Chapter 14
LAYLA
I woke in the early afternoon, thoughts tossing around my head like waves hitting the rocks. Even though I was still exhausted, I didn’t think further sleep was possible.
Costi slept soundly as I gently pulled myself out of his embrace.
After setting him an alarm on his phone, I crept out to the bathroom and washed my face, trying not to notice the dark circles under my eyes. Sativa’s new guardian, Salix, was asleep on the couch as I slipped out the front door.
I figured it was safe enough with our teams on constant patrol, and I needed to find Hazel urgently. I hurried through the Circle, watching my surroundings carefully. I saw others doing the same. Despite the breezy, sunny day, no one lingered outside.
I scurried into the library and was met with a crowd of unfamiliar witches. They took up most of the space in the center of the building, sleeping fitfully, huddled on sleeping bags and chairs. A child was crying piteously as someone tried to soothe them. Bags and piles of belongings were pushed up everywhere, and a table with water coolers had been set up on the back wall.
A teen was slumped in an armchair near the door, toying with a necklace.
“Is anyone from the library here?” I asked quietly. My stomach churned with unease.
The teen shrugged, looking at me with blank eyes.
Not knowing what to say to the young witch, I made my way to the library counter. It had been commandeered to hold brightly colored boxes of packaged food—a rarity from outside. Behind the counter, a hallway ran into a different part of the building. A light was on, so I went to investigate.
I found Hazel piling old books and papers into a box in a small conference room with a round table. “There you are,” I said, startling her.
“Oh, Layla,” she said. I couldn’t decipher her tone, but it didn’t sound overjoyed. She looked paler than usual, her greenish eyes wide and somber.
“What’s going on out there? Are those—”
“The Saltmarsh Circle,” she said, nodding. “What’s left of them…”
“Fate,” I exhaled, feeling sick. There was a crowd, but nowhere near the number of people that even a tiny Circle like Northern Sea had.
“You were looking for me?”
“I…” My problems suddenly seemed inconsequential, and I wanted to apologize and leave. But I had to try, or I’d be of no help at all. I breathed in. “Your database of circle spells. I’d like to look at it… if you’ll let me.”
Hazel frowned and glanced around to the stacks of papers and folders she was packing. “Right now?”
“I know it’s not a great time, but I need to figure out the issue with my familiar.”
She nodded slowly. “We need all the spell casters we can get.”
“Exactly. I don’t have any other skills,” I said with a wry smile.
Hazel nodded again without expression. I cringed.
The redheaded witch pulled a tablet out of a bag hanging from one of the chairs. “You can borrow this. There’s a copy of my work so far.”
“Thank you. I’ll bring it back,” I said, then nibbled the corner of my lip awkwardly. “How are you doing?”
She blinked at me. “Huh?”
“I mean, we saw some pretty, um… unusual—”
“Oh,” she interrupted, turning her face away as she busied herself with boxing again. “Oh, that. Yes, that was unusual.”
I had clearly worn out my tenuous welcome. “Yes,” I said with a weak smile. “Well, I’ll get out of your hair. Thanks again.”
“Good luck,” Hazel said distractedly as I scurried out of the room.
Down the hall, I was relieved to see a back exit illuminated with a sign. I didn’t want to see the Saltmarsh Circle witches again.
I paused outside to rub the fingers of one hand over my eyes. We would fare better—we were prepared. We were watching the skies. I had to believe that.
I stopped by the provisionary, where several witches were working to stack new food onto the shelves. My head spun. How many people lived with me now—seven? Eight if you counted Fern, who didn’t seem intent on going home. Fate, and four of them were guardians who would probably burn through a hundred times the calories as the rest of us.
I wrapped Hazel’s tablet in a cloth napkin so it would be protected, then grabbed a cardboard box from a stack in the corner and started piling in containers. I couldn’t bring everyone a drink, so I added a tin of lemonade mix and some tea bags as well. There was a large open bin with bamboo forks, probably since there were so many refugees arriving. I took a few of those, too, not knowing if we had enough silverware for everyone.
“Thank you,” I told the working crew.
