Spells A Bayou Magic Novel - Kristen Proby Page 0,19
can’t defeat him this time?”
“You might not,” Dad says and then grins when I glare at him. “I’m being a realist here, son. Stick with what you do know. He’s weaker, but you’re stronger than you’ve been before. And you know more. But the six—”
“Aren’t together,” I finish for him and drag my hand down my face. “I know.”
“And until you are, you run the risk of losing.”
“It sucks when humans with free will are stubborn.”
Dad tips his head back and lets out a loud laugh. “That’s for damn sure. The trick here is to be patient, Lucien.”
“What if I can’t be too patient? What if he ups the timeline on us, and there’s just no time?”
“It’ll all happen the way it’s supposed to this time around. This part is your and Millie’s journey. What happens after this isn’t entirely up to you.”
“I need the circle to close this time,” I murmur.
“I know.” He reaches out and pats my shoulder. “And for your sake, I pray to the goddess that it does.”
“Thanks.”
“Keep me posted. It’s fascinating. And I’ll ask your mother to help me dig into some more reading this evening. We may find something to help you.”
“I’ll take all the help I can get,” I reply as a text comes in. “Looks like Cash is ready for me to take the second bloodstone.”
“Looks like we’d both better get back to work.”
It’s been a hell of a day.
I’m finally home, but I’m restless.
The second bloodstone has blood from the same source as the first.
It came from the same person.
What does that mean? Is the person still alive? Or is Horace holding the blood somewhere and using it for the stones?
Of course, no one wants to say this is Horace yet. But I know it is. This isn’t the first time he’s done this.
I’ve just sat down at my desk with a book that I borrowed from Miss Sophia when I feel her. She didn’t call or text, but Millie’s on her way here.
A few seconds later, my doorbell rings.
I’ve lost my touch. I used to know she was coming to me before she did.
But we’ll get there.
I open the door and smile, but then everything in me stills when I see the fury on her gorgeous face.
“What’s happened?”
“Can I come in?”
I step back and gesture for her to come inside. “Of course. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m so mad,” she says. Her hands are in fists as she stomps around my living room. “And I can’t talk to my sisters about this because they’ll just try to be reasonable and defend her. And I get that. I do. But right now, I need to be angry and vent a little bit, and I don’t know why, but you were the first person I thought of.”
I smile as I internally dance a jig. Finally. “Of course, you thought of me. I’m the one you should vent to, sweetheart. What are we talking about?”
She blows out a breath and sits on the edge of my sofa. “My mother, the same woman who beat me with a broom handle for having the audacity to ask if the spirits I saw at night were real, or ask if there was something different about me. She tormented my sisters and me mercilessly.”
She blows out a breath and starts to pace again.
“What did she do?” I ask.
“She’s a witch,” she says as she turns to me. “Now that she’s clearheaded, she’s talking about reading my grandmother’s grimoire and studying, talking to Miss Sophia. Lucien, she’s a fucking witch.”
I want to hold her. To pull her in and soothe away this pain, because I can see that it’s tearing her up inside.
But I sit on the arm of the sofa and let her rage, allow her to talk it out.
“She was possessed,” I begin, but Millie turns to me, her eyes flashing.
Goddess, she’s magnificent.
“No. You don’t get to be the voice of reason. Because I already know that. But first, I get to be angry about all of the lost time. I was supposed to learn the craft from my mother, not be punished by her for what I am. All three of us deserved so much more than what we got. We were terrified for more than a dozen years, Lucien.”
My stomach rolls at the reminder.
“I understand.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “You don’t get it. You have parents who helped you learn. Who were gentle with you and kind and encouraged you to seek out your truth.”
“You’re