Chapter 19 - Kira
Kira was just finishing sorting out all the potions ingredients Gwen and Chelsey insisted on bringing from Joshua’s house when the other two women burst into the kitchen.
Lianne, in her wolf form, jumped in after them, growling.
They were wild-eyed and panting heavily.
Gwen’s cheeks flushed pink as she strode forward, seizing Kira’s hand.
“We need to make a protection circle that we can transport to the special ops team,” she said between puffs of breath. “They’ve been attacked. One of them made it back, but the others are cut off.”
Kira’s heart jumped to her throat. Joshua! Something stirred inside of her, a deep ache in her chest, like something inside was trying to tear itself free. She closed her eyes, shoving aside her emotions. They were here in town. How could they cast a spell to protect the team far away like that?
“Lianne, you’re going to help me make potions,” Chelsey said. “When the team comes back, we’re going to need to heal them, so we’re going to make as many batches as possible. Okay?’
Kira opened her eyes again. Lianne had shifted to human form once more, wearing a shift dress. Her face was pale, but she nodded. As Kira started forward to help, Gwen grabbed her arm and jerked her toward the living room.
“We’re going outside to cast a protection circle,” Gwen told her. “I’ve been reading, and I think I’ve got it figured out. But I won’t be able to do it on my own.”
“How can I—” Kira started, but a fierce look from Gwen made her fall silent.
They went outside, and Gwen started to shove ingredients into Kira’s arms, hurriedly explaining how they’d do this.
It was an elaborate spell; first, they had to create a salt circle on the grass, then place items belonging to the special ops in the circle, and cast their spell.
All Gwen had were extra shoes that the team had left at town hall before starting their patrol.
As they started to put the candles out, spaced evenly, one candle per member of the team they wished to protect, Kira asked, “Why did you bring Lianne? She’s too young to be involved in this.”
“She overheard. She was ready to run out in her wolf form to try to attack the demons herself, and Rafael had to tackle her to stop her. This was the only way we could stop her.” Gwen’s face was pale as she worked. “We don’t have time to argue.”
Kira nodded once. Her heartbeat climbed with every passing minute, and her hands shook. When they lit the candles, she straightened. What if they were too late? What if the demon had targeted Joshua? What if—
No time to panic.
“What now?” she asked, looking up at Gwen.
Gwen swallowed. “We speak the spell. We’ll need to speak in unison. Here are the words.” She passed a paper to Kira.
They started speaking together. A hum filled the air.
The flames of the candles flared, sending smoke curling into the air.
Sparks ignited in the salt, and each shoe they’d tossed into the circle burst into flame.
Was this supposed to happen? Kira didn’t stop, not even when the smoke turned a noxious black.
It wafted into her face, and soon she was choking.
Don’t stop, she told herself, forcing herself to keep speaking through gasps. Adrenaline raced through her. Don’t stop!
Darkness closed in around her.
“Kira!” Gwen cried, but she was far, far away.
Kira floated in the darkness, the smoke curling around her like an old friend. It was warm and comforting. Something touched her feet, and she looked down, finding herself standing on a grassy knoll. Her stomach lurched—she recognized this place.
Dread filled her stomach as she looked up. A sludgy black river, made of oil and tar, bubbled in a great chasm. It frothed and surged as it flowed, bringing sparks of red and green to its depths. The sparks flew upward only to turn to ash and fall back down, swallowed by the river.
“Joshua,” Kira whispered, lifting her eyes higher. Her heart lurched. She was even further from him than she had been before. “Joshua!”
An inky black tendril lifted from the sludge. Joshua was shouting, his voice faint. He didn’t notice the demon as it slithered from the chasm.
“Look out!” she screamed, jolting forward.
Pain shot through her face, followed by a burning cold.
Water seeped down her throat into her lungs.
Kira screamed, lifting a hand to protect herself.
Her eyes snapped open, and the light was so blinding that she nearly passed out again.
Her gaze slowly focused, and she found Gwen and Chelsey leaning over her.
It took her a moment to realize they had moved her into her bedroom. Music from a cheerful children’s cartoon played somewhere in the house.
Chelsey hugged her tightly, letting out a dry, rasping sound. Gwen leaned back, closing her eyes. There was shock and desperation on both of their faces.
They weren’t working on spells and potions. That must mean it was over—
“Joshua?” Kira asked, dread filling her.
Gwen touched her shoulder. “The last we heard, they had turned the tide. The demon fled, and they chased it. Joshua’s fine.”
But Kira wasn’t mollified. “Then why do you two look like that?”
Chelsey quickly stood and went to the door, shutting it softly. They both looked so stern and worried that Kira’s heart pounded.
“After you collapsed, we carried you in here,” Gwen said. “I touched your stomach and had a vision. You’re pregnant, Kira.”
No. No, that was impossible. She and Joshua had only slept together the one time. And she… she hadn’t gone for the morning-after pill. She’d been too upset and angry. She hated that he was trying to dictate, and the timing was wrong to get pregnant anyway.
At least, she had thought it was. Apparently, she was wrong.
Her mind churned as she fought to process this information.
She was pregnant with Joshua’s child. A child he’d never wanted.
How was he going to react? He’d just started to realize how controlling he could be; would he decide that he had the final say in this, too?
And what about the curse he was talking about?
