The Witching Hour: 11 Enchanting Novels Featuring Witches, Wizards, Vampires, Shifters, Ghosts, Fae, and More!, page 122
“What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t mean anything. Maybe you managed to confuse them for a while.”
“But they only got into my condo when I was gone. They never found me while I was there.”
Frida gave me a knowing look. “But they found you here, right? When you were standing in front of a mirror.”
I tried to speak, but nothing came. She had me there.
“Like I said, let’s start with the basics. As with all magic, they can be used either for black magic or light. Great evil can be done when runes are combined with blood.” She shivered.
“I take it you’ve experienced it firsthand?”
She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about it. Just take my word for it.”
“Okay.” I held my pencil ready.
“They have many uses. Protection, travel, hexes, and just about anything, really.”
“Hiding?”
“Right. That’s going to be one of the important ones for you as we face off with your old coven. That, travel, and protection. We need to protect you and anyone helping you. Now before we begin, we need to figure out if you can make runes on your own.”
I arched a brow and showed her the one on my ankle. “I’ve done it before.”
“Okay, but humor me. Let’s just start at the beginning from the way we do things around here.”
“You’re the teacher.”
She smiled. “Hold out your pointer finger like this.” Frida held out her first finger so that it was at a ninety-degree angle.
I copied her, careful not to aim it at her. I’d already proven that runes could be explosive when I was involved.
“That’s fine. Now you need to close your eyes and imagine the rune you’re going to draw.”
“Wait,” I said. “Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? I don’t know what any of the symbolism means yet.”
She took a deep breath. “Just stick with me. Picture a rune—any rune. It doesn’t have to be real. At this point, it doesn’t matter. Then we’ll get to actual rune design. Sound good?”
I kept my finger in the air and imagined the runes along the dark hallway that illuminated as she put her hand over them.
“How did you do that?” she exclaimed.
My eyes flew open in time to see my finger glowing a bright yellow. It dimmed quickly. “Did I do that?”
Frida stared at me, her mouth gaping.
“That’s… not normal?”
“I-I’ve never seen anything like that. Try it again, but this time imagine a different rune.”
My hand shook, though I couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or nerves.
I closed my eyes and pictured the rune I’d seen back in my condo.
Frida gasped.
My eyes flew open. This time, my finger had turned black—like my charred home.
“Make it stop,” I exclaimed. Fear tore through me.
“You’re going to have to imagine a different rune.”
“Okay.” I closed my eyes and the image of a random rune came to mind. The room seemed to darken, but with my eyes closed, I couldn’t tell if it was an illusion or not. “Is that supposed to happen?”
Frida didn’t respond.
I opened my eyes. I was no longer in her safe room.
19
Dark woods surrounded me. A wolf howled in the distance. Leaves rustled nearby. The wind whistled.
My skin crawled.
“Frida?” I whispered.
More wolves howled.
My entire body shook. I hadn’t even drawn a rune. How had I ended up here—wherever here was? It didn’t make any sense. I needed to find a way back, and unfortunately, I was on my own.
At least I had my recent training to draw from. I’d learned more in the last months than I had all my years in the previous coven.
Did I dare picture another rune? It seemed to be the only chance I had at getting back. No other magic they’d taught me involved traveling as I just had.
Runes had gotten me to the woods, and runes would get me back.
Shaking, I pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail and used the hair band on my wrist to keep it in place. I could do this—I’d broken a rune, lived through Claudia’s attack, and brought myself here.
I pulled my sleeves up to my elbows and took a deep breath.
Another breeze blew by and I shivered.
Wolves continued howling. They were moving closer.
Heart pounding, I closed my eyes again and held out my finger. This time, no rune showed in my mind. I would have to pick one. My mind raced, making it difficult to focus.
I pictured the one Frida had drawn before showing me the safe room. I focused on it, holding onto the picture in my mind’s eye.
The breeze continued around me. I opened my eyes and found myself still in the forest.
There had to be a different way out. Part of me wanted to imagine the runes along the hallway, but I didn’t want my finger lighting up again. That would only announce my presence to anyone in the forest.
Why hadn’t I insisted on learning rune symbolism first? Probably because no one—least of all me—had expected anything like this to happen. I’d never even heard of rune travel without mirrors. They were the only portal anyone had ever spoken of in my hearing.
My skin continued to crawl. I found my way to a tree and leaned against it. My pulse drummed in my ears.
I closed my eyes and tried to get a feel for where I was. The woods weren’t enchanted, nor were they the forest of confusion. Wherever I’d taken myself, I was far from the coven.
Given that it was dark out, I’d probably gone to a different part of the world. That would most likely make returning more difficult, unless I could find someone to help me understand the runes.
I had two choices.
Stay against the tree alone or move.
It stood to reason that I could get myself out using them. I took a deep breath and tried to bring back the rune I’d seen before coming here, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t see it as I had before. Parts were fuzzy. Hard to make out.
