Page 45 of Wicching Hour (The Sea Wicche Chronicles #3)

FORTY-FIVE

Follow the Leader

“I hadn’t considered how difficult it would be to see rain spatter in the dark,” I whispered, not wanting to distract Frank and Faith.

Declan grinned at that, taking my hand and pulling me toward the bow of the boat. His eyes went wolf gold, and then, like I had earlier, he went out as far as he could. As he had excellent balance, he didn’t have to crawl.

He returned a minute later, nodding, his eyes darkening to their usual warm brown. “It’s there. The hail helped me see it.”

Faith’s eyes were still closed, but she smiled.

“Should she keep the storm going?” Elizabeth asked.

I shrugged. “Cal knows we’re coming. Now she knows we’ve found her. I say let it taper off so others don’t notice as well. With any luck, the people on either side slept through it.”

Faith dropped her arm and blinked her eyes open. The poor thing looked exhausted.

I patted her shoulder. “You did your job. Thank you. It’s our turn now. Sit down. Relax for a bit.”

Robert pointed ahead. “The house next door has a dock. Use that so we can get off, then move back. I want you close enough to see us but not close enough to get hit by anything. We have no idea what she’ll do when she’s cornered.” He turned to his son. “I’m sorry to ask for more, but can you extend that chameleon charm to us when we go ashore?”

Frank’s expression was strained but he nodded.

Elizabeth brought the sailboat alongside the dock, nice and easy. Robert jumped off and then helped Bracken. Declan gave me a big kiss, grabbed the front of my jacket, and said, “Stay safe.” His hand trailed over my stomach as he turned and hopped onto the dock.

“Arwyn? What are you doing?” Mom said. “They can’t do this without you.”

“I know. I made a promise, though, and I’m keeping it.” I took off my coat and handed it to her before diving overboard. While the sailboat moved away, I let myself drop to the ocean floor. It was deeper here than I’d thought it would be.

Already pushing out my magic, I opened my eyes on the dock beside the men as the real me felt myself hit the sandy, rocky floor.

Declan ran his hand down my arm and nodded. “Say something.”

“The water is deeper here than I’d thought,” I said.

The men shared a look and Declan shook his head at me.

Damn it. What was it with me and talking? I focused on my throat, my breath. I knew how to talk, but trying to walk my other self through doing it was frustrating. I tried again. “The water here is deep.”

“It is,” Robert agreed.

“Good. Um, is it a problem that I can see all of you guys just fine?” Maybe the boat was too far away. I didn’t know how close Frank needed to be for his spell to work.

“It’s because we’re all together in the bubble of his spell,” Robert explained. “Someone looking out a window from this house here wouldn’t see us.”

“Oh, cool. In that case, I’ll add a muffling spell.” I flicked my fingers. The two wicches nodded. Declan looked unsure, so I clarified. “Meaning we can talk amongst ourselves and those outside this bubble won’t hear us.”

“Nice,” he said.

“Okay, I’m in the lead,” I said, heading off toward the spelled property.

“Why is that?” Declan argued, walking beside me.

“Because you can be killed. I can’t—at least I don’t think so. Assuming Cal doesn’t go scuba diving with a big knife, I’ll be fine.” I patted his arm. “I’m not really here, remember?” I pushed him behind me and he fell back.

“You look and sound so real, it’s hard to remember,” he said.

“True,” Bracken chimed in.

As we neared the end of the manicured lawn and headed toward what looked to me like a thick bramble of dense bushes and tall trees, I heard Robert call, “Wait.”

Turning, I found Declan far back. Robert was trying to pull him along, but Declan, eyes wolf gold, appeared rooted to the spot.

“I can’t move,” he growled, “but don’t you think about going without me.”

I walked back and studied him a moment, considering. “It seems like her spells are especially difficult for shifters. None of the wicches had issues with looking at the property, but you did.”

Hands fisted, biceps bulging, he ground out, “You’re not leaving me.”

I stared up into his super sexy scowl and said, “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

“Arwyn.”

I held up a hand. “Let me think a second.” I turned to the other two men. “How are you guys doing with this ward?”

Bracken shrugged. “I hadn’t noticed anything.” He looked at Robert. “Are you experiencing discomfort as well?”

Robert nodded. “It’s not as bad for me as it is for Declan, but it feels like I’m pushing through a wall of molasses.”

“I think I know what it is, then,” I said, and Bracken nodded. “As my great-uncle here is probably holding the only demon blade in the human realm, we need to think of something different to get you two through. Let’s see if fae magic helps.”

Just like when I had built my new wards, I pulled from the ocean I was sitting in and let it swirl within me. When I held up my hands, I realized I was so used to gloves being a part of who I was, I’d put them on my shadow as well. Pulling them off, I dropped them into oblivion and then touched both Robert and Declan’s hands.

Both were suddenly sopping wet, as though a huge wave had swamped them. Declan blew water out of his mouth and Robert wiped at his eyes.

“Sorry about that,” I said, shocked it had worked. “Can you move now?”

Declan yanked his foot up and started forward, with Robert following.

I walked to the bushes and forced my way through until I found a tall stone wall. “I don’t believe this is real,” I called back. “It’s a powerful ward, though, that will take precious time to unwind. And my guess is that all those sticker bushes I just went through are there to cut and bleed anyone who gets too close, helping to power the ward.”

Bracken pulled the blade from his pocket. “This is hardly a noble use for this blade, but it is apparently necessary.”

