by Nora Lee
“The place will be fine. Protective wards work much better than any traditional lock.”
Fox laughed again. “Of course. Silly me…” She slung a large duffel over her shoulder and they headed out of the yard. “Secret Hallow is so beautiful. Leaving here will be hard.”
“Are you going right away?” Gemma’s earlier relief about them having to wait to perform the love-seeking spell turned into a fear that her friend might not wait around until they could cast it.
“Not unless you kick me out! Just saying, I’ll have to return to real life at some point, and that’s gonna suck.”
The duo fell into a companionable silence as they made their way back to the Victorian Gemma shared with Enid. Once they reached the edge of the village and turned onto the street where the Ash sisters lived, the gentle glow of gas streetlights lit their way, once again changing the look of their surroundings from the pale black-and-white look of the moonlight to something more akin to faded mid-century photos.
Gemma swung open her ornate iron gate and stepped aside to allow Fox to pass through.
“Wow,” said Fox in a breathy voice. “This is more beautiful than I imagined.”
Gemma turned to look up at the façade of her home. She’d lived here her whole life and didn’t tend to think much about how the place might appear to others.
Her eyes followed the stone pathway to the front steps leading onto a wraparound porch. The shadow of the overhang hid the front door and first-floor windows from view, and the exterior light turned off, but she could see what they looked like during daylight in her mind; the wavy glass of the windows, the dark wood of the door, and the antique rocking chairs her parents used to enjoy in the evenings. No lights lit the windows on this side of the house, but she knew the highest one in the back would be lit by the soft glow of the desk lamp she’d left on the night before.
Fox didn’t take the beauty for granted, but Gemma did.
She shook off a strange feeling of excitement that came over her. “Looks like Enid didn’t come home yet. I wonder where she could be.”
They entered the house and Gemma switched on the Tiffany lamp on the table in the front hall. She motioned at the doorway near the stairs. “That’s the living room. The kitchen’s that way. I’ll give you a full tour in the morning. We don’t have a lot of good lighting in here and I’m sure you’ll want to see all the detail.” They climbed up to the second floor and she opened a bedroom door. “You can drop your stuff in here for now if you’d like to come up to see my fortress of solitude.”
“Of course.” Fox tossed her bag into the dark room and followed Gemma up to the attic.
Seeing Fox in her personal space in the flesh, and not just as a welcome part of her phone or her computer screen, felt surreal. Not bad, just…not something Gemma could have expected in her wildest dreams.
Fox stood in the middle of the space and turned a circle as her eyes widened.
Gemma couldn’t imagine how Fox saw magic—every witch saw it a bit differently—but watching her guest’s expression of awe as she took everything in made Gemma see her space through new eyes.
The blues and greens of her powers filled the air, sparkling just a touch in response to her reaching out a hand toward them.
She’d never before noticed how a lot of her wiring glowed with differing intensities depending on her proximity to them. Most of all, Gemma enjoyed seeing the reflected colors in Fox’s eyes.
“This is…” Fox shook her head a couple times. “Wow.”
Gemma blushed. “Thanks.”
Her components seemed to realize she was experiencing some emotional intensity, as they always did. A few Ethernet cables slithered across the floor and nudged her ankles questioningly.
Fox stared. “Wow,” she said again.
Gemma nudged them away with her toe and plopped down on the saggy couch. She sighed a little as her feet throbbed; she hadn’t realized until then that she’d stood a lot more that day than she did most of the time. She tugged off her boots and leaned her head back with a sigh of relief. A VGA cable sneaked under her feet to snag the laces of her boot, then dragged it under the couch.
She might not have been one for tidiness, but her electronics had their own ideas about how the attic should be arranged. She didn’t fight it anymore.
Hovering next to the couch—probably the only time Fox would be taller than Gemma—Fox chattered about her surroundings. “Babe,” she said, “You are amazing. The way you stepped in and focused that power today. Now this computer stuff, I just…I can’t…” She smiled. “Don’t you feel wonderful after helping usher Siobhan into the world? She looked like such a cute little thing…I can’t wait to get a better look at her. How about you?”
