Page 34 of How to Charm a Coven (How to Flirt with a Witch #2)

Reasoning with Feral Magic

I ’ve been here twice already: once to set the chimeras free and once to imprison one. I’m back again, and this time is different. This time is final.

The bio magic containment room pulses in front of me with a strange energy, its metal door gleaming under the corridor’s dim lights.

“Stand guard,” I whisper to Natalie, giving her hand a quick squeeze.

She nods and positions herself between me and the corridor, ready to defend us if anyone approaches—or if this doesn’t go as planned. “Be careful. If it attacks you—”

“It won’t.”

I hope.

I flex my fingers under the gauntlet, which is warm against the back of my hand. Sucking in a breath, I slam my fist into the lock. The metal gives way with a satisfying crunch, and the door swings open on silent hinges.

Cool air rushes out at me, carrying an earthy scent. The chimera we caught lies inside the first cage, the room’s only occupant, its flickering form cast into shadows. One moment it’s the turtle from the pond, then a bear, an eagle, a bull… It expands and contracts, breathing as it sleeps.

I approach slowly, my breaths and footsteps too loud in the absolute silence. I’m jittery, like I’m expecting it to wake up and lunge at the bars any second. But I know from last time that it won’t wake up until I’ve opened its cage.

I raise my fist, my heart hammering. I have to do this.

The lock shatters under my punch, the impact echoing through the room like a gunshot and reverberating up my arm.

The moment I swing open the cage door, the chimera stands, taking the form of the little deer from before. It lowers its head, antlers pointed at me, muscles tensed as if preparing to charge.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, holding my palms up. “I was wrong to trap you.”

The deer’s eyes are deep pools of purple, unblinking and ancient.

There’s a tickle in the back of my mind—its consciousness brushing mine, tentative and suspicious. The sensation is both foreign and strangely familiar, like remembering a dream I had long ago.

“I need your help,” I say. “The witches are planning to destroy all the chimeras at Lighthouse Park. We have to warn them.”

The deer tilts its head, and a voice like rustling leaves whispers in my mind: “Why should I trust you, little hunter, after all that you’ve done?”

My heart skips a beat. I swallow hard. “Because I’m trying to make things right. I understand now what you are—and what I am.”

The deer steps closer. Its form ripples and grows until a stag stands before me, all muscle and pointy antlers. Power radiates from it in waves that make my skin prickle. “Your blood remembers what your mind has forgotten, Guardian. But understanding is not enough.”

I square my shoulders, but I’m trembling as I look up at the massive stag. “By doing this, I’m ensuring I’ll never be welcome here among the witches again. I might be hunted by the coven for the rest of my life. I’m willing to sacrifice my place here to protect you. Is that not enough?”

The stag’s gaze is piercing, as if it can see straight into my soul. “What of the witch who stands outside? Will she sacrifice her place as well?”

My heart stutters. I’d assumed Natalie wouldn’t face the same consequences if she helps me, like before. But maybe that’s naive. She’s risking everything—her position, her family, her identity.

“That’s her choice to make,” I say finally. “But I know what mine is.”

Natalie turns from her post at the door, maybe realizing we’re talking about her.

I back up, giving the chimera space to walk past me.

The stag steps out of the cage, its hooves clattering on the stone floor. It lowers its head, and my heart skips as we come eye to eye. Its breath washes over me, strangely cool and damp, like a puff of mist.

“You have taken much from us already.” The voice in my mind grows colder. “One act of atonement does not erase a history of cages.”

I reach out but stop myself from touching it. “Please. I need your help to save the others.”

“We do not need saving.” The chimera’s form ripples and shrinks, becoming a red fox. It circles me, its tail brushing my legs. “Your ancestors would weep to see what you have become—a tool for the witches who cage ancient magic.”

It darts around me and slips past Natalie, disappearing down the corridor and leaving nothing but a prickle of magic in its wake.

“Wait!” I stand by the empty cage, my hands shaking. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. I thought if I owned my calling as a Guardian, the chimeras would trust me. Where does this leave me? Will I be able to protect them if I have no allies?

“Katie?” Natalie says from the doorway. “Do we follow it?”

“It won’t help us,” I say, marching toward her. “But we’ll go anyway. I’m going to prove it wrong about who I am. ”

But despite my confident tone, my stomach is in knots. If I can’t convince one chimera to trust me, how can I hope to prevent a massacre at Lighthouse Park? The witches don’t respect me enough to listen, and apparently, the chimeras don’t either.

Still, I won’t let that stop me from trying to save them all.

