Blood Magic

by Jennifer Snyder

  I blinked. I could count on one hand how many times I’d shuffled a deck of tarot cards.

  “Maybe I’ll be able to get a better handle on what they’re trying to tell me with your energy on them instead of just my own,” she insisted.

  She moved to sit on the bed and I did the same. I grabbed the cards and shuffled them. They felt heavy and foreign. Slick. As though they were struggling to free themselves from my grasp. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the energy surrounding me, whether it was positive or negative. Once I felt as though I’d zeroed in enough, I placed the cards facedown on the comforter in a single stack. Then, with my left hand, I cut the deck into three piles before stacking them into one again.

  “Lay the top card in front of you, and then cross it with the next,” Aunt Rowena instructed. “Place the third card in front of the two crossed and the fourth behind them in the line.”

  I did as she said, flipping them over one by one. Chill bumps prickled across my skin when I noticed the same cards she’d been given came up again—The Tower, the three of swords, Death, and the nine of swords. My breath hitched as I stared at them.

  “How is that possible?” I asked.

  “The outcome of whatever events brewing must be heavily rooted in place.” Her eyes shifted from card to card, staring intently. “While the chaos coming might change faces, the plot points of the events remain the same—chaos or an awful unexpected change will come, it will bring heartache and pain, which will bring about a form of transformation or final change, and it will cause much anxiety and worry.”

  Her gaze intensified as though she were willing the cards to tell a different story. We both knew it wasn’t possible though.

  “Draw another card while thinking of needing more clarification,” she insisted. “More direction.”

  I didn’t want to. I’d already seen enough. Still, I did as she asked. My hand shook as I touched the top card of the stack. In my mind, I repeated the word clarity, but it didn’t help focus me. All I could think of were the unsettling cards that remained in the deck.

  As I flipped over the top card and added it to the spread, a lump formed in my throat. The Devil card stared back at me. He was wicked and evil looking with his goat face and large bat wings spread out behind him. My gaze drifted to the man and woman chained by their necks to a pole he stood on. They always had scared me.

  I held my breath. I’d seen this card before as well and remembered its basic meaning. It stood for addiction and tended to represent the person’s shadow self.

  “I can’t stress to you enough how wise it would be for you to forget gray magic exists altogether.” Her words were barely above a whisper, but I knew what she was implying—that the card was a warning I might sell my soul to the devil, so to speak, when it came to using gray magic. I might be sucked into the instant gratification of it. It hinted that I was going down a dark and dangerous path, one that wouldn’t lead anyplace good.

  “I should go.” My voice wavered when I spoke.

  As I stood, Aunt Rowena didn’t speak. She didn’t try to stop me either. My eyes glanced at the cards one last time, and a sense of coldness centered in my gut. My palms grew clammy as one thing became clear—something bad was coming, and according to the cards, none of us would walk away unscathed.

  Chapter 3

  The pictures of the tarot cards circled through my head as I made my way up the attic stairs, eager to gather the ingredients for the cloaking spell Aunt Rowena had given me. They left me feeling unsettled. Especially the one I’d drawn for clarification. Did it mean something bad would happen if I continued to use gray magic?

  At the thought of it, a tendril of gray magic uncoiled in the center of my chest and seemed to dance. The corners of my lips twisted into a smile.

  How could something that felt so harmless and right be bad enough to garner a tarot reading like that?

  It couldn’t. Which meant the cards had to be referring to Bram.

  A shiver slipped up my spine. I knew it had more to do with thoughts of Bram and how evil he was than the chill of the drafty attic.

  My fingers reached out to switch on the light, illuminating the musky-smelling attic. I crossed the large room, making my way to the bookcase where Aunt Rowena stored her witchy stuff. Once there, I pulled the book she’d given me from my bag and glanced at the cloaking spell to make sure I remembered what it called for.

  Four white candles were first on the list.