An older witch, their curly hair streaked with gray, gave me a tremulous smile. “Thank you , spell caster.”
I ducked my head and left quickly with a murmured reply.
When I arrived back at the apartment, juggling my heavy box against my hip while I wrestled the door open, Salix was sitting up sleepily on the couch. She was tall and built sturdily, probably a great advantage in her line of work.
“Hey, spell caster,” she said around a yawn, running a hand over her shaved head. “I’ve seen you around Northern Sea. Didn’t catch your name.”
“Layla,” I said, setting down the heavy box.
“Oh, the one who isn’t casting yet. Is that all food? Fate bend me over a log, you’re a lifesaver.”
Salix helped lay out the containers as I turned on the toaster oven to warm up an assortment of hand pies. I pulled dishes out to stack them up and found a pitcher to mix the lemonade. We had a dish set for six, but one of the glasses was missing.
“I’ll try to find us some more cups later,” I said absently.
I ate my lunch quickly, and the full stomach and lack of sleep finally ground me to a halt. I was too exhausted to worry or think anymore.
Thank fate.
I crawled into my bed and fell asleep to Costi’s even breathing.
***
The next day arrived, and the next, and still there was no sign of the angels. My covenmates and the guardians came and went at all hours, on a rotating schedule. I took on the unofficial duty of going out to procure food for everyone, with Fern helping by washing the dishes and rinsing out the containers to return. Afraid to leave the apartment, she busied herself with household chores, giving the rest of us a break.
I was able to pick up some news along with our meals. Refugees from the three Circles—Saltmarsh, Tidewater, and Cypress—were still trickling in. Some had fled west to Circles there, but most were coming here, believing in strength in numbers and hoping the mountains would form some natural protection.
The news was bad. Their Circles had been devastated . We had gained a huge number of witches to protect, but hardly any were spell casters or guardians. Most of them had been killed in battle.
There were rumors—angels viciously pursuing any witch they spotted, using glowing weapons to cut down the unprotected, setting buildings ablaze to flush out new prey. It was a wonder anyone had survived at all. The Hillsong Circle, in Kentucky, was believed to be a total loss.
Knowing an attack must be imminent, the new piecemeal Mountain Circle worked around the clock to prepare, bringing in food and supplies from the outside for all the new residents and trying to complete building projects. Witches were crammed into every indoor space available. We were burgeoning close to four thousand in a space built for less than half that.
Costi was on an evening shift, not due back until two in the morning, so I began to scroll through Hazel’s database in between mealtimes. It was extensive , with dates going back five hundred years. Each spell had a numbered designation based on the book it was found in and a description of the effect, with Hazel and Calamus’s cross-referenced notes about history, variations, and speculations on whether the spells would work or not. I decided to look through line by line instead of searching for keywords so I wouldn’t miss anything.
There were circle spells for everything from growing hair to turning stones into metal—far more than circlewrights ever used these days. I supposed our slow circle magic had been mostly replaced with the technology of industrialization. It was a shame. We used to be a wonder of the world, but now our powers were outmatched by modern civilization in almost every area except defense against angels. And we weren’t doing so great with that lately.
Lying on my bed, I flicked quickly through the endless list of spells. In the hall, Datura was helping Salix move one of the beds from Sativa’s room into the bedroom with the other guardians so she wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch. Briefly, I imagined giving up one of the beds in my own room, forcing me to share with my surly, attractive roommate. It would be a noble cause, to help other refugees.
I flopped over onto my back with a groan. I was getting nowhere with this. I hadn’t come across anything useful, like a spell to shield witches from angel death rays. What in Hell’s name had we been doing for the last half millennium? I’d seen at least ten spells for curing toenail fungus, and one to calm a crying baby that took an hour to draw. Maybe spend less time drawing out a circle spell and more time rocking the poor little thing.
Halfway through the database, a new section began, denoting a different book of spells, and I slowed my scrolling, paying attention. This one seemed a lot more serious—the first entry was a spell to create a quicksand trap. Not that great against flying angels, but moving in the right direction.
