Page 3 of Brave Spirit (Bound Spirit #6)

Carlotta, standing next to the barrel of bloody water, raises her hands and begins to murmur a spell that is unrelated to the earth magic ritual.

The pink tinged water spirals out of the container like a water serpent, and it then journeys out over the starving land.

Mildred tips her face toward the sky and starts her own incantation that blends with my grandmother’s, a two-part harmony that’s literal magic.

Wind flutters my hair and sings through the trees as it mixes with the water serpent until it loses all form.

A blanket of mist settles over the dead earth, and with each breath, my lungs are filled with potent magic primed to return to the earth.

Needing no prompting, Mei and her parents take over the spell, the next verse beginning the earth ritual.

Realizing this is the part where I come in, I quickly close my eyes and attempt to join my voice to theirs.

I try to reach for a Zen peace, but I’m too nervous, my heart beating a rapid refrain.

My magic, sensing my distress, surges within me way too fast. I continue to speak the words of the ritual, my voice coming out more like a reedy whisper than the confident chorus from the others.

Desperate to release the buzzing magic barely contained within me without fucking everything up, I drop to my knees and dig my fingers into the dry, crumbling dirt.

What is supposed to be a gentle guiding of new life is now a violent collision.

The ritual crafted the others’ contributions into a delicate woven net of magic over the land that’s making a controlled descent into the earth.

Mine, however, shoots through my fingers and into the dirt, ripping through the net like a thousand hooks.

The others release strangled gasps as my magic takes control, supercharging the spell and dragging their mangled net rapidly into the starving soil.

The ground shudders with sudden growth—roots entangling with each other as they fight for expansion.

I open my eyes when I no longer feel the sun on my skin and find that the sky has been blotted out by huge trees that appear to have grown there for centuries.

Wild grasses engulf me, defying the laws of nature by stealing every last scrap of space between the newly grown Douglas firs.

The magic dense mist now feeds the thick moss that blankets the protruding roots and thick tree trunks.

What was supposed to be an hour-long ritual is finished within seconds.

My breaths come out in haggard puffs as I retract my fingers from the soil, wet dirt encrusting my nails.

Sitting back on my heels, I sigh while I take in the lasting effects of my maelstrom of magic.

It’s beautiful, as nature often is, but it’s also a testament to my isolation.

No matter how hard I try, I will always be too much—my magic too big to fit within the community of witches.

Mei releases a low whistle from the other side of the dense flora that now fills the once barren circle. “So this is why we can’t use Callie’s blood.”

My nan makes an amused huffing sound. “Yes, this is why.”

“Sorry!” I shout, getting to my feet and dusting the dirt from my knees. “My magic, uh, got a little out of hand. I’ll be better next time, I promise.”

“What are you talking about?” Mei calls, her voice full of excitement as she tries to climb her way through the new growth. “That was freaking awesome! And now we have plenty of bestie time this afternoon. Have to soak in the last bit of summer break before school starts tomorrow.”

Relieved that at least Mei seems unfazed, I follow her voice toward the center of the tree labyrinth.

We shout “Marco Polo” at each other until we’re reunited, and Mei gives me a tight hug.

Rand follows shortly after, sniffing the ground and rubbing his scent on the new additions to the forest. Mr. Mischief deftly makes his way into my peripheral vision and seems to be breathing in the magic rich air with deep contentment, a gravely purr vibrating his body.

“You did great,” Mei insists when our hug ends. “Hell, you probably could have done this all on your own.”

“That’s the problem,” I reply with a defeated edge and take a seat on one of the protruding roots. “I want to be a normal witch. I was so excited to be part of the ritual, and I screwed it up because I can’t control my magic. It’s too powerful.”

She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Callie, I love you, but I call bullshit. Nolan would be dead right now if you were a ‘normal witch.’” She uses finger quotes to emphasize her point. “Normal is boring. You’re a badass, and you should own that.”

“Yeah, okay. It’s helpful when I want to do big things,” I concede, wrapping my arms around my knees, “but I’d also like to be able to perform basic spells without blowing something up.”

Mei sits down next to me and bumps my shoulder with hers.