A branch snapped nearby.
I jumped and pressed my back against the tree. My pulse raced even faster. I took deep breaths to calm myself.
Leaves and twigs crunched along with the footsteps. Whoever approached was getting closer by the moment. I had nothing to fight with, except my magic and I didn’t have much confidence in that yet.
“Who’s there?” asked a deep male voice not far behind me.
I stifled a cry and pressed myself against the trunk of the tree, digging the jagged bark into my back.
“No sense in hiding. I know you’re here.”
He was right. I swallowed. “Wh-who are you?”
“Gessilyn?”
I nearly passed out at the sound of my own name. A gasp escaped my lips.
“Is that you, Gess?” the man asked.
“Who—?”
“Hold on. I need to grab my clothes.”
“Toby?” I exclaimed. Wasn’t he back in the states?
My body went weak and I slid to the ground.
“Stay right there. I’ll tell the others to leave you alone.” His footsteps trailed away.
I turned to the side and threw up. Once I’d gained my bearings, I got up and walked in the direction he’d gone. I couldn’t sit next to my own bile, nor did I want him smelling it. He probably would, anyway, given the strong sense of smell wolves had.
After I was sure I’d gone far enough, I leaned against another tree and caught my breath. At least I’d managed to bring myself to Toby. I wasn’t alone anymore—not once he returned.
I waited for what felt like hours, but was probably far less time.
Footsteps sounded again. “Gessilyn?” came Toby’s voice.
“Right here.” I stepped out from behind the tree.
“Sorry about that,” he said. “I just shifted back into human form, and I’d left my clothes a few miles away.”
I gasped for air.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Iceland.”
“I was.”
“How’d you get here? I didn’t tell you where I was, did I?”
“No. It’s complicated.”
“Why don’t you tell me about it while we make our way out? These aren’t exactly the safest woods right now.”
“What do you mean? Where are we?”
He turned to me. “You don’t know?”
“I have a lot to fill you in on.”
“We’ve got a decent jog ahead of us. Come on.” He headed in the same direction he came from.
I groaned and caught up. “The short story is that I don’t know my own magical strength. I suppose that’s what I get for suppressing it all these years.”
“How’d you end up here? I’m really confused.”
“That makes two of us,” I admitted. “I was learning the basics of rune magic, something I’ve apparently never practiced before. I’ve already proven to be more powerful than anyone had seen.”
“So, you managed to teleport yourself from Iceland to here?”
“Wherever here is.”
He picked up his pace. “The Olympic National Park.”
“What? How—? Why are you here?”
“There’s a lot of space to roam on the full moon.”
“That’s quite a distance to travel from Delphic Cove. Wouldn’t you rather stick around Mt. Saint Helens?”
Toby cleared his throat. “About that… I probably should have told you in case you came looking for me, but I’m not staying there now. A lot has happened in the last couple months.”
“So you decided to move to Forks?”
“No, we’re staying pretty far from there—on the other side of the forest, just a ferry ride to Seattle.”
“Good. I don’t want to see anyone sparkle.”
He laughed. “It’s not like that. If you want to know the truth, there are no supernatural creatures in Forks.”
“Wait, you said ‘we.’ Did you find Victoria?”
“No, but I am closer to the jaguar shifters you keep seeing. They’re trying to take over the national park, but the cougars are giving them a run for their money.”
“Not to mention the wolves?” I asked.
“We’re just trying to lay low. I’ve found a historic mansion in the middle of a twenty-acre lot. It gives us plenty of room, but when we get a nice full moon like this, it’s hard to stay away from the park.”
“That sounds better than living in the city.”
“Some people in town think we’re hiding something, but I have a new job as a professor at the local college. I’m trying to build trust with the locals while figuring out what the jags are up to—if they have anything to do with Victoria. Now that you’re caught up with me, what’s going on with you?”
I filled him in on everything that had happened since we’d last seen each other.
“You really teleported?” he asked. “With your mind?”
“Somehow I used runes, but in a way I’ve never heard about before.”
“And you can’t get yourself back?” he asked.
“It would appear not.”
“Can you call them? Your father’s coven?”
“They don’t use phones. Just basic technology.”
We reached a clearing and he stopped. The early morning sky was quite the sight. On our left, it was dark with shining stars, but it grew lighter as it reached across to the right where magnificent pinks and oranges lit the sky.
“Do you have yours?” he asked.
“No, I left it back there. I’m not sure if I left it where they’ll hear it, but we should try calling. It’s worth a shot.”
He dug into his pocket and handed me his phone.
“Thanks.” I called my number. It rang. Once, twice, and a third time. I turned to Toby. “I don’t think—”
“Gessilyn?” asked Frida. She sounded panicked.
“It’s me.”
She sighed. “It’s her,” she said to someone else.
“How could you let that happen?” Killian demanded in the background. “Give me the phone.”
“Where are you?” Frida asked.
