Page 37 of How Not to Hex a Gentleman (Witches of Edinburgh)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

KENNEDY

" Y ou sure we shouldn't be going to the fountain with this?" Parker asks as Lily and I sit around the table at The Black Cat. We came here as soon as we were done at the university, and Olivia didn't hesitate to close the café down.

"We don't want to keep having you close the café on our behalf," Lily says.

Olivia waves her away. "Don't be silly, my darlings. This is exactly what I'm here for."

We filled her in on all of our discoveries and realizations and she listened with a small smile on her face. "I'm so proud of all of you and how far you've come."

It doesn't feel like we've come far at all, but maybe we have. Olivia has encouraged us to keep searching for the truth, instead of giving us all the information upfront because according to her, what we find on our own will be far more useful to us.

"Now, for this connecting to the city thing, how do we do it?" Parker asks. "I had this image of us jumping into the fountain, but I don't think people would react to that favorably."

Olivia chuckles, shaking her head. "No, I don't think that's the best way. Let's start with connecting to each other first. Take each other's hands."

Pet gets off her perch and walks over to sit behind Olivia on the counter, her eyes on us as if she's here to observe as well. Lily, Parker, and I clasp hands, a slight buzz rushing over my skin at the contact. I glance at the girls and know they feel it too.

"Good, you're becoming more attuned to each other and your magic," Olivia says, and I feel it too. It's there, our connection and our magic. It's like my magic is spending quality time with the other's magic. It's a strange sensation and not something I've ever thought would happen to me.

"Now, Lily and Parker have found their affinity—water and mind. Kennedy, can you feel it?"

I automatically want to say no, but I stop. There's something there…I feel it. It's like an extra flavor on top of a standard cupcake frosting. The magic tastes sweet and even slightly sweeter, in different ways, coming from Parker and Lily.

"Expand on that. Reach out like you would reach out to a friend. Let it come forward in all of you."

I know the girls are listening to her instructions the same way I am—almost instinctually. I don't have to think about it as her words register and I do what she says. I feel the happiness in my magic and I realize it's in me too. A quiet comfort, a sense of belonging.

Focusing on Parker, I find her just as pleased as I am. Next is Lily, and she's radiating it. My mind flies to Bennett, and I wonder if I can show this to him, this sense of magical happiness. I think he'd love?—

A sudden pain pierces me straight through my middle and I double over, gasping.

"Kennedy?" I hear my name called, but I can't tell who says it as I try to work through the agony.

An image of Bennett, on the ground, in pain flashes behind my eyelids and I focus my whole attention on what I'm seeing. I can tell it's an image and not my imagination. This is real. He's somewhere and he's hurt. It's his pain I'm feeling. I pry my eyes open and stare at the girls. I'm gripping their hands so tightly, I'm cutting off circulation, but I don't have to explain, because they know. They felt it too.

"Kennedy, what did you see?" Olivia asks and I'm not sure why I'm seeing anything. I'm not the one with the mind affinity. "You're connected to Parker and you're channeling her power because your heart is involved. What did you see?"

"Bennett. In pain, in trouble. I don't know where he is." I push words past my lips, as more waves of pain come. The girls squeeze my hands as if they're pushing their own power into me, but even as I try to see where he's at, I can't.

I drop their hands and reach for my phone. He was running an errand for the professor. I dial Bennett's number, but it goes straight to voicemail.

"He was going somewhere for Professor Stewart, but I don't know where."

"For Stewart?" Olivia's voice carries an extra sense of something as she says his name. I know she told us to be cautious of him, but what can he really do?

"I have to find him. I have to find him right now."

My whole body is vibrating with intense magic and the chairs, tables, and various items on the bar begin to follow suit. There's a noise outside and I glance in time to see a magpie flapping her wings right outside.

"Kennedy, you need to breathe through it. Think, what can you do…"

"What can we do?" Lily asks, but I'm shaking my head. I have no idea. I just need to find him; he needs me. If I'm this powerful magical being then the least I should be able to do is find him.

He's on the ground, near some rocks and grass and?—

A thought grips me, something wild and something I've never pictured before, but I can't stop it the moment it arrives. "Outside. I need to be outside."

