Eleri Stone - Witch Bound

She nodded for him to continue.

His gaze slid away, and he stared down at the cup in his hands. “I should have stopped you.”

“You did stop me.”

He shook his head. “Sooner. I should have stopped you sooner. I didn’t think...I didn’t know it would really happen. I thought, ‘No way would the clan witch do something that stupid.’”

This day was never going to end.

“You couldn’t have stopped it. The runes wouldn’t have had that affect if the wards were functioning the way they were supposed to. There’s nothing you—or anyone—could have done to prevent it. It would have happened sooner or later with or without my help.”

“I had a dream.”

She stilled with her glass half raised to her mouth. Carefully, she set it aside and leaned on the counter. “What kind of dream, Julian?”

“ That kind of dream. I saw it happen. All of it. The runes. The circle collapse and the way your power swamped the wards.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Except in my dream, the wards fell completely and...there wasn’t time to evacuate.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “At least, not everybody. I didn’t think it would really happen.”

“That’s why you didn’t hesitate with the knife.”

He looked up and she smiled gently. “Christian said you were, um...enthusiastic about stabbing me. He asked what I’d done to piss you off.”

He blushed. “That’s not—”

“I know,” she said. “It makes more sense now.”

“I knew what was going to happen. I had to do something.”

She patted him on the back, feeling inadequate. Poor kid. It was a high calling and a heavy burden. And she suddenly understood what he was doing here. He wanted her to tell him that it wasn’t true. He’d come to her because she was a clan witch who, now that she’d focused her power, could feel that new dark twist in his magic. He’d come to her because she was an outsider who wouldn’t necessarily feel compelled to report his concerns to the Odin.

“You need to tell Aiden what you just told me.”

“He’ll think I’m nuts.”

“He’ll think he’s fortunate to have both a Verthandi and a Skuld in the same clan.”

Julian laughed bitterly. It was true that Norns were welcomed within the clans, even celebrated, but many also viewed their presence as a sign of misfortune. After all, the complex and ancient spellcraft that allowed the Æsir to survive in Midgard didn’t waste magic. If your clan produced a Norn or a Berserker or a Valkyrie, it meant you needed one.

“Grace will probably be able to answer any questions you have better than I will.”

He nodded but still looked nervous as he pushed his stool under the counter.

“Do you need a ride?”

He tipped his head to the side. “My mom will take me.”

She thought about accompanying him to Aiden’s house anyway, but nothing she could do would ease his way. And this was his clan, not really hers yet, despite what her heart told her. It might never be.

“Julian?”

He turned around and she smiled.

“Thanks for stabbing me.”

When the front door clicked shut, she downed the ibuprofen and closed her eyes for a moment. Audrey had started a shower and suddenly, exhausted as she was, Raquel wasn’t ready for bed quite yet. She wanted to be alone, take a deep breath and try to process the day.

Pulling the fleece throw off the back of the couch, she wrapped it around her shoulders before stepping onto the porch. It was too cold for anyone else to be outside and late enough that there was no one on the road. The nearest streetlamp was two houses down at the corner. For a minute, she closed her eyes. It was peaceful here, very still. The cold air and the quiet made everything sharper. The creak of the wood, the rattle of the chain when she set the swing in motion. She lost her slipper momentarily but swooped her foot back inside on the next pass.

Everything would work out. It had to.

She shivered and thought about going inside. Something—not sound or movement, just a strange awareness of being watched—made her turn her head. Two sparks of gold stared back at her.

Fen.

Standing in the shadows cast by the house across the street. Though in hound form, she knew it was him. Perfectly still. Perfectly silent. It was difficult to pick out the black shape from the darkness. Her breath held and she waited for him to come forward, to shift or disappear. But he stood his ground, staring at her from gleaming yellow eyes.

He didn’t move and after what seemed an eternity, she rose from the swing and went inside.

Fen was actively avoiding her. So was Christian. Somehow she was sure that he knew something had changed between them and was giving her time to reconsider making any drastic decisions. He didn’t drop by at all the day following the surge, only left a message on her phone that he was busy with the hunt, preparing for a possible crossing. Instead of Christian or Fen or anyone that she wanted to see, Raquel found Lois waiting on her doorstep after lunch. The witch pushed her way inside without waiting for an invitation.

“You look like crap, and we have work to do.” Lois handed her a box of supplies. Angelica and wolfsbane by the smell of it, among other things. “Are you certain you’re up to helping? Aiden said you volunteered, but I’d just as soon you finish with your wedding plans. Until you learn a little control.”

Kathy, who’d arrived an hour earlier, came up behind Raquel and took the box from her. “She’s tougher than she looks, and Audrey was kind enough to take over the details of planning for the ceremony.”

There’d been no gainsaying her sister. A natural organizer, Audrey had been itching to take over the wedding plans from day one. Raquel would have let her if she hadn’t needed the distraction—and if she hadn’t been afraid that Audrey would go overboard. Now...she didn’t think there would be a ceremony, but she couldn’t very well call it off without speaking to Christian first, her parents and Aiden. Her father and Christian’s mother, two of the people who’d signed the original contract, weren’t even in town yet.

Lois hmphed. “Kathy asked that I meet you here, but I don’t know that I have all of the supplies we’ll need.”

Kathy, already heading for the kitchen, called over her shoulder. “We won’t need much for this.”

Lois started down the hall after her and—because she had to—Raquel brought up the rear. She could already feel a headache looming. Kathy put the box down on the island and smiled at Raquel.

“I want to see what she can do and, really—” she waved her hand at the box, “—these are just crutches for us. Someone with Raquel’s kind of power should be able to cast the whole spell at once without anchoring it piece by piece.”

Lois’s lips thinned. “I think we all saw exactly what she’s capable of. Most of those are supplies to build a strong enough circle to provide a safety net this time.”

Kathy gave her an enigmatic smile. “You won’t be able to hold her back for long.”

Raquel gave Kathy a warning look that went ignored. She knew her mentor well enough to recognize the glint in her eye. Bad blood there. Raquel didn’t know the history of it, but she didn’t want it coating her walls.

She stepped next to Lois. “Thank you, Lois. I appreciate it.”

Lois glared at her suspiciously. Raquel wanted to say more, tell her that she wasn’t mocking her, that she wasn’t after her job, but she could feel the weight of Kathy’s attention. Before she could think of anything to smooth over the moment, Lois was slamming the front door on her way back out to her car.