In this more interesting section, one line denoted a place where an unknown number of pages were missing from the tome. Farther down, Hazel had highlighted a spell in yellow that was labeled “creates a door.” Maybe she meant to look into that one more, since there were no further details about what it meant. I imagined a circlewright hoping for a nice wooden door with a knob and knocking a big hole in the wall instead.
Scrolling farther, I finally read a line that made me pause: traps a familiar . Excitement shivered through me. Now this was promising—
A sound in the hall made me look up. My bedroom door banged open, and Costi rolled in like a hurricane, all anger and black combat gear.
I shot up and grabbed Hazel’s tablet before it fell. “What the—”
He slammed the door shut and stalked toward me, throwing himself on my bed sideways with a frustrated groan. “Fucking useless,” he growled, splaying a muscular arm over his eyes.
A light flicked on in the hallway—Costi had probably woken everyone up. My heart was still beating a million miles an hour. “What’s useless?”
“Daire. The Arcaenum. They’re gonna get people killed.”
“What’s going on?”
“The whole thing is fucked. They have five witches watching the sky from fire towers in the mountains, and their brilliant plan is to relay any sightings to the teams on the ground—in the woods .”
I balked. “That’s a horrible setup! Spell casters can’t hit anything in the sky if there’s a bunch of trees in the way. They’ll cause a forest fire while the angels just cruise in and murder everyone!”
Costi made a low sound. “Wish they’d make you security coordinator.”
“They’re acting like they still think of the angels as mindless creatures when it’s obvious they’re planning things. There has to be a way to make them understand. I’m still a delegate. Maybe I can get through to them.”
“They’ll kick you out.”
“Probably,” I sighed. “But I have to try.”
“I’m going with you,” he said.
“I don’t need to tell you what a bad idea that is. They’re not happy with you.”
“Got a lot of bad ideas when it comes to you.” He gave me a faint smile.
“You could have a little self-preservation,” I said, poking him in the side.
“Where’s the fun in that?”
***
The day was clear, but the cool of the oncoming autumn lingered in the air, and the sun hadn’t quite made it above the mountains bracing the Circle. I huddled into my cardigan as I waited outside the cafeteria.
“Hey,” I said to Calamus warily as he approached. “Thanks for meeting with me.”
He sighed. He was dressed immaculately in his crimson spell caster robes as usual, his short dark hair neatly brushed. “You shouldn’t be outside, Layla.”
I bit back a retort, reminding myself that I didn’t come to fight. “Let’s go in, then.”
I followed him into the crowded cafeteria. A few spots were still available for sitting, and we found a place at the end of a bench table.
Calamus brought over two mugs of hot tea and set one in front of me, ever polite and attentive. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior at the chamber. I shouldn’t have taken my frustrations out on you.”
I blinked. “I wasn’t expecting an apology, but thank you. I’m… sorry I yelled at you.”
He smiled. “Despite everything, I want us to be friends.”
Despite everything? What does that mean? I breathed in, centering myself. “I want that too,” I told him, hoping it was true.
He looked into my eyes. “How have you been? You’re not frightened?”
“I’m not scared. I am wondering how we haven’t been attacked yet.”
He shrugged. “It does seem strange, but who can know these things?”
My annoyance surged. Oh, I don’t know, maybe spell casters who have teams trained for scouting? Maybe the security coordinator who’s supposed to think about security? Maybe the council of people elected to make sure we know about these things? Wasn’t Calamus concerned about the angels at all?
I made a noncommittal sound. “How’s the patrolling going? I heard they have you out in the woods.” I wasn’t about to mention Costi, or exactly where we were having conversations.
Calamus nodded decisively. “You’re well protected. If any angels breach the perimeter, we’ll destroy them before they get to the Circle.”
I had to stop my eyes from rolling. The only thing he’d be destroying was the local wildlife and possibly the infrastructure.
I needed to ask my questions and get out of here. It was clear to me that Calamus and I would never be on the same page. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
“Of course,” he said with a smile.
“I borrowed something from Hazel, and I need to get it back to her. Do you know where she’s staying?”