I don't even stop to grab my coat as I race for the door. I feel the girls following me but I don't stop. The magpie flies out in front of me, and I follow her immediately because it feels right, like she's always been leading me.

My thoughts are on Bennett and I let my magic and the magpie guide me. I can't let anything happen to him. Not when I found my other half in him—my perfect partner. The one thing that my aunt always said I could never have because I'm a witch. The reality of the truth hits me like a ton of bricks.

Bennett is mine—he's my destiny. I know it, I feel it, I believe it.

Nearly tripping over my feet, I race for the top of the hill. The castle looms above me but surprisingly I don't head for the entrance.

Follow .

I can't tell if the voice inside my head is my own but I follow automatically. The magpie veers toward the side opposite The Witches Well, toward the green space on the side of the hill. I'm sure I look wild to people as I run past, but I don't even care. The moment I'm near the stairs leading down, I duck under the railing and drop to my hands and knees next to the bird. My hands plunge directly into the dirt and I push my magic out.

"Help me find him. Please. Help me find him."

My magic freezes for a second, as if surprised, and then it unfurls with incredible speed. I can feel it moving through the earth, searching. My skin feels hot, but it's not an unpleasant sensation—more like a welcomed heat. Instead of separating from magic, I'm starting to follow along, almost like she's taking me on a journey.

She—and I—we are one but I am also feeling every part of her race through the ground and the ground itself. The plants, the trees, the earth itself— this is my affinity. I'm an earth witch. I'm not sure why I didn't realize it sooner, but now that I do, the pieces fall into place. My wrist burns near the tattoo, but I don't pull my attention from Bennett. And then, I see him. He's on the side of the road, near a boulder with a plaque. I ask for direction and then I know.

"He's in Forres," I say. I stand, turning to the girls who are behind me, Parker is holding my coat out to me. I take it as I step back over to the stairs. "How do we get to Forres?"

Olivia drives. She was waiting down the stairs from us in her car. I don't see the bird again, but I can feel she's near. The girls lead me to the car and nearly stuff me in the back because I am in shock. I can't tell if it's from using so much magic or from the realization of just how much Bennett means to me.

"I called the police station," Lily's words reach out to me and I refocus on her. "They found him and took him to the hospital. He's…not awake."

I nod because that's all I'm capable of doing and Parker reaches over to take my hand, squeezing it tightly. I hold on to her like an anchor, keeping myself from floating off into hysteria. All I keep thinking about are the words I haven't said and the things I haven't done. What if something is terribly wrong with Bennett? Do normal people just experience excruciating pain and pass out on the side of the road?

"Kennedy, we're here." Parker tugs on my hand and I realize the car has stopped.

"Already?"

"I may have called in a favor," Olivia says and I have a lot of questions, but none of them are important right now because we're here. I get out of the car in front of an old building and then I'm running before I can think too much about it.

Bursting inside, I startle two men standing at the front desk, both dressed in police uniforms.

"I—"

"We're here to see Bennett MacKay," Lily announces, her voice much calmer than whatever noise I just made. The men's faces light up with understanding and they lead us to a room down the hall.

"They're not sure what's wrong with him," one of the men says, "There doesn't seem to be any external factors, and the scan came back normal. He's just not responding."

The door opens then and there he is.

I rush inside, my eyes roaming every inch of him and he looks so tired. Even with his eyes closed, it's like there's an air of exhaustion around him. I reach for his hand, and then immediately pull back as something shocks me. It feels like static electricity but that's not it. It's almost like it's…magic.

Vaguely I hear Olivia say something to the officers and lead them out of the room as Parker and Lily come to stand by the bed.

"You feel it, right?" I ask, glancing up at them from my position beside Bennett. They both nod, as confused as I am. Bennett isn't magical, he shouldn't be omitting any kind of magical energy or signature, but it's here, I can feel it.

I reach behind my neck and pull the necklace Parker gave me over my head. The amethyst is known to repel evil and put a barrier of protection and that's the first thing I want—to protect Bennett. I place the necklace on his chest, holding it there for a moment, the feel of magic becoming stronger.

