Chapter 7 - Dani #2
Still, she hauled herself off the sofa and went to kneel by the hearth. The logs were stacked neatly, kindling tucked between them. Simple enough.
She held her hands out over the wood and drew in a breath.
Normally, this was easy. Picture warmth, call up a trickle of power, let it spark at the fingertips. She’d lit a hundred fires in Salem without incident. A basic witch job. Comforting, even.
This time, the magic did not feel comforting.
It surged.
Heat flooded her palms, racing up her arms, pressing against the inside of her skin like something trapped too long. The bond hummed with it, a low, insistent vibration spreading out from her chest.
She let the smallest fraction go.
Fire roared up.
Flame leaped out of the grate in a violent rush, licking up the chimney, flaring toward the ceiling. Heat blasted across her face. Aurelia yelped.
Panic punched through Dani. She flung her arms up as if she could block it with her body.
Layla’s hand snapped up.
A sharp pulse of magic slammed into the wild flame. It twisted, shrank, sucked back into the fireplace as if yanked by an invisible rope. In the space of a heartbeat, the explosion was gone. In its place, a perfectly ordinary fire crackled on the logs.
Dani stayed frozen on her knees, breathing hard.
“Well,” Layla said mildly. “That answers that question.”
Dani stared at her hands. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know,” Layla said. “Sit before you fall over.”
Dani’s legs obeyed, shakier than she liked. She retreated to the sofa and sat heavily. Aurelia pressed herself against Dani’s side, fingers checking her arms for burns.
“I’m fine,” Dani said quickly. “Are you okay?”
Aurelia nodded. “You nearly set your hair on fire,” she muttered.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Dani said weakly.
Layla watched them both, eyes thoughtful. “Your magic’s shifted,” she said. “More than I thought it might, actually.”
Dani let her head thunk back against the cushions. “Great. So mating an alpha comes with bonus explosives.”
Layla’s lips twitched. “When Dominic and I mated, my magic changed, too. Not like yours. I started getting these…visions. Predictions. I still don’t fully understand them. But I’ve learned to trust them.”
“So you’re saying, mating has caused my magic to…amplify?”
“Again, I’m not fully sure how it works,” Layla said, frustration lacing her voice, “and it’s not like I can openly research it.
This place is…” she paused, before sighing, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Well, I hardly need to tell you. My working theory is that when a witch mates a shifter, and it’s a true mating, it’s not only him that gets powers. She does, too.”
“Is that why the witches are here?” Dani asked. “Because you asked for them? So you could get answers?”
Layla’s gaze went distant for a moment. The firelight caught the faint shadows under her eyes.
“Lately, my visions have been getting worse,” she admitted.
“Witches standing alone in the snow. Wolves circling something they can’t see.
Hybrids moving in patterns that feel…deliberate.
” She shook her head once, as if clearing it.
“I kept seeing Skymist. Over and over. So I pushed for this. I thought if we brought everyone here, packs, covens, even vampires, whoever would answer, we might stand a chance of understanding what we’re up against before it breaks over our heads. ”
“And Dominic let you?”
“He trusts me,” said Layla. “It’s the shifters he doesn’t. We’ve already had some visiting nomadic witches leave.”
“So quickly?”
Layla shrugged, “In the dead of the night. I suppose they saw the way some of the wolves looked at them and decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
I can’t blame them. You’re all vulnerable here, Dani.
Far from your own land. Outnumbered. You came because you trusted Lavinia .
And she trusted me. I take that seriously. ”
Dani stared into the flames. “I don’t know if Arthur feels the same.”
Layla didn’t rush to contradict her. “He’s…trying,” she said finally. “In his own, incredibly frustrating way. He’s spent his whole life being told witches are a threat to his people. Now his god has tied him to one. He will catch up. He just hasn’t yet.”
“He claimed me in front of everyone, bit me at a mating ritual, and I haven’t seen him since,” Dani said flatly. “I woke up in a stranger’s bed in a building full of wolves who would happily tear me apart if he barked the word. Forgive me if I’m not overwhelmed by his progress.”
Aurelia’s grip on her book tightened.
Layla nodded slowly. “You’re allowed to be angry,” she said. “You’re allowed to not forgive him. What I’m saying is…it doesn’t begin and end with him. Dominic will not let anything happen to your coven. I won’t. Lavinia certainly won’t. You have more shields now than you did ten years ago, Dani.”
Dani let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“I’ve spent a decade making sure nobody had the power to hurt us like that again.
Running, hiding, keeping my head down. Now I’m back where it all started, and somehow I’m meant to trust a pack, a coven, and a god who thinks this is all very entertaining. ”
Layla’s expression softened. “I can’t make you trust any of that,” she said. “But I can promise you’re not alone in it. And I can keep dragging Arthur by the ear until he realizes he cannot just mark you and then sulk in a corner.”
“Please do,” Dani muttered.
Layla’s smile flashed, quick and sharp. “Oh, I intend to.”
She pushed herself up a little straighter, as if changing the air on purpose. “Enough heavy conversation for this early. Are you doing anything tonight?”
Dani blinked. “Not to my knowledge.”
“Good,” Layla said. “Come to the Anchor. Dom wants to welcome everyone who’s arrived so far. The Severney are in, so are some of the vampires, and the Juneau delegation arrived at dawn.”
Aurelia perked up. “Vampires?”
Dani groaned, “How many times have I told you, vampires in real life are nothing like the ones in the old witch folktales!”
With a disappointed sniff, Aurelia closed her book, clambering closer to Dani. “Will Edith be there?”
“The Salem Coven are, of course, invited,” said Layla with a smile. “It’s at The Anchor. Dominic’s got plenty of wolves on guard detail. It’ll be perfectly safe, I promise you.”
Aurelia looked at Dani hopefully. “Please?”
Dani hesitated. Part of her wanted to say no, to retreat back to the quiet, controllable space of her room and pretend the outside world didn’t exist for one more day. The other part knew she couldn’t hide. Not here. Not now.
She thought of the witches who had already left. Of the ones who stayed. Of Arthur, somewhere in town or up in the mountains.
“Will the Nordan be there?”
Layla’s smile faltered slightly. “Some of them, I think. They are invited, but…well, Arthur’s made his opinion about this summit clear.”
Dani sighed. “All right,” she said quietly. “We’ll come.”
Aurelia grinned, sudden and bright.
“Good,” Layla said. “Sevenish. Come in the front like you’re just there for a drink. Let the wolves deal with it.”
“Thank you,” Dani said, catching her hand, “for everything. It’s nice to have a friendly face here. One who…understands.”
Layla clasped her hand, her pretty face almost melting. “Selfishly, I’m very glad you’re here, Dani. I’d love it if we could be friends. And one day, I’ll tell you the full history between Dominic and me. I guarantee it’ll make whatever happened with you and Arthur look like a rom-com!”
Dani laughed, “I doubt that, but I’d like to hear the story all the same.”
With a chuckle, Layla pushed herself carefully to her feet. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. Read. Breathe. Hide, if you need to.”
“Reading sounds nice,” Dani said.
Layla squeezed her shoulder as she passed. “For what it’s worth,” she murmured, “I know you follow Gaia, but I really do believe that Lunarion has a plan. He’s a stubborn bastard, but he doesn’t waste power.”
Dani wasn’t sure she believed in any god’s kindness.
But as she settled back on the sofa, Aurelia curling against her side with her book, the fire burning steady and contained in the grate, she let herself breathe into the small, fragile moment.
Tonight, there would be The Anchor. Wolves and witches and strangers from the Severney.
For now, there was warmth. There were books. There was her daughter’s weight against her, solid and safe.
For now, that was enough.