that made Ryan shift in his own seat. “I'm good.”
“Let’s get this started,” Kelly said. “We want to get this thing sewn up before sunset.”
With brisk efficiency, she plucked the beer out of Nathan’s hand and strode back over to her Instant Pot cauldron.
“Um, excuse me? I wasn't finished with that.”
She threw him a wink over her shoulder. “We need a liquid base for the cauldron.”
He heaved a sigh and went back to the kitchen to crack himself a fresh one. Kelly emptied his bottle into her pot and looked over at Kiki.
“Let’s roll.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Kiki said, clapping open her book. “We’re going to open with an offering. What do you have?”
Kelly froze in place. She'd known that, of course, but she’d been so consumed with other things, it had completely slipped her mind. It would have been so easy to stop by a shop and pick up a toad or a mouse or something, but she’d completely spaced on it. For a hot second, she even considered sending Kiki back for one.
“Wait a second!”
She snapped her fingers and ducked under the jagged lip of the cave. The hallway was the same as always. Kelly had to steady herself for a moment—stepping from one setting directly into the other was jarring. Once she felt balanced again, she darted out the front door to the porch.
The lengthening shadows had already driven a small group of moths to batter themselves against the porch light. After a few quick swipes, she managed to cup one. Victory! Her quarry obtained, she strode back into the house, slamming the door behind her with her heel.
“This is gonna be good,” Tiffany nudged Ryan as Kelly reappeared.
She stood directly over the pot, her hands cupped in front of her. Closing her eyes, she adopted the most witchy-sounding voice she could manage.
“Accipe sacrificium!”
With that, she flung her hands down, hurling the moth into the gently foaming beer. It fluttered clumsily as Kelly watched it. The poor little bugger might not be much of an offering, but it was going to have to do.
“What was that?” Ryan peered over the lip to see if anything was even in there.
“Doesn’t matter. Here we go.”
Spinning to face the gargoyle in his little nook, she was ready. Magic tickled her fingertips like the moth she'd just held. Behind her, Kiki leafed through some pages and began to feed her the words of a rudimentary spell.
“Procul exercitum in potestate nos perducat.”
“I was always really bad at Latin,” Ryan whispered, causing Tiffany to snort.
Despite the distraction, Kelly repeated the words and the interior of her little Instant Pot glowed. That really got her confidence up, so she grabbed the book and took over.
“Lapidem in manu invocabo.”
An aura of purple light began to glow around the gargoyle and everyone fell quiet. Suddenly things weren't quite so funny anymore. Drawing on that tingle in her fingers, Kelly called to mind the voice of Owyn and tried to imagine his rich tones coming out of her throat.
“Offerimus lapidem dabit vitam.”
She offered the life in the cauldron to the stone image before her. The glow intensified and the pot started rattling on the table. With a crackling pop, a large pair of moth wings fluttered to life on the back of the gargoyle. They strained and it lifted into the air, thumping into things as everyone scattered to stay out of its way.
“Quick,” Kelly cried. “How do I take it off?”
“Rasa et idcirco homo mundus erit,” Kiki shouted, erasing what had just been done.
In an instant, the wings vanished and the carved monster dropped onto the couch. Everyone looked up from their hiding places, completely amazed at how cozy the gargoyle looked.
“Wow, impressive.” Nathan was in the door again, new beer in hand. He raised an eyebrow at Kelly.
“Can it,” she snapped, then squared herself to face Ronun on the sofa.
Raising her hands again, she geared up to dive back in. The rest of the gang tucked themselves behind her lest something even more dangerous fly out of her mouth.
“Fac lapis iste carnem.” The object of her incantation began to vibrate against the soft cushions.
“What the hell did she say?” Ryan was more than a few steps behind.
“Something about stone becoming flesh,” Tiffany whispered.
“Personally, I prefer it the other way around.”
Kiki shushed them, for all the good that was going to do. The spell, on the other hand, seemed to be doing a lot of good. The glow in the pot intensified, and in