Page 90 of Reckless Witch

I grasp her hand and revel for an instant over the warm silk of her slim fingers in mine. Then I press the back of my hand against the sigil and the mark disappears. Her eyes widen slightly and I know she’s sensing the natural flow of her magic. I can’t blame her for missing that strength. I couldn’t live without my fire.

She pulls her hand free and regards me. “You’re sure I can use all my magic now?”

“Give it a try,” I say.

She lifts her hand, palm up, and a swirling ball of multi-colored energy appears just above her palm. She smiles in kid-like delight and bounces the ball off the floor twice before closing her hand around the energy. The ball disappears.

“We should get going,” Raith says.

Leilah shakes her head. “Not just yet.”

“Leilah,” he growls.

“Don’t get your knickers in a wad,” she says. “I figure that while we’re here, you all owe me a look around.”

“Owe you—” Raith begins.

“I’m not an idiot, Raith,” she cuts in. “Miriam was my grandmother, for fuck’s sake. You all want me to believe that she consorted with Shadows. As her only living relative, am I not due the right to see the evidence for myself?” Raith hesitates and she adds, “You said she blew a hole in the basement. I want to see it.”

His mouth thins and I start to say she’s right, but Blade says, “She has a point, Raith. She needs to put this to rest. If she were anyone else, you know we would present them with the evidence.”

Raith’s eyes lock with Leilah’s. “No funny business. Understand?”

She angles her head and starts to turn. He grasps her arm. Her head snaps up.

“We collected all the remains of Shadows—that we located.” He hesitates. “The Shadows are…crafty.”

Her dark eyes widen slightly.

“We can never be certain they are truly gone,” Raith adds.

Leilah’s expression softens.

“If anything happens—anything at all—you are to stand down and let us deal with it,” he says. She opens her mouth to reply, but he shakes his head, and growls, “It’s that or we leave this instant. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I can’t carry you out of here.”

Stony half growls a squeal and Raith looks at the creature. “You know I am right.” He ignores the familiar’s snort and looks at Leilah.

She gives a single nod and he releases her, though I am certain his grip lasts a heartbeat longer than necessary.

“I will lead,” he says. “Ethan will follow, then you, then Blade.” He looks at us and we each nod.

Raith crosses the kitchen to the basement door and eases it open. To my surprise, the pig squeals loudly. We all look at the creature as it morphs into a sparrow.

“Stony,” Leilah cries. “You don’t have to.”

The sparrow swoops toward Leilah, then shoots across the room, past Raith and through the open door. Raith reaches inside and flips on the basement light.

The sparrow chirps from the basement and a smidgen of tension eases from my shoulders. Reuniting Leilah with her familiar is probably the smartest thing we’ve done since she’s come back into our lives.

Raith’s eyes shift to me and I start toward him. Leilah follows with Blade taking up the rear. We descend the stairs. We reach the basement to find the familiar back in pig form and sniffing around the five-by-five-by-five foot hole in the concrete floor of the basement. As was the case when we first investigated, there is no debris. It’s as if the blast sucked everything down into the earth.

Leilah draws a sharp breath but says nothing as she slowly circles the hole. She drops to a squat on the far side and extends a hand over the hole.

“Leilah,” Raith growls.

She shoots him a thin-lipped look. “I’m just seeing if I can sense any magic.”

She closes her eyes and her expression relaxes. We remain quiet until she finally pushes to her feet.