Night Witch (Weatherstone College, #2)(60)

“We have everything to live for,” he said, and I was relieved to finally feel the anger riding his magic lessening.

When he pulled me to his side, I smiled at our friends. “Thank you all for being here. I didn’t want to drag you all into this, but with our lives on the line, we need all the help we can get.”

“Logan told us everything when he grabbed us from Weatherstone,” Sara said, stepping forward to hug me—and Logan because he wasn’t letting go. “We’re here for you both. Whatever you need, we’re ready and willing to fight.”

“And I love you for it,” I said as warmth swelled in my tired body. “No Belle though . . .” I noted with a sad huff. Not that I’d have expected her, but it hurt nonetheless.

Sara and Haley exchanged a glance. “I heard her on the phone last night with her dad,” Haley said, lowering her voice. “She was updating him on your absence from school this weekend. She’s spying on you, Pais. There’s no other explanation.”

I’d suspected that was part of the reason she was both back and still hanging on the periphery of our group.

“She probably has no choice,” I said, trying to shrug off the hurt.

“She definitely doesn’t have a choice,” Trevor grumbled from behind us, and I turned to find my family had gathered in the doorway. “Don’t give up on her, Pais. She’s going to need you after we deal with her father.”

Noah snorted, crossing his huge arms. “Belle and her evil father are barely even a blip on our worry meter at the moment. This fucking list of ingredients we need to break this curse is half a page long, and most won’t be sitting around waiting for us to find them. It’s going to take time to get it all together.”

“Between us we can handle this,” Mom said in a strong, unwavering voice as she stepped out onto the front porch. “We have all the affinities covered, especially with Logan.”

That reminded me that my family hadn’t met everyone here. “This is Noah and Tobias,” I said, waving toward Logan’s best friends. “They’re Logan’s family.”

Mom shot them both a smile. “Please call me Beth, and my husband is Tom. We’re so thankful that you’re here to help our family. If you ever need anything from us, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

The guys shook her hand, and then Dad’s, as he remained protectively by his wife’s side.

“The honor is ours. Paisley is part of our family, which means you all are too,” Tobias said, sounding very much the aristocrat. Noah nodded his agreement.

Mom beamed, and I pushed down the flutter of warmth that followed his declaration. I’d always had an amazing family behind me, but it felt so much more complete now. Along with Sara and Haley.

When Logan brushed his finger down my cheek, in what was absolutely his signature move, I looked up at him, concern filling my mind. “How’s your magic? You said you felt weaker?”

He shrugged. “A mere drop in a million drops, Precious. I can handle whatever is required to gather our ingredients.”

“Which are what exactly?” Jenna asked, looking between Logan and Noah.

Logan pulled the list from his pocket. “Rafael wrote it out for us, and it matches up with the original curse he showed us. This is not going to be easy.”

He handed it to me so I could skim it quickly. “Fuck me,” I grumbled.

Grains of paradise from West Africa

Silphium grown in the Lombardy region of Italy

Belladonna berries from Asia

Frankincense

Deep-sea urchin venom

Mandrake root

Black pepper standard

Amanita nouhrae mushroom from Chile

Two everlasting candles

Lava from an active volcano

The essence of the dead

A finger bone of a reaper witch

Blood of a spellcaster

Venom of a western taipan from Australia

A purification herbal mix



This was a mammoth and near impossible task—especially the essence of the dead, since we didn’t have a necro on our team, and spellcasters couldn’t access the dead.

Only I could.

“I’m going off my suppression potion,” I said to Mom, handing the list over to her. She read quickly and passed it on. “You’re going to need my power for a few of these items.” If my magic held out long enough.

“Where do we start?” Sara said quickly, her pupils moving as she read over the items. “We should split the items up and tackle them all over the next few days.”

She returned the list to Logan, and I forced myself not to slouch into my exhaustion. It’d been a long, stressful day, and my body was ready to crash.

“We’ll start tomorrow,” Logan said shortly as he discreetly took my weight. “We’ll start tomorrow and divide the list according to our skills and affinities.”

Mom clapped her hands together. “Perfect. I’m going to find places for everyone to sleep, then we’ll order food.” She disappeared inside, Dad right behind her.

Logan linked our fingers, the motion pulling at my insides and sending butterflies through my chest. He led me to the living room and sat on the couch before pulling me onto his lap. I didn’t move for the rest of the evening, my head resting against his chest. By the time we’d eaten our pizza, watched movies, and he half carried me to bed, I found that I wasn’t as drained as usual. This was a normal sort of tired.