centuries for him. They’d have to deal with some PDA.
When I pulled back, his cheeks flushed and his eyes twinkled like stars in a 1692 black sky. He licked his lips and squeezed my hand.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “For this beautiful wand.”
“You’re welcome.”
Olli barked and then dove on top of our hands and stole my wand right out of my palm…then he took off across the open field.
Riah chuckled and shook his head. “He has always loved that wand.” He gripped my hand and pulled me to my feet.
Willow frowned and looked back and forth between us and where Olli was throwing my wand in the air to himself. “I don’t get it…why did Bentley see Riah needing to help get the wand?”
Tegan pursed her lips and stared up at the blue sky. “We have to replace it, don’t we?”
Bettina scowled. “We do? Why?”
“Nope.” Royce shook his head. “I don’t like that.”
Deacon narrowed his eyes on Riah. “But we do. I can sense that in him.”
I frowned and followed Tegan’s gaze up to the sky. It looked the same but it felt…different. “Riah? What am I feeling right now?”
“It is more what aren’t you feeling at this moment,” he said softly. “They may have used your wand for one purpose, but were unaware of a much needed secondary purpose. Now that you have removed your wand, you are sensing the deprivation of such.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Jackson grumbled in his accent and tapped on his chin. “And I do not like it.”
Riah glared into the distance. “I believe what Bentley foresaw was us creating a replacement for your wand.”
“To do what exactly?” I frowned down at my wand. “I can only sense fae magic.”
“Precisely.” Riah gestured in a circle over his head. “Your wand was doing the job, but by us making a replacement we can augment its strength.”
“I like it,” Tegan whispered.
Tennessee cocked his head to the side. “Make what stronger?”
“The block that keeps all uninvited Seelie fae out.”
Everyone gasped.
Gigi narrowed her dark eyes and pointed to Riah. “But you’re here, so does it work?”
Savannah scoffed. “I literally dragged him here. That counts as an unspoken invite.”
My eyes widened. I looked up into Riah’s eyes and nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Riah arched one eyebrow and glanced over my shoulder. “Your Coven Leaders may have an opinion.”
I spun around with a wonky grin. If we did this, Eden would be safe from the Seelies coming in without us inviting them. We couldn’t be ambushed so directly. Thorne and Sage may be on our side but the others most certainly were not.
Tegan leaned into Tennessee and pursed her lips. Her crystal crown shimmered in the sunlight.
His mismatched eyes cut down to her. “You’re sure about this, babe?”
“I am, babe.”
Tennessee sighed and nodded. “All right, Saffie and Riah, what do we need to do?”
“Saraphina and I will need to do this on our own. The rest of you need only to back away.”
Tennessee scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “And is it specified who must do the inviting?”
“I will make it so the Coven Leaders and Hierophant only may invite.” Riah arched one eyebrow. “Does that work for you?”
Tennessee nodded. “All right everyone, back up. Let’s let them do what they need to.”
I spun to Chutney. “Can you grab Olli while we do this?”
“On it.” She saluted, then spun and bounced off.
Everyone else backed way up, leaving a ton of space between the spot I’d removed my wand from and them.
I looked up at Riah and smiled. “Now what?”
He took both of my hands in his, then took a step backward so that our arms were stretched out over the spot my wand had been. “Now, we form a replacement. To do that, we must combine our magic together. Your arcana and my Seelie. All you need to do is push your magic into the hole your wand left behind while focusing your intent on grounding and protection. I will do the rest.”
I nodded and squeezed his hands tighter, focusing on the heat radiating out of his skin. “I’m ready.”
“On three.”
I took a deep breath and summoned my magic to the surface. It tingled along my skin, begging to be released. “Ready.”
He took a deep breath. “One…two…three…”
I pushed my magic out of me as hard as I could. Our wings popped out of our backs and we lifted five feet off the ground. Golden glitter erupted from under my feet, filling the hole in the ground until it was full. Green