  I set the book down and grabbed the box on the top shelf of the bookcase, remembering it stored the bulk of Aunt Rowena’s candles. A smile spread onto my face when I peered inside. There were only four white candles among the others. I’d gotten lucky. Next, the book said I would need one tiger’s eye stone for protection, and to add more energy to the spell, as well as one quartz crystal for boosting the power of the spell. I knew enough about crystals to know the quartz was what would give the spell strength to last three days. It had amplification properties, among other things.

  While the quartz crystal was easy to find since Aunt Rowena seemed to have a slew of them, the tiger’s eye proved more difficult. We needed a new system for storing witchy items. More containers with labels would be nice.

  Once I had everything the spell called for, I flipped the light off and headed back downstairs. As I descended the steps, my mind jumbled with thoughts of the spell I was about to perform. It was powerful. More powerful than any I’d ever tried to do on my own before. A tiny tremor of nerves rushed through me, but I pushed it aside, opting instead to remind myself of all the spells I’d succeeded at performing before. Then, I thought of the amulet again.

  What sort of spell would I need to find it?

  Would the locator spell I’d used to find Hazel work? If so, I would need more salvia tea from Mina. I hoped her pack didn’t get upset with me for asking again.

  As my foot met the final step of the stairway, the first twinge of a headache pulsed behind my brow, causing my breath to hitch. My fingertips instinctively lifted to massage the area as knots formed in the pit of my stomach.

  “No,” I breathed. “I don’t care who you are. I do not have time for you right now.” The words left my mouth in a hiss, but they didn’t deter whoever was reaching out.

  Instead, whoever it was tapped harder on the door between the other side and me. My headache flared even harder, causing me to squint my eyes and press more firmly against my brow.

  I didn’t have time for this, not with a serious cloaking spell to set in place, Hazel to keep safe, and an amulet to find.

  What if it was Adele reaching out to tell me something?

  Crap. My teeth sank into my bottom lip. She could have new information she wanted to pass along. Or maybe she’d found the amulet’s location. It was possible. Spirits were often drawn to objects they felt a connection to in life.

  Or it could be someone else trying to get through, a small voice in the back of my mind cautioned. Did I really want to risk opening the door and it being someone else waiting to speak with me instead of Adele?

  I exhaled a slow breath and pulled my glasses off to rub my eyes. Stupid headache.

  “Sorry, Adele—if it is you—I can’t risk tapping into the other side. Not right now. I’m still trying to save Hazel,” I whispered and then continued walking.

  By the time I reached the Montevallos’ place, it was after seven. I parked behind Julian’s classic car and cut the engine. Before I could gather my things, my cell went off with a new text. It was from Mina. I was glad it was her. I’d been thinking of calling her. She needed to be filled in on things to stay up to speed.

  Hey, I wanted to check in. See how things were going.

  I tapped out a reply.

  I was planning on calling you. Things are okay. I just got back to the Montevallos’. Had to pick up a few things from home. I guess I’m spending the next few nights here. – Ridley

  She responded seconds later.

  Some alone time with Benji. I�
��m sure you’re happy about that! Maybe you should thank Hazel. Wink. Wink. Just kidding.

  I chuckled. Maybe I should. This entire situation had put the two of us back on track somehow. Maybe it was the simple fact that we both needed something else to focus on besides the differences in our relationship since his transition.

  I know. – Ridley

  So, how are things with the Hazel and Bram situation? Anything new?

  It was too much to type.

  Call me. – Ridley

  My cell rang half a second later.

  “Hey,” I said when I answered. “Thanks for calling.”

  “No problem. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, it just seemed like too much to text,” I said.

  “Got ya.”

  “And to answer your question, everything is okay so far. Well, that I know of,” I said, remembering how it was entirely possible Bram was on his way to Mirror Lake thanks to the original cloak I’d set falling while I’d been asleep.

  “That doesn’t sound too comforting,” Mina said.

  “I know.” I sighed. “Long story short, I put a cloaking spell in place last night—two actually, one on Hazel and one on the Montevallo place.”

