I relaxed against his chest, loving the warmth of his touch. I felt him kiss the top of my head, making my scalp tingle, and then pull me tighter. It’ll be all right, I thought. Even if I get sent to Saint Anne’s, I’ll still have Hunter.
After another moment he pulled away. “There’s been some news,” he said.
I felt my stomach tighten. “Your father?” I breathed.
Hunter smiled wryly. “No,” he said. “Yours. Apparently Ciaran has been very active since his arrival in Madrid. That sigil you placed on him shows that he’s visited a few of the top people on the council’s watch list. Of course, there isn’t any concrete proof—yet—that he has been the one behind the attacks against you. But one of the people he visited is Lenore Ammett, a witch known to have very strong telekinetic powers, who is suspected of abusing them.” He paused, watching as the meaning of his words sank in. He nodded slightly and went on. “If she’s helping him, he may have found a way to get around the proximity problem. Based on what we know, Ciaran looks to be the guilty party. Erin thinks so. The council thinks so.” Hunter’s jaw set into a firm line. “And I think so.”
The words were both comforting and unsettling. Of course I wanted Ciaran to be stopped. But then again. . he was my father.
“So how are they going to stop him?” I asked.
“With our help,” Hunter replied.
“Ours?” I repeated faintly.
Hunter nodded. “All of ours. Morgan, I know you’re grounded, but this situation has become very grave. Erin has found a spell that she thinks can help us. It’s a deflection spell—when it is used against a witch, any magick that he works will come back to him threefold.”
I frowned. “Isn’t that just the threefold law?” I asked.
“No.” Wind ruffled an errant strand of Hunter’s pale hair, and I brushed it away from his face. “The threefold law is simply a general rule of the magickal universe, like karma, or what goes around comes around, as you Americans say.” He grinned. “But the universe can take a long time to set things right.”
“But the deflection spell?” I prompted.
“Works immediately.” Hunter’s green eyes glittered. “And harshly.”
“Wait—why doesn’t the council just use this all the time to punish anyone who’s abusing their powers?” I asked, thinking of Selene, who almost succeeded in killing me—and probably did succeed in killing others—before she was brought to justice.
“The spell has some drawbacks,” Hunter admitted slowly.
“Such as?”
Hunter cleared his throat. “Well,” he said, “the spell requires a great deal of combined magick to work. And it tends to sap the energy of those who use it. Basically once the spell is finished, everyone in our circle will be the way you are now—possibly worse—”
“Which means that if someone else is behind these incidents or if someone else, like one of the other Amyranth branches, decides to attack us, we’ll be in serious trouble,” I finished for him.
“Yes,” Hunter said. “But on the positive side, the spell may not sap our energy for that long. We’ll probably just feel ill for about a day. Erin is fairly certain—”
“Erin is fairly certain?” I repeated. “Erin hasn’t done this spell before?”
“No one in the council has,” Hunter admitted uncomfortably. “It’s strictly forbidden because of the dangers involved. Also because of the source. But Erin has managed to convince the council that this is one time it’s worth the risk.”
“What source?” I asked. “Where’s the spell from?”
“It’s from a book by Harris Stoughton,” Hunter replied. “Apparently Alyce gave it to Erin the other day.”
“I was there,” I said faintly, trying to suppress the shudder that had run through my body at the mention of Harris Stoughton’s name. I was liking this plan less and less. “You think this is a good idea?”
Hunter shrugged. “We haven’t heard much about Amyranth lately. I went to New York City yesterday and did some digging—it seems that none of the other members of that cell could have been behind this. They all seem to be lying low. And if we do use the spell, we’ll know right away whether it worked. First, we’ll feel the effects. Second, the spell will hit Ciaran hard—probably making him physically ill for at least a few days. That ought to make it easier for one of the Seekers in Spain to apprehend him. This is our chance to help out.”
I looked at Hunter, feeling his desire to stop Ciaran almost like it was my own. I knew that he wanted to bring Ciaran in for my safety, but there was something else behind it as well. Hunter was a Seeker by nature, not just by training. It was what he lived for. It was a side of him that frightened me. It was also part of the reason I loved him.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked.
“Erin wants to hold a circle tonight: you, me, Sky, and Alyce. I know you’re grounded, but do you think there’s any way you can make it?”
I shook my head. “No. My parents are really upset. They want—” I looked up at the redbrick school building, which contained all of the friends and classmates whom I’d hung out with my entire life. “They want to transfer me to Saint Anne’s.”
Hunter frowned. “The Catholic school? They decided?”
I nodded. “You know they don’t approve of Wicca.”
Hunter sighed. “I’ll help you get through this.”
“They feel like I’m slipping away from them.” I shrugged. “I guess I have been, in a way. Anyway, trust me, there’s no way I can make it to a circle tonight.”
“Right.” Hunter looked disappointed, if not surprised. “Well, we really need you, Morgan. So I’ve brought you this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small dark blue stone. A vein of white ran through it, and it reminded me of the night sky lit up by the Milky Way.
“What is it?” I asked, taking the stone from him.
“It’s lapis lazuli,” Hunter explained. “It facilitates understanding and communication. I’ve strengthened it with a spell. If you place this stone on your forehead, I ought to be able to send you thoughts and images, and you ought to be able to do the same to me, like a witch message, only better. It will be almost as if you were there at the circle with us. I should be able to channel your energy. Even with your power reined, the spell and my magick ought to allow the two of us to communicate. But once your power has been unreined, you’ll be able to participate fully.”
My heart skipped about five beats. “You’re unreining my power?”
“Of course,” Hunter replied. “Erin feels terrible that you were ever reined in the first place. Clearly you had nothing to do with what was happening.”
I slipped my arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. “Thank you,” I said.
“There’s nothing to thank me for.”
My lips were still warm where they had touched Hunter’s. I wanted to contradict him, but I didn’t. Instead, I asked, “Has there been any new word from your parents?”
Hunter pressed his lips together. “No,” he replied. “But I haven’t given up. I’ve thought about the clues I’ve had—a walled city, the fact that I spoke in French. There are a number of walled medieval cities in France. I’ve asked the council whether I can have leave to go look for my father and mother—”
My heart literally—literally—stopped beating for a moment.
“—but they’ve refused. They think my evidence isn’t strong enough. They won’t tell me what research they’ve done so far, and they won’t send someone to France now. But it looks like there might be someone who is willing to search for me. Someone who isn’t in the council and isn’t bound by their rules.”