Page 95 of His to Hunt

But maybe I can help. That keeps me focused enough to stay calm while we land the private jet on an airfield. There’s nothing else around here except the helicopter, so people must not use it much right now. I doubt many people want to come to an oil spill.

Victor carries everything to the helicopter, and I sit beside him again, headphones on.

“This will be rougher than the jet,” he warns before the blades start spinning.

He’s not wrong. I can feel this in my bones. I hold onto the bar next to me as we lift into the air and turn towards the ocean. My first time seeing the ocean and it’s one that has been poisoned. I doubt I’ll be here long enough to see if my ritual helps.

“Get ready,” Victor says, gesturing ahead.

I feel another rush of nervousness, then immediately get hit with another wave of suffering from the wildlife in the ocean. I squeeze the bar tighter and Victor notices. He puts a hand on my back and gently rubs it until the feeling passes.

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“Don’t apologize. Just get ready to do the ritual,” he says, ten seconds or so before we’re as close to the center as we’ll get.

I look out at the water and there are a few ships floating. I’m not sure if they’re studying or helping, but at least they’re doing something. If this ritual doesn’t help, they may be the only ones who can.

Once we’re in position, I light the ingredients in the bowl, nick my finger with a razor, and let the blood drip. Blue smoke billows in my face and makes me cough. Victor yells some instructions so I can open the helicopter door without falling to my death. I do as he says then panic and toss the entire thing into the ocean.

“I guess we don’t need that bowl,” he chuckles. “You okay?”

“No! Gack! Let’s go,” I gasp, coughing a few more times and catching my breath.

He turns the helicopter away from the oil spill and when I look back, I gasp. The water where the bowl hit is glowing blue, and it’s spreading outwards faster than we’re flying. The water is so brilliantly blue it looks almost translucent. I can see aquatic animals swimming around, not a drop of oil on them, and something blooms inside me that feels like life.

“Oh my god—goddess?” I say, breathing hard. “Look!”

Victor leans to look back and he gasps too. “Holy fuck. You didn’t just heal it… it looks like you brought the fish and shit back to life.”

“I… Wow,” I whisper. “And it’s still going. Look, even along the coastline. Look at the trees.”

Victor is silent for a moment. “Remember how I said we’d have to be careful of attracting the attention of the government? This is the kind of stuff that can do it. We need to be careful.”

“I didn’t expect it to spread like that,” I say, still watching with amazement.

“Let’s just get the fuck out of here,” he growls. “I need to let Saul know what happened as soon as we land. He’ll make sure there’s no trace of who was here today.”

I feel a strange contentment settle in as we get closer to the airfield. Nature is healing. The Ritual of Water worked much better than I anticipated. It was almost a miracle. As close to one as you get in modern times, I suppose. Maybe there will be more once Mother Nature is reincarnated.

Once we land, I hurry to the jet. Victor makes a call to Saul and then joins me. He is more focused on the way home and doesn’t use the auto-pilot. We’re definitely moving faster. Too fast to really enjoy the scenery. After the ritual, I’m not as nervous about flying as I was. Maybe because it led to something so miraculous.

“You seem to be doing a lot better now,” he says, glancing over at me.

“I am,” I say. “I don’t just feel radiant, I feel… I don’t know, it’s hard to describe.”

“I hope you’ve got that much energy when we get back to the penthouse,” he chuckles, winking at me.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” I say, smiling as I look away.

I’ve completed the second ritual. Two down, five to go. The next one is vegetation. I’ll have to find somewhere that could use more greenery. Considering what happened with the water ritual, I should probably make sure there’s nothing nearby.

I don’t want a tree to sprout up in the middle of someone’s bedroom. That might even be too weird for Victor, unless it was one he could cut switches from.

I feel a lot better about everything now. I’m going to hold onto this feeling.

I think I’m turning into Druid Taryn.

CHAPTER 28