Gemma stared up at the peak of the ceiling high overhead and said nothing. She was blushing so hard. She felt like she might burst into tears if she tried to speak.
Dropping onto the sofa, Fox took her hand and stroked the skin of her palm. “I really believe the coven can rebuild the school with magic, after what I saw today. You don’t need outside help.”
“How?”
“The spells on the Ash Academy didn’t work in the past because you didn’t help. You’re the missing link, babe.”
“I…I couldn’t.”
“If you can get past yourself like you did tonight, there’d be no stopping you!” Fox went on to rave about how Gemma could be more involved in the coven. She just needed to practice blocking out all the background chatter cluttering her mind. Working with a few members of the coven, the ones she felt the most comfortable around, might also help her become more comfortable. On and on Fox went, sometimes holding Gemma’s hands, sometimes pacing the floor, even pulling out her phone on occasion to take notes.
Her boundless energy exhausted Gemma. “Where do you fit into all of this?” At nearly one in the morning, she managed to interrupt long enough to express the thought she’d been bothered by for quite some time. “You have to go home at some point, don’t you?”
“No hurry.” Fox grinned. “I can do my work wherever. I can show you because I brought all my stuff with me.”
Fox pulled out her electronic drawing tablet, a device that looked more like a mouse than Gemma expected, and hooked up her laptop. For the next hour she used her inkless plastic pen on a plastic pad as an image appeared on the screen. The stylized picture of Rowan wearing a pointed hat and pretty dress as she rode a broomstick, with lights of varying colors swishing behind her, seemed to have appeared as if by magic.
“Ta da!” Fox proclaimed as she finished with a flourish.
“And you said what I did was amazing.” Gemma felt her awestruck expression must have mirrored the way Fox looked earlier. “Can you forward that to me so I can send it on to Rowan? She’ll love the picture.”
“Of course!” Fox clicked a few things and Gemma’s phone chimed. “You see?”
Gemma blinked. “What?”
Motioning around the room, Fox said, “I can do this anywhere! So I can stay in Secret Hallow as long as you need. I’ll just have to email friends so they can feed my cats.” She took up one of Gemma’s hands again. “I’ll support you as long as you need me, babe. I’m happy to be able to help you if you’ll let me.”
Gemma couldn’t bring herself to meet Fox’s glance. Instead, she squeezed her friend’s hand, taking care not to use too much pressure for fear of injuring her.
“Where do you usually sleep?” Fox asked.
Gemma flushed. “Oh, cauldrons! I’m a horrible hostess. Let me take you back down to your room so you can get some rest.”
Fox waved a hand. “I wasn’t asking about that. I want to know where you usually sleep.”
Gemma felt glad the muted glow of the computer screens hid the flush of her cheeks. “Here, most nights.” She gestured at an overstuffed chair. “I have a bedroom downstairs, right next to Enid’s room, but tend to fall asleep up here a lot of the time.”
“Your room haunted or some
thing?”
“Nah.” Gemma gave a quiet laugh and brushed her hair back from her overheated face. “We just…you and I talk on the computer so late sometimes that curling up here with Bronson is easier than heading down to my room.”
“Where is he, anyway? I want to meet this shaggy beast of yours.”
“With Enid, I expect.” She struggled to get to her feet, but swayed as exhaustion washed over her. “If you give me a few minutes…”
Fox waved her off with a yawn as she curled up in the warm spot Gemma had just vacated. “I’ll just rest here for a couple hours. Don’t wanna move.” She tucked her hands under her cheek and curled her knees up to her chest. Tiny as she was, the position made her look child-like and vulnerable.
“You sure?”
“Oh yeah. I can sleep anywhere.”
Gemma grabbed a blanket off the back of her couch and covered Fox. She then curled up in her chair and closed her eyes. “I’ll be right here with you, so poke me if you need anything.”
