Eleri Stone - Witch Bound

He straightened and cocked his head to one side. “I thought you were...blocked. That you couldn’t do magic.”

“I can do small magics, the kind of things any hedge witch can do. Kathy made sure I was well trained, and this is just prep work really. If it’s a simple enough spell, you don’t need to be very powerful to activate it. And runes...well, I’ve always been good with runes. There are a few that help, ummm...thin the barrier between me and the magic. I haven’t quite got the combination right, but when I do I’ll tattoo them on my forehead.”

“Subtle.” He laughed at the mental image. “You find the right combination, I’ll work them into a design for you. We’ll find someplace better than your forehead to put them.”

He winced, hoping she wouldn’t take that the wrong way. Tried to ignore the images in his own mind of creamy skin and hidden places.

She paused in putting away the materials to look up. “You do that? Tattoos?”

“Graphic design, actually. It lets me work from home. Office work can be hard on hounds. But yeah, I’ve designed tattoos before and placed them, mostly for the pack.”

She straightened. “Are you serious about the offer? Because I’m serious about trying to use runes to break through the block. I’ll take you up on it, if you mean it.”

Heaven help him. “I’m serious. I still have the equipment.”

Her smile was slow and brilliant, chasing away the storm clouds in her eyes. And no matter how stupid, he couldn’t make himself regret the offer.

“Okay, then.” She tucked the shoebox away behind her on the bookshelf and pointed toward a crate beside the door. “The wards are over there. I carved the runes onto the rocks and Lois sealed them to the stone. Just place them about five feet away from the ward stones on this side of the fault. I’ll come out and power it up in the morning. It should keep a portal from forming unexpectedly.”

“Lois says it may make a split more likely to form somewhere else.”

She nodded.

“And there’s no way to predict where it will happen? Or when?”

“Not with any certainty. I used to walk the fault with my grandmother and can usually feel the weak spots, but they can also form quickly.” She crossed her arms in a classic defensive pose and he wondered at it until she said, “Lois isn’t sensitive enough to feel the changes. She tries to hide that from your Odin, but she can’t hide it from me.”

It didn’t surprise him one bit that Lois would put her pride before the safety of the clan. The note of bitterness in Raquel’s voice did surprise him, however. Lois must be riding her pretty hard. “I’ll let Aiden know...discreetly.” No point in adding any more tension to the mix between Lois and her apprentice. He did his best to ignore the warm thrill of pleasure that she trusted him enough to confide in him. “Thanks for telling me.”

She waved it aside and he hefted the crate into his arms, trying to pretend it wasn’t heavy. It had to be at least a hundred pounds of rocks. She came around the counter to open the door for him.

“If you have any trouble with those, let me know.”

His shoulder brushed against her hand and she startled. Afraid he’d accidently hurt her, he paused. But he hadn’t hurt her, that wasn’t it. There was a faint blush at the crest of her cheek and when she looked up, he saw something in her eyes that shouldn’t be there, felt something inside himself rouse sleepily awake.

She wouldn’t admit she felt that strange little connection if he waited a hundred years, which was just as well. She was Christian’s and this—whatever this was—would fade. It had to.

Lois picked Raquel up first thing in the morning to set the rune stones. After the last rogue surge, everyone was on edge. She’d been told the surges were becoming more frequent and unpredictable as time passed. Usually, the winters were a little bit slower, at least in this hemisphere. Usually, the surges didn’t occur outside the new and full moons. No one had a good answer as to what was causing the irregularity other than that the wards had reached the end of their life expectancy. Everyone looked to the clan witch and her new apprentice to solve the problem. The first step was strengthening the wards that surrounded the fault.

About two miles in length and located dead smack in the center of acres of Æsir-owned farmland, the fault cut through a large stretch of woods that surrounded a lake. The portal could open anywhere along it and the wards hemmed the entire thing, so Raquel had dressed for a hike.

No snow yet, which was good, but there was a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground she knew from experience could be slippery as hell, especially since there were no real trails maintained through the trees. The clan did its best to discourage trespassers as much as possible.

Parking at Aiden’s farm, which adjoined the property, they rode horseback to the edge of the woods. It was a beautiful day. Blue sky, high and cloudless. The farmland was long since cleared but still stubbly with the remains of harvest. Yellow grass, brown brush, black crows peppering the empty fields looking for lunch.

Lois was silent. She’d been pretty quiet since picking Raquel up, but when they passed through a break in the brush, she turned slightly. “You’ll set the runes. I’m here to observe. I want to see exactly how much power you have to work with.”

Raquel raised her brows but didn’t comment. Lois should be able to sense that without having to see her in action. Raquel could sense Lois’s power—middling for a clan witch but nothing to sneeze at. Nearly on a par with Kathy, who was very competent and who Raquel respected immensely. Raquel hoped that once Lois saw she didn’t mean to force her out of the coven, they could come to work together peaceably.

It became hillier the closer they got to the lake, rockier too, and eventually they had to abandon the horses. Dismounting a short distance into the woods, they secured the reins to the saddle so they wouldn’t snag. The horses were Æsir stock, intelligent, loyal and responsive creatures. They wouldn’t wander far and would come when called.

Raquel extended her senses, checking the edges of the fault for weakness. It didn’t feel as if there had been a recent breach even though she knew it had happened only two nights ago. Usually, there was a slight thinning to the wall separating their worlds around the new moon and full. That was what allowed the demons to push through. Raquel tapped at her thigh where she’d strapped the Skimstrok blade her father had given to her on her twelfth birthday.

“It’s like they punched a hole through a solid brick wall and someone patched it up again. There aren’t any weak spots now.”

Lois pursed her lips. “I assure you there was a breach. Ask Aiden if you don’t believe me. A demon damaged the Abrams house and one of the hounds was injured. We can go see the claw marks in the siding if you need proof.” She sighed and shook her head. “Poor Dan. You can’t put an insurance claim on something like that.”

“Brian,” Raquel said. Lois gave her a blank look. “Poor Brian, you mean. He was the one who was injured, wasn’t he? Christian said he’s all right but still limping a bit.”

Lois shrugged. “I’m sure Alan will be able to fix that. Dan is Julia’s husband. It was their house.”

Raquel bit her tongue on a sharp response. Really, the more she got to know Lois, the less she cared to.

Lois seemed to be struggling with the uneven terrain, but Raquel didn’t offer her arm. When she paused at a patch of disturbed earth where there’d obviously been a struggle, Lois kept walking. The leaves were churned up, revealing dark, damp earth. Hoofprints and paw prints. A black, sticky substance splattering some of the leaves and a nearby rock. Raquel shivered. Fen had been here, risking his life to protect the clan. Christian too.