“That’s easy enough. I don’t know where she is, but I’ll text her.”
I gave a genuine smile. “That would be great.”
Calamus nodded, typing into his phone. “There, done.”
“Thanks. There’s one more thing…”
“What is it? You can ask me anything,” he said.
I felt my face heat. “I… I need to get in touch with my dad. But I don’t know where my parents are staying. Is there a directory, or—”
Calamus’s normal mask of mild indifference shattered into a look of horror that shocked me.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I’m sorry, Layla. I thought…”
Alarm surged through me. “Just tell me.”
“Your mother is staying with us—my father and I—since the recent attack. She led me to believe your father wasn’t… in the picture.”
“ What? ” I said too loudly, drawing attention from those around us. I lowered my voice, but panic began to take over. “She can’t just leave him. He’s sick. Where is he? What if he’s not taking his meds?” I shouldn’t have left him. I should have made sure he got here okay. I should have been more diligent about finding a mediator to help me. “I have to go find him,” I said through forming tears.
Calamus grabbed my arm before I could get up. “Stay, Layla. You can’t go running around outside. I’ll help you. If he’s here, we’ll find him.”
My breathing felt too fast. If he’s here. I tried to remember if my mother had mentioned him. Did she bring him with her? She wouldn’t have left him in the Northern Sea Circle alone, would she?
“They said they got everyone out, but what if—”
Calamus took my hands in his. “They didn’t leave anyone in Northern Sea. I promise I’ll find him, Layla. Let me talk to the other covens and the housing coordinator.”
“Okay,” I said, blinking back moisture. This was so embarrassing, airing out my dirty laundry with Calamus of all people. “Thank… thank you.”
“Oh,” a voice interrupted. Hazel’s eyes flitted to where Calamus’s hands covered mine. I yanked them away, but it was too late. I cringed.
“You wanted to see me?” she asked uncertainly when we didn’t say anything.
Fate, she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
I tried to compose myself and gave her a wobbly smile. “Hey, Hazel. Sorry, I asked Calamus to get in touch so I could give you back your tablet. I didn’t know he’d asked you to drop by.”
She regarded me suspiciously, and I wished a sinkhole would open below me. If I were her, I would think this was contrived to show off my conquest.
It’s not me, it’s Calamus being oblivious! I desperately tried to convey with my eyes.
I took the tablet out from my cloth satchel and held it out to her. “Thanks for letting me look through it.”
“No problem,” she said, taking it from me with a little more force than strictly necessary. She clutched it against her chest like a shield, looking like she would bolt at any moment.
Oh fate, this is such a mess. “I, um… found one that looked like it might work. I was wondering if… if you might help me with it. If you want to try it. I’m not great with circles,” I told her, trying to broker some sort of peace.
Hazel flushed a bright red. “I’m not a circlewright,” she said thickly, glancing at Calamus.
I withered. Fate, I had thought Calamus was oblivious, but here I was pulling up every single insecurity this poor woman had and throwing it in her face. I couldn’t have done worse if I was trying.
“You found a circle spell?” Calamus asked me with interest.
Oh fate, he really is oblivious.
“He has a copy of the database. He can help,” Hazel said, stepping backward. “I’d better… get going.” She hustled away before I could tell her to be careful outside.
My insides curdled. I had to fix this somehow. “That was kind of her. She seems really sweet. Smart and beautiful,” I said.
He frowned with mild distaste. “Who, Hazel? I suppose.”
Yikes . Poor woman.
Calamus pulled out his phone. “Which spell were you looking at? I can help you with it if it looks viable.”
I sighed. “JB47,” I said, giving Hazel’s designation. I had been trained in circle magic in school, but doing new circles was always difficult. A trained circlewright like Calamus would save me a lot of time and headaches.
He tapped a few buttons and raised his eyebrows. “ Traps a familiar ? Great find, Layla.” He beamed a smile at me and opened the attached image of the diagram to examine it. “It’s complete, and it looks straightforward. It’ll only take an hour to trace. I’ll find us a place to try it out.”
