Page 37 of How to Charm a Coven (How to Flirt with a Witch #2)

Bloodletting

T he chimeras respond to my battle cry, hurtling at the surrounding Shadows. The stag’s antlers send a witch flying. Lucy takes off, her wings creating a gust that knocks two more off their feet.

The witches’ enchantment fails as their concentration breaks. The vortex breaks apart around us, and shards of darkness fall like rain.

Magic tingles across my skin with more clarity than ever. It’s not just a prickle anymore—it flows into me like a river finding its course, robust and alive. I can feel everyone and everything around me, like tangible auras. Trails of energy connect the chimeras to each other and to me.

My head fills with voices, humming like I’m in a giant bell.

“Aurora, I need help…”

“Over here!”

“With me, Zephyr.”

“Fetch the others.”

“Hurry! The witches have surrounded Fenrith…”

It’s too much. Too loud. I cover my ears, trying to muffle it, but the voices are inside me .

“Katie!” Natalie calls out, barely audible through the cacophony in my head.

Her pale face swims into my vision, steadying me. I force myself to breathe, to let the voices drift past me instead of consuming me. Slowly, I regain control, the world coming back into focus.

The vortex continues to break apart, gaps of daylight peeking through the darkness.

“Hold your positions!” Amir shouts, drowned out by snarls and screams as chimeras and Shadows clash on the shore.

Beside him, Fiona spins, scanning the mayhem. When her gaze locks onto me, she freezes, fury crossing her expression. This woman who once welcomed me into the coven, who led my induction ceremony, now looks at me like I’m the enemy. How did we end up here?

I drop my hands from my ears, glaring right back. We advance on each other, the fight raging like we’re in the eye of a hurricane.

“You really think you can control this power?” she says.

“I’m not trying to control it. I’m trying to understand it and protect it like past Guardians have done.”

“Those witches you’re talking about,” Fiona says, pointing at me as she stalks closer, “came from the same time period when people thought bloodletting by leeches was a good idea. When doctors drilled holes into skulls to release evil spirits. When snake oil was thought to be a cure. They believed magic could exist freely without consequences. They were wrong then, and you’re wrong now. ”

I shake my head. “People used to understand the balance of nature a lot better than we do today. They built pyramids and created Stonehenge and navigated entire oceans by the stars and animals. Witches of the past understood something we’ve forgotten—that magic isn’t something to be controlled, but respected and guarded.

” Emotion tightens my throat. “The coven was formed to protect magic, Fiona. You showed me what that means. Let’s find a better way. ”

Something flickers in her eyes. Before she can respond, a flash of white pulls our attention away from each other. A white horse charges toward us, and I leap backward.

Fiona spins to meet it, raising a shield of earth that the creature smashes through like it’s made of paper. There’s a thump as it slams into her, and she falls hard, rolling across the rocks and narrowly avoiding its hooves.

Hayley comes to Fiona’s aid, forcing it back with a wave of debris.

“Katie!” Natalie’s voice comes closer. The familiar warmth of her hands on my arms, steadying me as I sway, is everything I need right now—but seeing her covered in blood with her face twisted in pain makes my eyes sting.

Sky is at her side, holding her up, breathing fast. “Sebastian went to get Millie. I’ll get Nat out of here.”

The worry on Sky’s face reminds me I’m not the only one who cares about Natalie.

Natalie grimaces, her face a sickly gray. “Not yet. The Madsens.”

I follow her gaze, scanning the battlefield. A glint of gold catches my eye. Wyatt is crouched over the enchanted net, snarling. The small chimera is still trapped inside, its form flickering as it thrashes against the golden threads.

Wait…is he protecting it? This dog confuses me more and more.

Beside it, Hazel and Sophia are struggling, Hazel shrieking as she tries to pull away. Oaklyn watches them, her expression torn.

Terror floods through me, icy and dizzying. I need to get to Hazel. I need to take her back from them.

But the distance between us feels impossible to cross. The battle rages on all sides, witches and chimeras locked in combat.

I inhale deeply, feeling the connection to the chimeras pulse through me like a second heartbeat.

“Help me reach them,” I whisper .

Slowly, a path clears before me as chimeras shift their positions, creating a corridor. Bears, foxes, birds, and creatures I have no names for move in synchrony, holding back the Shadows.

I run, my legs finding new strength as I race toward Hazel. The ground beneath my feet seems to propel me forward, as if the earth is helping me move faster.

Sophia sees me coming. Her eyes widen. She yanks Hazel against her front, pressing Oaklyn’s dagger to her throat. “Stay back!”

I skid to a halt, my heartbeat frantic. This woman has taken too much already. I’ll die before she takes Hazel too. “Let her go.”

“Or what?” She smiles. “You’ll set your pets on me? I’ll slit her throat before they reach me.”

Hazel’s eyes meet mine, full of fear. A trickle of blood oozes down where the blade has broken skin.

“I’m sorry,” she mouths, her face twisting as she fights back tears.

“It’s okay,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Sophia laughs, the sound harsh and grating. “Nothing is going to be okay for either of you. Oaklyn, pick up our prize and clear a path. Let’s go!”

My heart pounds so hard I can barely breathe. The chimeras are with me, listening and ready to spring, but I mentally caution them to stay back. One wrong move and Hazel dies.

Oaklyn is frozen, looking from Wyatt to the surrounding brawl. Her fists clench and unclench, her hands empty. “I need my dagger,” she says tightly.

Sophia’s face clouds over, a snarl on her lips to match the dog’s. “If you’d opened my gift, you ungrateful brat, you’d be in a better position right now.”

Oaklyn furrows her brow. “What? ”

Keeping the knife on Hazel’s throat, Sophia rummages in the pocket of her crimson trench coat. The fabric flaps against Hazel’s side as she extracts something and throws it at Oaklyn.

It’s a gift-wrapped ring box—purple paper with a bow on top. It bounces off Oaklyn’s chest before she catches it. She stares down at it, her face blank.

I’m too confused to do anything. What gift could possibly matter at a time like this?

“Open it and help me properly,” Sophia says, her voice eerily low.

Wait.

No.

With trembling hands, Oaklyn tears away the wrapping paper and opens the box. Inside is a tiny glass vial of liquid—shimmering, iridescent, and as bright purple as crocuses at the beginning of springtime.

As purple as the gemstones I’d seen Natalie slip into her pocket countless times.

Even from here, I can feel its power radiating, making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

My blood turns to ice.

Is that…?

It can’t be.

But it is, isn’t it?

Magic. Sophia has gifted her daughter earth magic.

“You’re ready, darling,” Sophia purrs.

Icy dread floods my veins. If Oaklyn and Sophia both became witches, there’d be no stopping them.

I can’t let this happen. Even if I have to fight Oaklyn with my fists and teeth, I cannot let her drink that potion.

I have no plan, no strategy. I just act.