“Mmm, sleepover.” Fox pulled the blanket up under her chin. “We’ll have to throw popcorn at each other later. Or whatever girls do at slumber parties. Never been to one before…”
Gemma pulled her own blanket tight around her, shivering a bit at the chill breeze coming in through the window. “Sleepovers in Secret Hallow involve spells and floating pillows, for the most part.”
“You’ll have to show me,” said Fox in a voice heavy with sleep. She yawned. “…that trick.” She fell quiet after that, her breathing deep and even.
☆★☆
Fox and Enid dragged Gemma out of the chair earlier than she would have liked.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she straightened, stretching her arms overhead to ease the kinks from her neck. She often slept in her chair, but she must’ve been so tired this time she hadn’t moved since she’d dozed off. Her body ached and she felt drained of all energy.
“What time is it?” Gemma asked with a yawn.
“Late,” Enid said.
“Or early, however you like it,” Fox said.
“Either one of those options are terrible things.” It was dark outside. Gemma tossed her blanket aside and headed for the stairs. “Going to bed.”
Her sister and Fox flanked her, each taking one of her arms. “No time for sleep!” Fox said cheerfully. The trio headed down to the kitchen. “We’ve got a lot to do!”
“Like what?” Gemma asked warily. She feared the answer would be “love spell,” and she just wasn’t ready for it.
“See, the way I figure this,” Fox said, dumping Gemma in a chair. Pancakes and coffee were already waiting downstairs near Enid’s cauldron. She must have started cooking as soon as she got home. “We need a balanced spell for the Ash Academy.” She leaned against the counter with one hip, holding a steaming mug in her hands, and spoke in the animated tones becoming so familiar to her. “Gemma’s guidance is the key to making the spell work. I’m sure this will be successful with her help!”
Enid looked thoughtful. “You think? But Gem’s a technowitch, and there’s not a lot of tech in ruins like that.”
“It’s not about tech,” Fox said. “It’s about balance.”
“That’s an interesting idea. Maybe if we were to try patchwork spells instead of working on the whole place at one time. We might be able to get the place pieced together that way.”
Gemma swallowed the mouthful of half-chewed pancake and almost choked. After taking a swallow of scalding coffee to clear the blockage, she said, “We’ve got plenty of money now to rebuild the school using mundane techniques. There’s no need to try the coven’s patience with another magical attempt. Let’s just proceed with the current plan.”
“You’re the key. I swear.” Frowning, Fox set down her mug and put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you trust me?”
Enid’s accusations the day before rolled through Gemma, who shivered.
Couldn’t she trust Fox?
Gemma managed a smile. “Yes, I trust you.” She rubbed her weary eyes. “We’ll try another spell.”
“You up to a public appearance?” Fox asked.
“Right now?”
“The whole coven’s giddy from Siobhan’s arrival! There’s no time like the present!”
Nodding, Gemma pushed her plate away and got to her feet. “Just give me a chance to shower and change. I’m not going out like this.”
Chapter 15
WHILE GEMMA GOT ready, Enid contacted the rest of the coven, asking as many of them as possible to meet up at the site so they could once again attempt a reconstruction spell on the old school.
A few of them were already milling around the Ash Academy ruins by the time the trio arrived, all looking pretty drained after the excitement of the day before.
They knew they couldn’t expect to see Nana or Rowan that day since the two of them were occupied with the new baby. Caedmon, Orianna, and Adora did show up, though. Not to mention a lot of the Ash cousins.
A large group assembled by the time Enid and Gemma felt ready to get down to work and the location once again took on the party atmosphere so familiar to Gemma from watching previous attempts to cast this spell.
This time, though, she stood right in the middle of all the hoopla.
Gemma was no longer on the outside, where she could hide from meddling.
And there were a lot of meddling eyes on Fox.