"Stop!" I jerk my hand back at Olivia's voice and turn to see her coming back into the room. "You have to sever the connection first."

"What? I don't understand."

Olivia stops near the girls, her eyes doing the exact perusal I did over Bennett, but it seems like she's looking deeper. She holds out her hand and the amethyst flies off his chest and into her open palm.

"Take a step back, my darlings," she says, doing so as well.

I don't want to move an inch from Bennett, but I can't deny the way Olivia is looking right now. There's a seriousness about her that I've never seen before. She looks like she's ready to go to battle.

"Olivia, what is it?" Parker asks, as she and Lily reach for me, each taking one of my hands, as if they too need to feel the connection.

"A spell," Olivia replies, walking around the bed, as she continues to look at something we can't see. She doesn't move any closer, as if whatever spell this is might reach her as well. We watch as she lifts Bennett's arms, one at a time, with her magic, looking for something. I know the moment she finds it because I'm watching her like my life depends on it.

"Olivia?"

"Here," she points to a spot on the inside of Bennett's right elbow, right near the vein. At first I don't see anything, but then the longer I look, the clearer it becomes. It's a mark—but not quite. It's as if it's been tattooed in very light white ink, only visible if you truly look for it.

"It looks like a branch?" Lily asks, narrowing her eyes. She's right. It's a branch, at the end of which looks like a collection of spikes and then berries.

"A Yew Tree," Olivia says and her tone is of someone who understands the meaning of it.

"A tree?"

"Trees, like flowers, have a long standing history when it comes to our powers," Olivia says, placing Bennett's arm back down on the bed. "And just like with every part of magic, it always depends on who wields it."

"I don't understand."

"There is a…coven—although I use that term very loosely—there's a collection of people who want power for themselves. They wear the mark of the yew tree."

"But trees offer protection and knowledge," Parker says, confusion on her face. "The Rowan tree is viewed as one of the integral parts of Scottish magic. I don't?—"

"It's all about how one uses it," Olivia says, looking up to meet each of our eyes in turn. I'm not sure what I expected to see in her gaze, but it's not the anger. "They take what is beautiful and twist it for their own gain. This spell is draining Bennett's energy."

"But he's only a human."

"It wasn't meant for him." She meets my eye, holding it steadily.

Then it hits me; it was meant for me. I was supposed to be here. He's been my go-to partner in all things magical research and it put him in the direct crosshairs. Someone knows about me and my power, and they've tried to use it against me.

"It's not your fault," Parker and Lily say automatically, as if they can read my mind, but I still feel responsible. If I didn't decide to work with him, if I kept him away—magic, used for evil is the one thing my aunt has warned me about my whole life and now it's happening and I'm directly involved in it. There is no way I don't feel responsible.

"They're right. He would've been in trouble anyway. Maybe not now, but eventually." Olivia's calm voice tugs something at the back of my mind, momentarily staving off the internal dread and allowing me to focus on her.

"You know who's behind the spell," I say and the girls look at Olivia.

She nods, the anger still present, but it softens a little when she looks at Bennett.

"Stewart."

"Bennett's supervisor?" Parker asks, and of course, I remember how Olivia reacted when she found out he was working with Bennett.

"Why didn't you say anything about his magic?" I ask, feeling slightly betrayed.

"He's not a true witch. As you know, male witches are incredibly rare. What he is, is someone who has been given a little bit of power by this coven because of his ancestors and has been actively trying to find more. He was stripped of what little powers he had a long time ago." Olivia looks at me now, apology shining in her gaze. "I've been watching him closely and seen no sign of him getting it back, but I failed in my duty because he found a way. I can read his signature all over this. I'm sorry."

I realize she's carrying much more blame for this than she should. I can't hold it against her for not telling us, not when she's been doing so much more than we thought.

"How do we stop this? If he's draining him of energy—" I can't even finish that sentence.

"You'll have to find the connection and cut it."

"Why can't you do it?" Parker asks and Olivia gives her a soft smile.

"Because the three of you are much more powerful than I am." Olivia steps around the bed and heads for the door. "Stay with him, I'll be right back."