6. Six, Six, Six #2
How I wished my hate could translate to power in that moment.
My greatest want was not to quiet the flames with kindness, as my crone would counsel; no, I wanted to allow the inferno to escape my chest and swallow Adder whole.
To let it burn down everything—the forest of monsters, the farm, all the way up to the Blackthorne Castle—and devour them all in hellfire.
But instead of the burn of death, only the burn of tears choked in my throat.
I looked away, holding my head up, as I pursued my target.
Adder scoffed, pleased with himself, and strutted out the gate, Hemlock following behind, allowing me some measure of privacy with Birch, who’d remained quiet and spineless through the whole ordeal.
Swallowing my emotion, I searched for the hate, and it found me as I got close enough to look up into his beady eyes. I simply crossed my arms and waited for him to speak.
Birch, looking white as a sheet, rubbed the back of his neck, still gripping the riding crop so hard that red liquid pooled down the side. His horse let out a heavy breath and trotted to hide behind me. I could feel the massive animal’s breath on my shoulder.
“I-I-I just couldn’t go through with it, Rumor. Prism is a nice girl and all.” He glanced nervously from me to the horse as I began stroking its mane, tangling my fingers in its coarse hair.
“Right,” I replied with disinterest. “So, what do you plan to do to get her back?”
Birch’s eyes widened. “Get her back? I-I never could have known what would happen. Those are just old stories. Nothing like that has happened since we were little kids, Rumor. Look, I’m really sorry for your loss. Prism is a fine enough maiden, but I didn’t marry her. I’m not responsible for her.”
My attention met the horse’s as I asked for silent permission. The animal let out a breath and seemed to give a slight nod, so I took out my knife. Birch yelped like a piglet and backed away. “Hey, hey! There’s no need to do anything?—“
With a swift movement, I cut a piece of the horse’s mane and fixed my attention on the rat. “Now, your turn.”
He dropped the crop. “I know you want to kill me,” he said, backing away. “But I’m needed here on the farm and in the town. I hunt, I tend the stables, I?—“
“Uh huh,” I replied, kneeling and picking up the crop. My finger slid down the liquid and pulled up crimson. “How’d it go?” I asked Soot, who now perched on the top of the fence post, watching with rapt attention.
“Prick of blood unnoticed unforced…
Hair of innocence…
They must touch…” I rubbed the horsehair through the blood from Birch’s flimsy grip.
A smile tugged at my lips as he looked down at me with horror. “Baby hands.”
“What are you doing? If it’s magic… that’s… that’s outlawed. Rumor, you could bring the rapture to Willowspire.”
“Hammer becomes the nail,” I chanted, not entirely sure what would happen, or if the singular spell I found in the old, mysterious book was even appropriate, real, or something that could ultimately curse me for trying out an unknown enchantment not of my family or coven line.
But no, I wasn’t risking Willowspire. It was the solstice.
The day our magic was so strong that it blocked out Asunder’s wards, if only for one day.
Like an eclipse momentarily shadowed the sun.
A flaw in his spell or proof that we were stronger than he gave us credit for. Regardless, I chanted.
“ Hammer becomes the nail. Hammer becomes the nail. Hammer becomes the nail .” The book buzzed against my back, sparks ignited in my fingertips, and a cold wind rushed around us.
The sky darkened, and energy like I’d never felt before rushed through my palms. This magic, this spell, flowed through me differently than others I’d used.
That could have been because of its unknown source, the blank book—or it could have been simply the strongest spell I’d ever used.
No matter the reason, the sensation was terrifying and thrilling all at once.
Pulling my exhilaration away from my body, in an attempt to steady my mind, I smoothed the hair from my face as the wind encircled us.
Birch fell to his knees, and the horse suddenly shrieked, kicking upright on its back legs.
I dodged out of the way, pressing myself to a fence post and bracing for the moment Adder yanked me up to kill me—when the wind halted its assault.
The sky cleared and the dust settled. Birds chirped in the distance again, and I pulled my shaking hands from my face. Birch panted, his chest heaving in and out as he clutched the ground. Meanwhile, the horse shook its head.
My heart dropped.
Nothing happened.
I’d failed again. Though, I wasn’t even sure what I was trying to achieve. My coven would call me reckless and lucky that nothing horrible transpired from my trifling with an unknown spell. The disappointment I felt in that moment that nothing terrible had happened should have disturbed me.
A meow and a fuzzy head bumping against my elbow pulled me into the present. I stood on wobbly knees, my throat dry. That spell really took it out of me. For what? A whole lot of nothing. I’d knocked Birch over—wow, way to go, Rumor.
My witch ancestors were all having a good laugh on the other side of the veil, I just knew it. Soot hissed and moved in front of me as two men stalked toward us.
The Vipers were back.
Birch was still heaving on all fours.
“What’s going on?” Adder called over, carrying a shovel on his shoulder.
I didn’t need to wait around to find out what the shovel was for.
Climbing the fence, I almost slipped on the skirt of my dress, and landed ungracefully on the other side.
Hemlock helped my sister’s lousy fiancé up.
Birch gripped tightly onto Hemlock’s arms, steadying himself, before finally letting go and standing.
Immobilized by curiosity, I didn’t run away.
Suddenly, Birch met my gaze, and somehow his usual sullen sort of disinterest was gone and replaced with…
Boisterous laughter startled me, and I jumped back.
Hemlock and Adder stepped back too.
“What’s so fucking funny?” Adder snapped as Birch Viper guffawed.
“Ha!” Birch enunciated before smiling at me and nodding, repeating himself. “Ha!”
I shook my head in confusion.
The horse whined, hitting its snout against Adder’s shoulder.
Birch pointed to the horse, then poked his own chest after taking a moment to survey his fingers, seemingly assessing how to make them move.
Again, he laughed, before charging forward in a sprint.
He fell once, and Hemlock helped him up, before Birch shook him off again and took off running.
The horse cried, hee-hawing, as Adder passed me a condemning glance. He pointed at me as I backed away, as if to say he’d be coming for me, before dropping his shovel and charging after his runaway brother.
Let Adder Viper come after me. I didn’t care.
Especially not now, as the horse turned, frozen and still, and lowered its head to glare at me as it dug a hoof into the ground.
Then it clicked in my mind.
What I’d done.
A smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I made my way forward, meeting the animal’s eyes as it stood unnaturally still for such a previously rowdy creature.
We stared at each other for a long moment before I grinned. “Hi, Birch.”