  Movement from the corner of my eye captured my attention and my lips clamped shut. I leaned forward, trying to make out whatever moved across the ground through the shadows. A rabbit hopped into the dull light streaming from the Montevallos’ porch, and I leaned back in my seat, grateful it wasn’t anything serious like a freaking crow.

  That nightmare had put me on edge and Aunt Rowena’s tarot cards hadn’t helped.

  “I’m not seeing where the problem is,” Mina insisted. “Isn’t that a good thing? I mean, they did work, right? There’s a cloak up?”

  “Yeah. They did. Sorry.” I smoothed a hand over my forehead. I needed to get my crap together. “The issue is, there was about an hour while I was asleep that the cloak came down. I’m worried Bram might have found Hazel’s location during that time.”

  “Oh. Okay. Has anything happened that would make you think he did?”

  Aunt Rowena’s tarot spread popped in my head again. While it could be related to Bram and his possibly finding Hazel, there was also a chance it might have been in relation to gray magic and me, as much as I hated to admit it.

  “No,” I said, opting not to tell her about the cards or Aunt Rowena’s worry.

  “Okay, and the cloak is back in place now?” Mina asked.

  “Yeah. I put it back up the second I realized it had fallen.”

  “So, even if he is on his way to Mirror Lake, he probably won’t be able to find Hazel’s exact location.”

  “Yeah, but he could still be heading to town, which is a problem.”

  Why didn’t she sound more worried? She should be. She’d seen him in action once already. He wasn’t someone to discredit. She would be more worried if she knew about Aunt Rowena’s cards. Mina was big on intuition and trusting her gut. She’d gained it from her Gran.

  “When I went to my aunt’s room to ask for a more powerful cloaking spell, she was performing a tarot reading for herself,” I said, deciding maybe I should fill her in after all. “The cards hinted that bad things were coming. Chaos.”

  “And, you think the cards meant Bram?”

  I licked my lips. “Yeah. It’s possible. Maybe you should talk to Eli and fill him in on the possibility of Bram making his way to town. I feel like we should all take precautions just in case.”

  “Absolutely. I think that’s smart. Maybe we can put some pack members on alert and have them patrol like they’ve done in the past. I can give everyone Bram’s description and fill them in on his supernatural status,” she said, going into problem-solving mode with me right away. Mina always had a take-charge way of going about things. This was why she and Eli worked so well together. They were a prime example of like attracting like. “What are you planning to do?”

  What else could I do besides what I’d already done? I thought for a moment.

  “I’ll see about getting a protection spell up,” I said.

  “Like the ward your family used in the past?”

  I knew the ward she was thinking of, but also knew that particular one had to be set in place during a full moon. The next one was still days away. We didn’t have that sort of time. We needed something in place now.

  “Not that one, specifically. I’ll chat with Aunt Rowena about it and see what we can do,” I said.

  There had to be a protection spell we could tweak or a ward that didn’t call for a full moon. Something that would give us more time so we could find the amulet. Once we had that, we could take Bram out and put all of this behind us.

  “Great. I’ll check in with you later and let you know if we find anything while patrolling,” Mina said.

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know when we get a protection spell up.”

  “Talk soon. Be careful.”

  “Definitely. I’ll talk to you later,” I said before hanging up.

  I scrolled through my phone until I found Aunt Rowena’s number. Once I tapped on it, I pressed the phone to my ear, listening as it rang. When she didn’t answer, I tried the number for the inn.

  “Caraway Inn.” Her voice filtered through the phone, sounding chipper.

  “Hey, it’s me. I tried your cell, but you didn’t answer.”

  “I’m checking our newest guest in. Can you hold for a minute?” she asked.

  “Oh. Sure.”

  I chewed my bottom lip while I waited. Muffled voices made their way through the phone, but I couldn’t pick up on any words. Although, I could tell the new guest was male from the deep timbre of his voice.

  “Are you still there?” Aunt Rowena asked once she was finished. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I just—I need a favor.” I licked my lips. What I was about to say was bound to spark questions. “Can you put up a protection spell around the town, one that would keep a vampire out?”