Could she even carry the pregnancy to term?
Would her witch blood reject the witch hunter in her baby?
“Are you okay?” Chelsey asked, her voice small.
Kira took a steadying breath. “I’m fine. But nobody needs to know about this.” Her chest tightened even as she spoke. She was furious with Joshua for keeping secrets, and now she was going to keep one from him.
This is different. He kept secrets because he made decisions on my behalf. I just need time to process. To decide what I want first.
Emotion welled in her chest, tight and burning.
She wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.
She still resented the way Joshua had tried to make decisions for her, and yet he’d been proven right.
First the demon, now this. Oh, if he were the type to say, ‘I told you so,’ she’d be hearing it for the rest of her life.
She focused on Chelsey and Gwen again. “Don’t tell anyone. Don’t even talk about it with each other. I don’t want anyone to know. At least not before Joshua knows.”
Gwen smoothed Kira’s hair from her face. “I kept Lianne a secret from Rafael for seven years, and in the end, that choice only hurt all of us.”
“I’m not going to keep it a secret for seven years.
I am going to tell him soon,” she said, and she almost believed her own lie.
She was going to tell him; she’d start showing eventually, and she needed to tell him before that happened.
Unless her body rejected the pregnancy, in which case he never had to know.
The thought made her lip tremble. “I don’t want him to find out from anyone but me. ”
Understanding filled Gwen’s eyes. Both she and Chelsey nodded their agreement. Kira let out a sigh of relief, then pushed herself up. Despite her momentary blackout, she now felt fine. As she swung her legs off the bed, Chelsey ran forward.
“You passed out.”
“It was the smoke and over-exerting my magic,” Kira mumbled. “You can call the doctor if you’re worried, but I want to see the spell.”
Chelsey looked to Gwen for help, as though she hoped Gwen would push Kira back onto the bed and refuse to let her get up. But Gwen nodded, and Chelsey huffed.
“Guess I’ll go see if Lianne is still watching TV,” she muttered. “Or if she’s decided to try to make up a new potion again.”
“Chelsey,” Kira protested, but Chelsey didn’t look back.
“Don’t be too hard on her. She’s just worried,” Gwen said gently. She patted Kira’s back. “It’s not every day that your big sister collapses.”
They headed outside. The salt circle had solidified into a crystallized mass that appeared halfway between quartz and glass.
Kira touched it and felt a strange humming energy in the circle.
Around it, the candles still flickered. They no longer spat up dark smoke or sparks.
Pools of melted and solidified wax spilled to either side of the circle.
“Did it work?” Kira asked. Her voice shook, and she swallowed, trying to hide her reaction.
Gwen knelt by the circle, passing her hands over the candles and salt-glass. “I think so. Everything happened exactly as described in the grimoire.”
“Even the shoes disappearing?”
“Even that,” Gwen said. She chuckled, though she still sounded worried.
“I bet the team is going to be upset when they come back and find that they all are missing a shoe. But I suppose that’s better than the alternative, right?
And they were able to make the demon turn and run. That’s got to be worth something.”
Kira nodded. She realized she was unconsciously rubbing her stomach and stopped herself. No. She wasn’t going to start getting attached to a pregnancy yet. As much as she wanted to be a mother, she had to survive being pregnant to hold a baby in her arms.
She knelt as well, touching the circle again.
The energy seemed to increase a little at her touch, as though it was happy to see her.
There was no lingering darkness. A shudder ran down her spine.
Was the dark that had embraced her only because she passed out?
Would she have had the vision anyway? Or was there something else happening?
Perhaps it was due to her pregnancy. Maybe when they reached out to put the protections around the special ops, the demon had used that same channel to reach back.
It was a disturbing possibility.
Before she could dwell too long on it, Gwen’s phone started to ring. She yanked it from her pocket. “Rafael?”
She held her breath. Kira leaned on, her hand unconsciously moving toward her own pocket. Her fingers closed around her phone.
Relief washed over Gwen’s face. “I’ll tell them. The special ops team is back.”
Back. Kira yanked her phone out and stared down at it. Was he hurt? Was that why he hadn’t called?
“Of course.” Gwen held her own phone out to her. “Joshua wants to talk to you.”
Kira grabbed it and held it to her ear. “Joshua?”
“Hey.” Joshua’s voice was heavy but clear.
Kira’s shoulders slumped with relief. Tears burned her eyes. “Are you hurt?”
“Nah. Just a little tired. I’m going to debrief Rafael on what happened, then head home to clean up and get some sleep.” He hesitated, then murmured, “We didn’t get it. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m just glad that you’re okay.
” She almost said she’d meet him at his place, to cook for him and look after whatever injuries he had.
But she couldn’t. As much as she wanted to be close to him, it was too easy to be close and forget the reasons she needed to keep him at arm’s length.
“Maybe your parents can come to your place for a bit?”
Joshua chuckled lightly. “I’d be surprised if they didn’t. Don’t worry about me. I’m okay,” he huffed. “Rafael wants his phone back.”
“I’ll call you in the morning,” Kira said quickly.
“I’d… I’d like that,” Joshua murmured.
She handed the phone back to Gwen quickly. The candles spluttered out, and she leaned back on her heels, her chest tight. Goddess, give me answers. I don’t know what to do anymore.