?” She asked.
“First and foremost, having you as a member will help us recoup the magic we are using to perform this major spell,” Maggie gave her a pointed look. “The second reason is because you need training. That little stunt for the other night could have killed someone. Your magic is wild and unfettered. This way we can help teach you how to control yourself.”
Ivy cringed. Then, she stood taller and stuck her hand out, “We have a deal.”
Maggie smiled mercenarily. They shook, “So mote it be.”
“So mote it be,” Ivy agreed. When they broke contact, Ivy rubbed her hands together. “We should set up for the locating spell.”
The women began clearing the table. One by one, Ivy unrolled the maps of Black Bird and began marking them into four equal sections. She set one on top of another until they were in a neat stack. Stella placed candles in a circle around the pile. Maggie set a box of matches on the table as Lawrence and Patricia came back in. Ivy put the journal on the table next to the maps.
Ivy looked up from what she was doing, “How does it look?”
Lawrence tipped his head, an impressed expression on his face. “I would hardly call that potion a bug repellant. It’s more like a poison for anything living. I’m surprised the bees pollenate any of your plants. Hell, I’m surprised anything grows in your garden if you’re spraying that stuff around. It’s about as crotchety as her.”
“It’s all in the intent, my boy. Stick around us and we can teach you a thing or two,” Patricia slapped him on the shoulder.
Ivy gave him a questioning look. “All we have to do it buy ourselves some time at the very least.” Lawrence shook his head.
“You’ll have more than time, Mr. McDowell,” Maggie promised. “No Coven trespasses on our land without consequences. We will be adding some oomph to this curse.” She looked around the room. “First, we must locate this altar. Since we are the oldest and least able bodied, we will take the first
shifts with the spell. Hopefully, we can narrow down the location before we reach Ivy or Lawrence. That will leave them energy to pin point the altar while they are at the location. That will also give us time to recoup some of our magic for the cursing.”
All of the witches nodded. Maggie held out her hand to McDowell. He dropped the crystal into her hand. Now, it was securely tied at the center of the hemp string Stella had given him. She walked to the back of the kitchen table, facing the maps.
The other four spaced themselves around the table evenly. Stella and Patricia stood to her right while Ivy and Lawrence stood to her left. They formed a tight circle around the small table.
Maggie looked to Ivy, “What are we looking for exactly?”
Ivy held her hands out about a foot apart. “We are looking for an earth altar prepared by Caterina Genetti.”
“What was her offering?” Maggie asked.
Ivy glanced at Lawrence before answering, “Herself.”
Maggie didn’t react. “And this is the personal item?” She pointed to the journal. Lawrence and Ivy nodded.
Maggie hummed in the back of her throat. She up a match. She lit the candles counter clockwise then blew out the match. She lifted the crystal by the of the ends of the string with her right hand. It dangled a few inches off of the map. She put her left palm over the journal.
“Altar that I seek, reveal yourself to me. Wherever ye hide, I shall see. By my words, so mote it be.” Maggie repeated the rhyme over and over again. The words started to melt together until Ezekiel could only catch the cadence.
A tingle went up his spine. Ezekiel rubbed his arms absently. As Maggie chanted, a strange feeling grew in the air. Ezekiel glanced at Ezra but if he was feeling it, he wasn’t letting on.
When they had watched Ivy perform the warding spell, he hadn’t felt anything but amazement. Maybe it was because they were standing closer but he could swear he felt magic. It was like a new awareness that prickled all of his senses. He tried to shake it off and focus on what Maggie was doing.
The crystal began to circle the map. At first, they were small circles. As Maggie continued to repeat the spell, the circles grew bigger and bigger. The crystal picked up speed. It swung wildly. It passed over one of the candles, extinguishing the flame.
Maggie sighed and set the crystal down, “Well, it’s not in this part of this territory. Your turn, Stella.”
Patricia blew out the candles as everyone moved. Stella stepped up to take Maggie’s spot, she picked up a small bundle of herbs. She lit the end of the bundle and waited until it started to smoke. She gently spread the smoke out across the table. Once she was done, she set the bundle down in a shallow bowl someone had set out.
Stella pulled out another match and lit the candles. She picked up the pendant and set her hand on the journal. She began reciting the exact same words Maggie had.
Once again, the crystal began circling the map. Unlike before, the crystal veered to one side. The path became erratic as it traveled up and down that one side of the map.
Stella set the crystal down. She blew out the candles. “Which map shows the area to the east of this one?”
Ivy stepped around the table. She lifted up the top map and looked through the rest of the maps. She set two of them so they were on next of each other. “Both of these are east of the last one.”
Patricia hip checked Ivy out of the way. “Alright, move along. If anyone can find an earth altar, it will be me.”
Lawrence shook his head. Ivy didn’t react, she just moved back to her spot. They all reshuffled until everyone was equally spread around the table.
Patricia quickly covered the table with smoke. She relit the candles, picked up the crystal, rested her hand on the journal, and started chanting. Unlike the other women, Patricia closed her eyes as she held the pendant high over both maps.
Ezekiel watched as the crystal began circling the maps. It started widening its path. Subtly, the crystal moved to cover the bottom map. The circles became tighter and tighter. Soon, the crystal whirled around a five-inch diameter. It didn’t move from that spot.