Pushing my way back through the bushes, I stopped him and held out my hand. “May I? It can’t take my blood because I’m not here right now.”

“Of course.” He handed it to me. “That makes more sense.”

As I wasn’t sure what would happen, my movements were tentative at first. The blade cut through the bushes like a hot knife through butter. If anything, the bushes almost seemed to cringe away from the blade. After I cut a doorway through, I handed the blade back to Bracken.

It was very weird walking through a green doorway. Looking left and right, I scanned the path before turning back to assess the men on my quest. “I’m afraid this is pretty narrow. Bracken and I should be okay, but Robert and especially you, Declan, are going to have trouble. I don’t want to leave you out there, though?—”

“We stick together,” Declan said.

I blew out a breath and looked down the narrow passage again. “Okay, let me see if I can find a weak point in this ward for us to burrow through. Unfortunately, that means you guys are going to need to do whatever you can to touch neither the sticker bushes nor the wall. I haven’t touched the wall, but my guess, based on the dead birds and squirrels I see rotting on the ground around it, is that it’s electrified in some way.”

Robert and Declan shared a glance and then moved forward.

“Robert and I can do a blunting spell,” Bracken suggested, “to try to make the bushes less of a problem. Declan, you bring up the rear.”

Holding one hand a few inches from the wall ward, I walked between it and the bramble, with the men following slowly behind. When I made it to the front of the property and the wall cut to the left, I continued, right past what looked like a tall wooden gate. At one point in its history, this property must have been visible to the public.

“The Shades,” Bracken said.

I stopped and looked behind me. Bracken pointed to a black metal plate affixed to the stone wall. Really old properties in Carmel and Monterey often didn’t have addresses. They had names.

I smiled. “You were right. It was the name of the house.”

“Sorry,” Bracken said. “I didn’t mean to distract you.”

Declan was walking by that section that looked like a gate, trying to see through slats.

“That looks like an entrance but it’s not.”

He nodded and went back to sliding sideways between the wall and thorns.

The bushes were a little thinner on this side of the property. I looked out one of the holes in the foliage and saw what appeared to be a narrow dirt driveway. It was covered in overgrown bushes and trees. I doubt those driving down the road on the other side of all this bloodthirsty vegetation even realized there was a house back here.

When I got to the other corner, I finally felt a hole in the ward, much like that hole in the bushes. It was enough of a weakness, I thought I could unwind what was here and push through.

“Give me a minute. I might have found our way in.” I held up both hands, closed my eyes, and felt my way through the spell. It was a bit like finding a hole in a sweater. I could either pull the threads tight and reweave it or pluck the threads out and unravel it. I was working on unraveling.

“Let me help,” Bracken said. “The spell I found in your borrowed grimoire should work well here.”

Working together, we snapped through the ward like we had scissors. I stepped through the break in the wall, Bracken behind me, followed by Robert. Declan had to squeeze his way through. One of his shoulders brushed the live ward and zapped him like an electrical fence. Robert was there, pulling shirt fibers from the wound and healing what he could in the moment.

I hugged Declan as gingerly as possible. “I’m so sorry you keep getting hurt. It’s not fair.”

He pulled me in tight and kissed the top of my head. “If someone has to get hurt, it’s better that it’s me. I heal faster than wicches.” He looked over the top of my head. “I thought it’d be bigger.”

I turned, keeping an arm around him, and saw a run-down hovel that looked like one good wind would knock it over. “You can’t believe what you see. This is an illusion on the off chance someone gets past the wall. You saw the hail bouncing off the structure. Did it look like this?”

He shook his head, but it was more like a wolf shaking off unease than a simple no. He gently tapped the top of my head. “Smart.”

“Okay, everyone walk where I walk,” I said. “I’m back in the lead. There are more wards.”

We moved slowly over the dirt yard. I almost walked face first into a ward, but I caught myself at the last minute. “Bracken. I think we need that blade again. I smell the faintest trace of sulfur.”

He stepped up beside me and thrust the blade into the air before us.

A sonic boom knocked the men off their feet. I helped Bracken up, the blade still tight in his hand. Declan helped Robert up, who in turn put his hands over Declan’s ears to no doubt stop the ringing. When he was done, he did the same with Bracken.

“Can you heal yourself?” I asked. When he didn’t respond, I figured I had my answer. I wasn’t a healer, but I went to him, held his hand, and called for help. Please, Goddess, help Robert to hear. You know what we’re doing, why we’re here. We have to stop Cal. Please, Blessed One, forgive me for not saying this well. We need your help to right the wrong one of our family has committed. And Goddess, one more thing. Please hold my Gran in your hands until we’re able to retrieve her.

Robert blinked when I let him go, snapping his fingers by his ear. “No one told me you were a healer.”

Relieved, I said, “I’m not. I asked the Goddess to help us, and she did. The Goddess healed you, not me.” I studied the other two. “Are we good?”

Declan was smiling at me. Bracken, brow furrowed, said, “You know the Goddess doesn’t usually do what we ask of her, right?”

I shrugged and started moving again. “I’m not about to question good fortune. Come on. There’s worse ahead. Let’s get to it—oh!” I swung back around and pointed at Robert. “Do not touch any doorknobs. They’re cursed to kill us in horrible ways. In general, try not to touch anything in there. We have lots to do now.” I looked up and gauged the position of the moon. “It’s the wicching hour. Let’s move.”