  My heart hammered. I knew the mention of a vampire heading to town would cause her some worry. The deal made between our family and Mina’s pack wasn’t new to me. They were supposed to keep vampires out of town—except for the Montevallos—or we didn’t cloak their monthly runs from the humans of Mirror Lake. It all traced back to a relative of ours being compelled by a vampire and meeting her end because of it.

  “I assume this has to do with the girl you’re helping,” Aunt Rowena said. The sound of a door closing filtered through the phone. I knew she’d moved to a safer place to talk. One where she was away from guests who might overhear the conversation.

  “Yes.”

  Aunt Rowena exhaled a breath. I thought she was about to press for more details, but she didn’t. “When do you need it up by? I won’t be able to use the one I set in place when the Midnight Reaper was coming to town because we aren’t at a full moon, but I’m sure I can find something.”

  Should I mention Bram was a half-witch too? Would it matter? It might. It might not. Actually, putting something up to keep vampires out of town might split him in two. Or, it might cause the ward to not work on him at all.

  “Great, thanks. And as soon as possible, please,” I said. “And, just so you know, this guy is a hybrid. Half vampire, half witch. I’m not sure that hinders whatever spell you had in mind, but figured I’d mention it.”

  “It is a good thing to know. I’ll have to adjust the spell I use to accommodate both sides of him. Anything else I should know?” she asked.

  “No. Not that I can think of.”

  “Okay, after I make my final rounds for the night to check in with the guests, I’ll work on putting something in place.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Tension melted from my muscles. Why hadn’t I thought to set something in place like this sooner? I’d been stupid to have thought only of cloaking Hazel and the Montevallo house.

  “You’re welcome. You know I’m always here to help in any way I can,” she sa
id in a soft tone. “I’ll let you know when I’ve set it in place. Be careful, okay? I love you.”

  “I will be. Love you too. Thanks again.”

  I hung up and grabbed my things from the passenger seat. A sensation of lightness shifted through my limbs. Everything would be okay. As always, the supernaturals of town were working together to protect the place we loved.

  I slipped out of my car and hoisted my bag over my shoulder. Once I’d grabbed the coffee mug I’d taken with me earlier, I headed inside.

  It was time to set the most powerful cloaking spell I’d ever attempted alone in place.

  Chapter 4

  I stepped into Benji’s room and stared at the burning candles on his bedroom floor. Thank goodness the cloak was still up. Even though it was weak in comparison to the one I was about to set, at least it was something.

  I tossed my bag on Benji’s bed and then placed my hands on my hips, thinking.

  “What do you need me to do?” Benji asked. He stood beside me. His warm brown eyes fixed on me as he folded his arms and waited for me to answer. “I know you wanna get this cloak in place fast.”

  I smirked at him. “Tell me if I should put the cloak on Hazel or just the house.”

  I couldn’t decide. There seemed to be perks to both.

  Benji scratched his jaw, his gaze never wavering from mine. The area between his brows wrinkled, and I knew he was in deep thought. “Good question. I guess I can see the benefits to both. But, what if you put it on the house and she decides she wants to go for a walk? Then she’s not cloaked.”

  “You’re right. She might want to get out of this house at some point.” Especially considering we had no clue how long it would take to find the amulet.

  I couldn’t expect her to stay confined to this house forever.

  “On the other hand, havin’ a cloak on the house might be a good idea. Then, Bram won’t be able to find it either. Maybe you should double up like last time. We don’t know what kind of magic he’s workin’ with,” Benji insisted. He took a step closer and his scent filled my senses. Butterflies erupted in the pit of my stomach. Even in the midst of everything, he still had power over me. Something flickered in the warm color of his eyes and I knew he could sense my sudden spark of desire for him. The quirk of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, but he kept his head in the game. “What if he’s tryin’ to find her by scryin’ for the place she’s at instead of scryin’ for her? Does that make sense? I’m probably thinkin’ into this too deeply. Sorry.” He shook his head and flashed me a crooked smile that made what I was feeling toward him amplify tenfold.