Scuffling noises sounded over the phone. “What happened?” Killian demanded. “We’ve been worried sick. Frida said you just disappeared before her eyes!”
“I saw a vision of a rune and then everything went dark. When I opened my eyes, I was in the middle of foreign woods. Turns out I’m on the Washington Peninsula.”
“Why did it take you so long to call us?” he asked.
“I called as soon as I could.”
“It took you two days to find a phone?”
“Two days?” I exclaimed. “It hasn’t even been two hours.”
“You lost two days.”
I turned to Toby. “What day is it?”
“Friday.”
Blood drained from my face. “I guess I did.”
“What are you going to do?” Killian asked.
I looked up at the sky. “I need to get back to you guys, but someone needs to tell me how.”
“You want to use runes?” Killian practically shouted. “Do us all a favor and use an airplane.”
“I appreciate the concern, but I got here using runes. I’d like to use them to get back.”
“And lose another two days? You need to get a handle on their power—your power—before you try any such thing.”
“Have her use a mirror,” Frida said from the background.
“Let’s try that,” I agreed.
“Do you know how?” Killian asked.
I frowned. “No.”
20
Toby and I finally made it to his new mansion. In the middle of a clearing, it stood, taking most of the view. The forest green Victorian-era home was in pristine shape, obviously well-taken care of over the years.
“Let’s head inside and find a mirror,” Toby said. He pulled out a keychain and hurried to the front door. He led me inside into a grand entryway. Two burly men moved out of our way.
“Don’t mind the mess,” he said. “We still have a few more weeks of construction. Then this will be a fully modern home for my pack.”
I looked around, trying to imagine the ladders and other equipment gone. “I’m sure it’s going to be second to none.”
Toby beamed. “I hope so. Do you want anything to eat or drink before we start this?”
My mouth felt like a desert. “Something to drink would be wonderful.”
“This way.” He led me to the left, through what would most likely become a living room and into a kitchen. Most was blocked off, and it smelled of fresh paint. He opened a fridge and looked inside. “Juice okay?”
“Sure, or water, even.”
“Trust me, you don’t want the water right now.” He poured some grape juice and handed me the glass. “Did you say you lost two days?”
“If it’s really Friday.”
“It is, and thankfully I don’t have to go into work today. I’m not looking forward to the post-full moon workdays again.”
I finished the drink. “Hopefully, I can get this rune thing figured out and be out of your hair.”
“You’re no trouble.” He cleared his throat. “You don’t happen to have learned any new locator spells?”
“That’s right. I promised to help you with that months ago. I’m sorry, Toby.”
“Don’t be. I know how busy you are with your own problems.”
“Let’s give it another try.” I took a deep breath. “This time, can we use her picture?”
Some color drained from his face. “You’re not going to—I mean, the picture is going to stay intact, right?”
“Of course. I’m just going to use it to hold her image in my mind.” Hopefully if I didn’t use any runes, I wouldn’t shoot through space and time into her home.
“Do you need anything else? Faerie dust?”
“I’m going to try with the just the photo this time.”
Toby reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I’ve got her picture in here.”
“Do you happen to have a bigger one?”
“In my room. Wait just a minute.” He hurried out of the room. His footsteps echoed until they went upstairs and faded away.
New footsteps sounded from the other side of the kitchen. A young shirtless, muscular guy with piercing dark eyes came in. He froze when he saw me. “I didn’t realize anyone was here.” He took the shirt that was wrapped around his waist and slid it on. “Who brought you here?”
“Toby. He’s just upstairs.”
He sniffed the air, probably trying to figure out if I was one of them. “Are you from town? We don’t usually have…” He seemed uncomfortable as he struggled to find the right word. “Guests.”
“No, but I’m well aware of werewolf customs.” I smiled, trying to be warm and reassuring. “He and I have known each other a long time.”
The kid seemed to relax, hearing that I knew what they were.
Toby returned. He seemed a little surprised to see his pack mate. “I see you two have met.”
“I was just on my way out, sir. There are rumors of a stray in town and I want to make sure he isn’t up to trouble.”
“How many times have I told you not to call me sir?” Toby asked.
“Sorry, sir—Mr. Foley.”
“We’re family now. Just Toby.”
“Okay.” The kid scurried out of the room.
Toby shook his head. “He’s from a dormant line, so he’s still figuring everything out. Well, I’ve got the picture. Are we going to be able to do this down here? A lot of the guys are upstairs sleeping after being out all night for the full moon.”
“That’s fine. Do you want to use the kitchen table or the couch?”
He grimaced. “The living room is full of dust. How about in here?”
We made our way over to the table. He set down an eight by ten photograph of Victoria. Her smile and eyes were truly captivating. “Let’s see what we can find.” I set the picture on the middle of the table.
Toby sat across from me, his gaze darting all around the room.
“It’ll be fine,” I reassured him. “With any luck, we’ll find out something new.”