“You’ll figure it out. It’ll just take time.

I think we always assume when someone can do amazing things that everything else must come easily to them, but that’s not true.

” She turns to face me, her legs straddling the root.

“When I pull magic for basic spells, I’m pulling like this much.

” She holds her hands about six inches from each other.

“When you pull magic, you naturally pull like this much.” Her arms open as far as they can go.

“With that amount of magic, basic spells aren’t basic anymore.

It’s like I’m kneading bread while you’re using tweezers to put decorations on mini cupcakes. ”

Despite being baking illiterate, I understand the comparison. “So how do I pull less magic?”

She shrugs. “You should probably ask your grandmothers. Both of them are matriarchs, which means they are both packing a lot of magic.” She shakes her head side to side with a small quirk of her lips. “I can’t believe I got to practice magic with two matriarchs.”

The awe in her voice almost makes me laugh.

They are powerful witches, yes, but to me, they are also simply my grandmothers—two women who bicker about anything and everything but will also take on the world to protect me.

I share blood with these women, but that’s not what makes them family.

It’s the unconditional love they have for me, a love I didn’t know existed until I came to Twin Cedar Pass.

In the distance, I notice six balls of glowing light scatter in different directions through the new growth. Two come to a halt near Mei and me.

“Follow the light,” my nan calls, her voice the only sign of her vague location. “They will lead you out of the forest.”

“On our way!” I shout back.

Standing up, we dust the bark from our hands.

The balls of light dance in anticipation, spinning around each other in a way that reminds me of the tales of will-o’-the-wisps, playful and alluring but more likely to lead us astray than home.

However, there’s also a warmth to the magic orbs that I’m learning to recognize as Mildred’s.

It makes me curious if all witches develop a unique aura to their magic and what mine would be—other than supercharged or explosive.

That isn’t exactly what I’m going for, but I can’t say it isn’t recognizable.

As Mei and I follow the lights through the new growth, we chat about officially being seniors tomorrow.

Will school feel any different? Will we?

High school seems so small in comparison to the events I’ve gone through the past year—laser-beaming the old alpha and miles of forest out of existence, bringing Felix back from the dead, saving Nolan from a literal soul sucking curse, and healing Gina out of her coma and then ripping her and her mother’s magic away.

Not to mention the several accidents of nearly burning the forest to the ground.

Oh, and we can’t forget the time I froze every person in town and then wiped their memories of it ever happening.

Laying out each memory of my exploits has my stomach churning.

I don’t regret most of it—I don’t actually want to burn the forest down, it just keeps happening accidently, I swear—but all of it is a reflection of my immense power that can be as terrifying as it is awe-inspiring.

When we breach the edge of the new vegetation, Rand is waiting in his human form.

His amber eyes light up when he sees Mei, a shy smile curling the corner of his mouth.

Mei freezes beside me, gripping my wrist to keep me from walking away.

As he approaches, his bare feet silent on the newly revitalized earth, her grip tightens, and she can’t seem to meet his gaze.

“Hey,” he greets while stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Her eyes dart from his bare stomach to his tousled, sandy blond hair, and she replies with a hummed grunt. Somehow, my best friend seems incapable of speech.

“Hey,” I echo, hiding my wince with a smile. “Thanks for coming out to help.”

“No problem,” he answers nonchalantly, his gaze never leaving Mei’s face, which seems to be turning an interesting shade of pink. “The alpha wanted to be here, but he’s caught up in pack matters, so I offered to come.”

“Connor has been really busy lately,” I muse out loud, not really expecting a comment in return.

Rand nods absently. “Two packs sharing the same land is hard.”

“That’s one way to put it,” I mumble, feeling like the ultimate third wheel. What the hell is going on? “Well, it’s really nice that you came. It cut down on our work a lot.” I elbow the mute statue next to me. “Didn’t it?”

“Mm-hmm,” she hums several octaves higher than her normal speaking voice.

I want to flee this awkward circle so badly, but the crescent nail marks in my wrist say I’m not going anywhere. “So… excited about school tomorrow?”

“Excited for tomorrow morning,” he replies cryptically, which finally gets a reaction out of Mei.