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“The Blue Flower Moon is soon.” She spoke slowly, regarding me with care. “If there was a way to have both, take Orion for yourself while preserving your sister’s happiness, would you not take it?”

Impossible. The witch was mad. “I really don’t see how that’s possible.”

She turned to the cauldron with fresh purpose. The fire roared anew as thick, oily scents coated the air. Cersey flicked her fingers this way and that, summoning herbs and tinctures from the cabinet. I craned my neck to glimpse the concoction she was making.

“I know how to help you, dear Diana. Before I give you my instructions, let us speak of your payment.”

“Payment?” I tried to contain my panic. I hadn’t thought about payment and I didn’t have any human money. We bartered with the humans in town. The pack had no need for money or barter; we took care of each other. I shrugged uncomfortably.

Cersey barked a laugh, and the sound made a light echo. “Of course, dear. Payment. A bargain. I do something for you, and in turn, you can do something for me. That is fair, is it not?”

It was fair. “But what can I do for you?”

“It is very simple. Inside your werewolf compound, there is an amulet that once belonged to me. All I want is its safe return.”

“Oh.” That did not seem unreasonable. “Where is it, and–”

Before I could ask why she didn’t go and get it herself, Cersey said, “Your beta took it from me to give to his alpha. It is probably in Nathaniel’s possession.”

Something wasn’t right. She was asking me to take something from the alpha? To steal from Orion’s father?

The odor in the room changed as Cersey tended her caldron.

Without more, I couldn’t work out why Jesse would have taken the amulet in the first place, but maybe I didn’t need to know. I was suddenly feeling warm, and eager. “And in return?”

Cersey turned to me, at last, and I watched the fire settle to a normal size. Cersey held a small glass vial in front of me, which contained maybe an ounce of dark liquid. “Look through the glass to the fire,” she said. In the liquid floated an ethereal shape, a symbol illuminated by the firelight, a First Quarter Moon. Or a Third Quarter Moon. Hard to say which.

“Take this,” she said, handing me the vial. “As you well know, the half moon is incomplete; it stands on the precipice of completion or undoing.”

“It’s an insult.” I quipped. “Means foolish, or incapable, or feeble.” What had I gotten myself into?

Cersey smiled ruefully. “I suppose the residents of Half Moon Bay would like to disagree, but of course you’re right. If they knew the true meaning of their town’s current name they’d change it again. Always changing their names, those benighted children…” Cersey seemed to be muttering to herself. I started to back away. The last thing I needed was ahalf-moon spell that–

She took my free hand in hers. “Diana, dear, the half moon is neither good nor bad. Not really. It sometimes represents a crossroads. Similar to the situation you currently find yourself in. Yes?” I nodded slowly. “The half moon can also stand for hope, potential, a promise of wholeness as it moves towards its full brightness.”

She let go of my hand and motioned to the vial.

“Drink it, and you will find your destined path illuminated before you.”

I held it up to the fire again and watched the symbol hang in the liquid. “It’ll tell me what to do?”

“Every decision remains yours. It will not rob you of control. Merely, it helps shine a light on some of your confusion.”

I was mesmerized by the floating symbol in the liquid.

Cersey made a quick motion with her fingers, beckoning me. Her voice clapped, “drink!”

My hands seemed to move of their own accord, and my head tilted back to swallow the murky contents of her potion. The bitter elixir trailed a burning path against my tongue, down my throat. Instantly my senses, sounds, scents, and sights all were enhanced, sharpened to the point of pain. My head swam.

And just like that, I found myself outside the witch’s cottage on the other side of the bridge. I glanced around. The place was dark, with no fire or light to be seen. Shaken, I started back to the compound with only a waxing moon to guide my path.

ORION

Even after a week, things hadn’t improved much with Selena. She hardly ever left her house, leaving me to visit as often as I could to make things right. The first few days she didn’t speak to me at all, slamming the door in my face before I could even get a word out. I worried that she had seen me with Diana that night, standing so close. There were few excuses that would explain our proximity.

On the third day, when she saw me through the screen door, she didn’t automatically shut it in my face. She glared, arms crossed. “What do you want?”

I leaned against the door frame with a defeated sigh. “I wantyou, Selena. That’s why I’m here, it’s why I’ve come here every day.”