The trio took the lead in discussing the plan: they needed Enid’s familiarity with the original spell to cast an updated one, Gemma would take a lot of the lead on channeling the group’s power as they performed the final version of the new spell, while Fox would watch from sidelines to monitor the balance.
“We’ve done this many times already,” said Adora. “What makes you think this time will be different?”
Everyone looked to Gemma.
Her heart pounded at being caught in the spotlight this way and she looked down at the ground, scratching at the dirt with the tip of her boot, as she tried to come up with a valid reason for them all to trust her. Someone touched her hand, and she looked up to see Fox standing at her side, sending her a reassuring smile.
Now all those meddling eyes were filled with smiles.
Goblins. Gemma was never going to hear the end of this. Her cheeks were red-hot.
Clearing her throat, Gemma looked around at the others. Her heart still pounded against her ribcage like a bird attempting to escape. “We’ve got a little extra help and insight now. You’ve all met my friend, Fox. She’s a solitary practitioner who’s visiting us for a little while. Her ability to see a spell being cast will help direct us through the process. I’ll also channel our powers the way I did yesterday.”
Enid moved to stand on her sister’s other side. “We can do this!”
With both her hands held by loved ones, and with Bronson sitting at her feet drooling, she felt as though she could take on the world. Gemma echoed Enid’s words as she took the time to meet everyone’s gaze. “We can do this.”
She sensed Orianna on her side, but couldn’t tell whether Caedmon agreed. Her cousins, of course, were more than happy to help out a relative. Kimberly and Maddock Leif also looked as though they were on board; they had a stake in this since Keene would soon be old enough for school.
Her spirits rose a bit more and her voice strengthened. “Are you all willing to give one more try? We really need a working school to keep Secret Hallow alive…”
One by one, other members of the coven spoke up to express their willingness.
“All right,” Adora said last of all. “I trust you.”
“How kind to trust someone so important to the coven,” Enid said in a teasing voice, winking at her sister.
The group came together around the trio and they all milled about for a little while longer to discuss the plan. For the first time in a long while, Gemma felt herself to be a true member of the coven, and she realized she owed the change in her status to Fox.
If her frie
nd hadn’t come to Secret Hallow, she would never have had the courage to try.
“Awesome,” Gemma said. “Let’s get this spell ready.”
☆★☆
Secret Hallow was filled with a bustle of activity. It began with Maddock Leif refilling the tank of the bulldozer with fuel he kept at the farm, and then Fox taking down the last remaining bits of the ruins.
Gemma bit her fingernails to the quick as she watched, afraid Fox would get hurt despite the hard hat teetering atop her mohawk.
Enid didn’t seem to share her fear. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and she cheered with everyone else when the ruins were flattened. “Room for expansion!”
Gemma smiled at her sister’s infectious enthusiasm.
After that, the coven began its piecework magic. It was big and complicated with a lot of parts to the ritual, since it was no small task to fight against Emilia Ash’s wards.
“Why don’t you practice some castings and I’ll see if I can jump in with my magic too?” Fox asked, leaping easily from the bulldozer.
The nervousness Gemma had felt earlier returned. “You want to work with the coven?”
“Is that a problem?” Fox’s usual confidence seemed to wane like the moon on its way down from full. As a solitary practitioner, she had never worked with a coven before—she must have worried she wouldn’t be able to keep up.
The idea was silly. Gemma trusted Fox. She really did.
But casting coven magic was so intimate, in its big family way. What if Fox caught a glimpse of Gemma’s feelings through the cables of power?
“I mean, I’ve been able to work a few minor spells on my own,” Fox said as though defending herself. “Your spirit magic should be able to amplify and weave in whatever I can manage. We’re not trying to move mountains here.”
“Of course,” Gemma said. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
Those small words of confidence seemed to be all Fox needed. She beamed.
Gemma didn’t get a chance to practice magic, though. The coven surrounding them suddenly hummed with excitement. Conversations stopped. Whispers began.
“What’s wrong?” Fox asked.