As we reach the hidden cove, dawn brightens the sky, turning the jagged rocks gold and the sea indigo. The trees are still and silent, and the waves are calm, burbling against the rock shore.

No signs of life. Not even a seagull.

Have the chimeras moved on?

“Sebastian? Millie?” I say, my voice small.

My skin prickles. The sensation is unmistakable, like electricity making the fine hairs on my arms stand on end. Magic is here somewhere, watching.

“Lucy?” I say a bit louder, my heart pounding.

Natalie and I scan the shoreline, breathing fast after the hike through the forest. Her hand finds mine, giving it a quick squeeze before she lets go, ready to defend us. That brief touch reminds me that after everything we’ve been through, we’ve got each other’s backs.

The rising sun casts long shadows behind the trees and shrubs, making every dark space look like it could be hiding something.

There’s a blur of movement, and we spin around, our breaths hitching. Natalie raises her palms.

A white kitten is sitting on a mossy boulder. Her purple eyes gleam as she surveys Natalie and me, her little tail swishing. “We warned you to stay away.”

“The witches are coming,” I say. “You need to get out of here. ”

Lucy’s ears flatten against her head, which would be cute if I didn’t know what she really is. “We will not bend to your—snack!”

A dragonfly buzzes past her nose, and she leaps after it, her tiny claws extended as she tries to catch it.

“Is that…supposed to happen?” Natalie says.

I shake my head.

We watch Lucy try to catch it for a long moment before she loses track. Finally, she turns back to me, seeming to remember we were mid-conversation.

“The witches?” I say, waving my arms.

Lucy’s eyes narrow. “We will not leave because of them. We leave when it is time to move on.”

“But they’re not just here with nets this time.” I step closer, my shoes crunching on the dirt and pine needles covering the rocky plateau. “They’re here to destroy you. All of you.”

“Then we will fight them.”

“You don’t have to!” My heart pounds as I plead with her, willing her to listen. “I’m here to warn you so a fight doesn’t happen. Please—”

A thunderous roar echoes across the cove, reverberating through my chest. I gasp, my blood turning to ice as I spin toward the sound. Natalie raises her hands, and magic crackles in the air.

Further down the shore, illuminated by the fiery sunrise, stand four figures I’d desperately hoped wouldn’t find us—Sophia with her white-blonde hair whipping in the wind, Oaklyn holding the golden net, Wyatt standing tall at her side, and Hazel, the fear on her face unmistakable even from a distance.

My stomach drops at the sight of her—my ride or die who knew all my secrets until magic came between us.

Until the lies, and Oaklyn, and a rift so deep we can’t fix it.

Between them and the water’s edge looms an enormous polar bear, its fur rippling in the breeze as it rears up on its hind legs.

“You led more hunters to us,” Lucy snarls behind me.

“No!” I squeak. God, why do the Madsens have to be here? This is hard enough already!

Lucy bristles until she looks twice her size. She leaps off the boulder—and before my eyes, her fur becomes tawny and sleek, her body expands, her tail grows longer and thicker…and then a mountain lion lands on the rocks a stride away from me, claws out, fangs bared.

“I swear I didn’t!” I shout, stumbling backward.

But I’m not her target—she bounds past us and toward the Madsens, eating up the distance in a few long strides.

Across the cove, Oaklyn throws the net, and Sophia raises her palms. The net unfurls like a golden parachute, suspended by magic, ready to drop onto the polar bear.

Wyatt spins toward Lucy and snarls, his hackles rising.

“Oaklyn, look out!” Hazel shouts, her voice ringing through the woods.

As Oaklyn and Sophia spin around, the polar bear shrinks into a snowy owl and swoops out of the net’s path, leaving it to fall onto the rocks in a shimmering heap.

The tiniest bit of relief eases through me. The chimeras won’t be caught easily, and that’s my only consolation.

Sophia’s expression twists with fury. She flings out her hand, and the ground beneath Lucy’s paws ruptures, sending chunks of rock flying upward. The mountain lion stumbles, losing momentum—but in a blink, it morphs into a vulture and takes flight.

Natalie grabs my arm. “We can’t let them catch one.”

“I know. But how are we supposed to stop Sophia and Oaklyn when only one of us can do earth magic?”

As Lucy turns in the sky and the dust from the explosion clears, the Madsens spot us. Every gaze locks on Natalie and me. Wyatt snarls, his teeth gleaming in the morning light. Hazel steps back, her face ashen .

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Natalie says, raising her hands. The resignation in her voice breaks my heart. Neither of us wants this.