I sighed. “Thanks, Calamus. You’re doing a lot for me, and I appreciate it.” He really was trying to be helpful. It felt shamefully one-sided, and I wished I could do something for him in return, but I couldn’t give him what he wanted from me.
“It’s my pleasure,” he said, picking up my empty mug for me as he stood. He rested his free hand on my shoulder, looking down. “I have to go, but I’ll get in touch as soon as I find out anything about your father.”
“Hey, Calamus,” Datura said to him as he passed. She and Oliver were heading for me with their trays of food.
My lips tipped down. They had a mischievous look, and I wasn’t in the mood.
“Good morning,” Calamus replied politely, nodding to them as he navigated away.
“No one brought us breakfast today!” Oliver cried as he slid into the seat Calamus had vacated.
“We’re so hungry,” Datura complained, squashing me over on the bench so she could sit too. I was trapped unless I wanted to bother the people on our other side.
Oliver clutched his belly dramatically. “We nearly died , but someone’s too busy flirting to feed us.”
“If you’re starving, then eat ,” I said, stealing a strawberry from Datura’s plate.
“So,” said Datura, completely ignoring my suggestion, “when is it?”
“When is what?” I asked automatically, realizing too late that I’d just played into whatever she was setting up.
“The rival fight,” she said with a sharp grin.
I groaned, sinking my head into my hands. I was glad they weren’t at the last Arcaenum meeting or they’d never let this go. What counted as a rival fight? Did it have to come to blows?
Oliver pushed two orange slices into a pile of baked oatmeal. “In this corner, we have the brooding guardian Constantine, who inexplicably moved in with us and glares violently at anyone who looks at Layla—”
“Cut it out,” I hissed.
“And in this corner, we have handsome Calamus, sought after by single witches everywhere and the Mountain Circle’s most powerful spell caster, last seen with his hands all over our lovely prize.”
“It was one hand, on my shoulder—”
Oliver mashed the two oranges together and tumbled them around, providing growling sound effects. He shoved one into the oatmeal with a dying gurgle.
I tilted my head at the mess. “Well? Who won?”
“Blackthorn,” Oliver and Datura said in unison, then laughed riotously.
I rolled my eyes pointedly at them, but I couldn’t fight the small smile that tugged at my mouth. Their antics had pulled me out of my own bleak thoughts.
The pair quieted for a few moments as they ate, and I sank back into my somber mood.
“Are you two okay?” I asked seriously. They’d never even seen an angel, hadn’t trained with their guardians, and now they were responsible for defending against an imminent attack. To top it off, from what Costi had said, they were set up for failure.
I added that to my long list of worries—sometime in the weeks I’d been here, these two had wormed their way into my heart.
They glanced at each other, communicating without a word. Datura looked away with a sigh, and Oliver stirred his food around with a spoon.
“I suck at being a spell caster,” Datura said. “I hate patrolling.”
Oliver said, “I’m terrified constantly.”
“I wish I could help,” I told them.
Oliver brightened. “Any luck with your magic yet?”
“I have a circle spell to try. That’s why I was meeting up with Calamus. But nothing yet.”
“I just want you to get your magic. We’ll hide behind you, you can fry the entire sky if any angels get close, and Blackthorn can slice up the stragglers,” Datura said.
“That’s mean,” said Oliver as he lobbed a cherry at Datura, who dodged it. “If they pair up, then they definitely can’t date.”
“Fate help us, here we go again,” I muttered, picking up the cherry from where it had fallen onto the bench.
“It’ll be all forbidden and hot,” Datura argued.
I set the cherry on the edge of her plate. “You two certainly have a lot of opinions on dating for people who don’t seem to date.”
Oliver grinned. “We’re spectators, not participants.”
“Commentators, not players,” Datura agreed with a straight face.
“Why don’t you ever pick on Sativa? She’s got to have some drama going on with all those lovers.”
“Oh, she does, but that’s old news,” Oliver said. “Yours is way more fun.”
My phone pinged, and I looked down. There was a text from Calamus.
Good news, I found your father right away. He’s staying with the Oak Grove Coven in G block. They said he’s doing great.