Patricia opened her eyes and picked up a pen. She marked the area the crystal had identified. “It looks like this is the best we’re going to get from the house.”
Everyone in the room moved closer. They all leaned across the table to see the map. The circle covered a good two miles.
“That’s where the pit is,” Ezra nodded.
“Can you narrow down our search area?” Ivy asked.
Ezra held out his hand. Patricia slapped the pen into his palm. He bent over the table and drew a smaller circle inside the one she had drawn. “There’s no path to the pit. We’ll have to trek through some dense forest.” He gave the older women a dubious look.
“Don’t worry, we’re staying in the van,” Stella promised. “We’ll leave the bushwhacking and possible grave robbing to the younger generation.”
“It’s not grave robbing. That is my birthright we’re trying to save,” Lawrence defended.
“Which we haven’t figured out how to access,” Ivy mumbled.
“Alright, youngsters, enough talking. Let’s head to the van so we can find this altar,” Maggie said with more cheeriness than Ezekiel felt the situation called for. She stopped suddenly, one finger in the air. “Patricia grab the peridot if you will. Stella, grab the air freshener from the living room. No, grab all of the air fresheners from the house. Ivy, you will need a shovel from the green house.”
Ezekiel sent Ezra a questioning glance. None of the women batted an eye at Maggie’s odd requests though. They went about their business. Lawrence grabbed the map, journal, and crystal.
Maggie went to a china dish on the counter top. She plucked a set of keys out of it and held them out to Ezra, “I have a feeling you like to drive.”
He fished around his pocket and showed her their keys, “We’re taking the truck. Lawrence can drive the rest of the Coven.”
Maggie shook her head, “We’re not splitting up. We all ride together or we don’t go at all.”
Ezekiel cut him a look. Now was not the time to argue. Ezra hung his head slightly but held out his hand for the keys.
“I’ll go get the spare clothes from the truck,” Ezekiel volunteered. If they needed to shift the last thing he wanted was to be left naked around three randy old ladies.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ezra grumbled as the van hit a groove in the dirt road. This hulking piece of metal was not meant to drive on anything other than pavement. He really wanted to be in his truck right now.
There would have been no way the Coven would have fit in the truck though. None of the old ladies would have been able to get in either. Ezekiel had to give Patricia a boost into the low riding van as it was.
“If you grumble any louder, I won’t be able to focus on the map,” Lawrence murmured from the passenger seat. “We should pull off in the next half a mile.”
Ezra didn’t bother replying. He still wanted to punch the guy for getting Ivy mixed up in all of this. It would have to wait though. At least until they found the damn altar.
“How long will it take us to get to the pit?” Ivy asked from the back of the van.
“If we haul ass? Under an hour,” Lawrence answered before he could.
“It’ll be getting dark by the time we get there,” Ivy murmured.
“We could go faster as wolves,” Ezekiel supplied. “Ezra or I could carry you. That would cut the time in half.”
Ivy nodded already agreeing, “I can carry our supplies.”
Ezra pulled off the dirt road. He shut the van off and turned around in his seat. He eyed each of the Coven members before he held the keys out to Stella. “You’re in charge of the van until we’re back. Do you have a cell phone?”
She pat her coat and dug around in her pocket. She pulled out an absolute brick of a phone with a triumphant grin. “Here it is.”
Ivy reached forward and grabbed it. “I’ll put my phone n
umber in it. Call me if you need us.”
With that Ivy, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Lawrence got out of the van. Ezra rushed around to the passenger side and herded Ivy around the back. He checked behind him to see Lawrence already stripping out of his clothes.
“What was that about?” Ivy grumbled.
“Nothing,” he muttered.
Ivy rolled her eyes like she knew he was lying. “Are you going to need me to give you directions?”
They both shook their heads.
“We know where we’re going. You just need to hold on tight,” Ezekiel winked.
They both stripped down. Hands slapped against the window of the van. Stella and Patricia had their faces pressed to the glass. Their eyes were bugging out of their heads. Maggie shook her head and smacked both of them in the back of the heads.
Ivy held her hands out for their clothes. Ezra pulled his phone out of his pants before her handed them to her. Ezekiel threw the rest of their clothes into the front seat of the van. She gave them a confused look.
“Ezekiel is going to stay shifted. Just in case we need to act fast,” Ezra said. “If anything happens, he’ll give us cover while I get you out of there.” Ezra handed her his phone. “You’re in charge of this while we’re shifted.”
Ezra stepped back and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and reached inside himself. His wolf rose to meet him, knowing instinctually what to do. Ezra felt the ghost of fur brush against his hand before he felt the vertigo of magic take over.
He took a second to shake off the disorientation after shifting. He felt Ezekiel rub against his side. Ivy bent down and ran a hand over his shoulders. Ezekiel leaned against her, knocking her onto her ass.
“Come on, be nice,” she laughed. She took a steadying breath and looked both of them in their eyes, “Are you read?”
Ezra bumped his head against her chest and went to walk around the van. Lawrence sat waiting for them. His fur was the same brown color as his hair. He had no markings along his body.
Resented Page 30
