Chapter Six #2
‘Cast the spell again,’ Orion said, sliding the cookbook back towards himself. He held it to his chest. ‘And this time, remember, there’s no one watching you. No one listening. They can’t. I’ve made sure of that.’
It was easier this time, I’ll admit. Orion had silenced the world around me, and that took away part of what had shifted my focus. But he couldn’t quieten the voice in my head – the one that kept showing, in bright detail, all the ways I was bound to mess this spell up too.
Still, after the third attempt, the book had slid from Orion’s grasp halfway across the table. It was an improvement.
‘Well, Reverie, I think you should start thanking me now,’ he began, leaning across the table to grab the book. ‘Told you I could crack your spellcasting issue.’
‘It only got halfway,’ I pointed out to him.
‘Which is closer than it got the time before,’ he replied simply.
‘You’re going to be able to cast the soulmate spell by the end of next month.
And until then, every lesson will be about strengthening your spellcasting.
Summoning first, protection next, healing for a final touch and then the actual soulmate spell. ’
‘Sounds fun,’ I muttered.
‘Reverie,’ Orion said, firmly. ‘I wouldn’t have agreed to help if I didn’t think you were capable.
If I thought this would only lead to the town suffering for longer, I wouldn’t have thought twice about telling your mother.
So, if you can’t trust yourself to be ready, trust that I wouldn’t risk all of this if I didn’t believe in you. ’
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t say anything. His confidence had floored me.
‘Now, let’s map out the rest of our lessons,’ Orion said, pulling out a sheet of lined paper from his notebook. ‘You’re asking for a little break from the Wishing Well, yes?’
‘Temporarily,’ I remind him. ‘I’ll tell Ivy about it when I go in for my shift today.’
‘Right, and when do you usually have these shifts?’
‘After school normally,’ I reply. ‘And on weekends if Ivy’s strapped for help.’
‘Good,’ Orion says, noting that down. ‘We’ll structure it like this: after school, we do spellcasting lessons. Twice a week, you have a shift at the Treasure Trove – where maybe some of our spellcasting lessons can be of help. Two birds, one stone.’
‘I hate that saying,’ I told him, off-handedly. ‘Why are people hitting birds anyway?’
‘Fine,’ Orion retorted. ‘Two witches, one stone.’
‘You think a stone could take down a witch?’ I scoffed, arms folding over my chest.
‘A hex that glues your mouth shut could take you down,’ Orion mused. ‘Could you imagine? You’d go mad without the ability to talk.’
‘Bold words coming from the guy who said he loved to hear me talk.’
As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to snatch them back. I watched Orion as he breathed in sharply, but thankfully, I wouldn’t have to hear his response to my clumsy reminder of the past, because the bubble of quiet around us shattered and I looked round to see Raven standing at our table.
‘You two both unscathed?’ she asked, in lieu of a hello.
I didn’t look at Orion, too afraid of what I’d find looking back at me. Instead, I tried for nonchalance. ‘He might have a mild concussion. I hit him with a book.’
‘He’s got a thick head,’ Raven retorted, quick as ever. ‘He’ll survive.’
‘He will be going now,’ Orion said, pointedly.
Part of me was relieved to hear his usual gruff tone, with no hidden undercurrents.
‘That’s enough spellcasting for the day.
I’m going to head over to the Treasure Trove, let Melodie know about our …
’ He cast a look around the library. In a town this small, someone could always be listening. ‘You know.’
‘We know,’ Raven and I chorused.
Orion packed up his things – whiteboard, pens – and slid the cookbook back into place. Before leaving, he hesitated by the table. I watched as his mind sorted through the things he wanted to say before he settled on, ‘I’ll let you know when you should come to the Treasure Trove.’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘I await your summons, blackmailer.’
He smiled then, that half-tug of his mouth, and my heart twisted a little. I watched him as he left, eyes tracking his movements. And it wasn’t until he was gone that Raven turned to me.
‘So, are we going to talk about it?’ Raven asked, and my body was hit with a sudden shot of adrenaline. Had she somehow heard our conversation?
‘You know, Silas Moon and how you’re going to win him over?
Because, like I said when this all started, if you just show up one day and say he’s your soulmate because of a spell, I can assure you, he will freak out.
’ She steamrolled onwards, not really needing me to agree.
‘But, maybe if you two had some sort of established relationship before you cast the spell, it would be better.’
‘I take it you have a plan?’ I asked, almost dreading to hear it.
Raven’s smile mirrored her brother’s, but just a little sharper. ‘Yeah, I have a plan. One that involves Silas Moon properly noticing you. Come on, I’ll walk you to your shift and tell you all about it.’