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“A spell,” the head of the Gupta line said with a tilt of her head, “is a construct, no? It consists of building blocks of speech, ingredients, intention, and energy. There are families of spells, related to each other, which differ only a little to achieve a slightly different result. The responsibility to pay back to the Powers That Be is closely tied to being head of the family, right? So if we had a spell that can transfer that responsibility from one witch to another…”
“We could build on it to create a spell to transfer the head-of-family title,” Hazel said.
“It should be possible.” Shobha nodded. “Magic is fluid, and new spells and rituals are created regularly. With this spell, we could unbind Juneau from the Shadows, immediately transfer the head-of-family title to Sophie, and then we’re free to either bind Juneau again or otherwise punish her in a way that restricts her magic, because she won’t be the conduit for the Laroche family anymore.”
“Yes.” Sophie nodded eagerly, her fingers fidgeting on the table. “That would be the perfect solution.”
“All right.” Elaine glanced among the Elders. “So who actually knows this spell?”
Silence reigned. Feet shuffled under the table.
“Anyone?” Elaine raised her brows. “Bueller?”
Shobha shook her head. “I only know of the spell, but I don’t know the details.”
One by one, the other Elders said the same.
“If Juneau knew it,” Hazel said, “it must be somewhere in the Laroche archives.” She turned to Sophie. “Why don’t you go through your family’s library and see if you can find it?”
“And once you have it,” Shobha added, “bring it here, child, and we will work on it to create the spell to transfer the head-of-family title.”
Hazel looked at Merle. “Will you unbind Juneau from the Shadows when we have that spell?”
Merle shrugged. “Sure. As long as Juneau doesn’t get a free pass. I don’t care if we bind her again afterward or throw her in a dungeon, but the bitch does not get to walk away unscathed.”
“Language!” both Shobha and Hazel said at the same time.
“If it walks like a duck…” Merle mumbled.
Sarai snickered.
“All right,” Kristen said, “so we’re in agreement on this issue. Sophie will look for the spell. Until then, the Laroches will have to remain careful when they go outside since they can’t access additional magic to defend themselves. Any other things on the agenda? No? Then I move to adjourn the meeting.”
The other Elders concurred, and the witches said their goodbyes and left.
It was only when Merle and Hazel were alone in the Victorian again, the last car’s taillights disappearing down the road, that Merle groaned and rubbed her forehead.
“Ugh, I totally forgot. Damn preggo brain.”
Hazel raised a brow. “What?”
“I wanted to bring up the allegiance issue again.”
“Hm.” Hazel picked up the cups and glasses on the dining room table. “At this point, I’m not sure another discussion about it would help any more than the dozen ones we’ve already had.”
Merle gathered the coffeepot and napkins and followed Hazel into the kitchen. “I honestly don’t understand why all of them are still hesitant. I mean, the former Draconians balking at changing their loyalty to Arawn, sure, I get that. They’re already having a hard time reuniting with us and letting go of their prejudice enough to work together. But the other Aequitas? I’d have thought at least Elaine, Sarai, and Shobha would understand the need to switch allegiance to Arawn.” She huffed and sat on a stool at the kitchen island. “You certainly did.”
Hazel loaded the dishwasher. “Sure. But—and I say this not to humblebrag—I’m also the least pigheaded and most pragmatic of us.”
Merle gave a dry laugh but sobered quickly again. “I thought for sure seeing you switch allegiance to him would show the others that it’s a safe thing to do.”
“Trust,” Hazel said while rinsing the coffeepot, “isn’t quite logical, and it’s not something you can force. The others still see Arawn as suspect at best and a threat at worst. No amount of discussion is going to change that.” She shot Merle a sideways glance. “After all, the only reason you eagerly switched allegiance to Arawn is because it was the only way to save your baby. If it hadn’t been for that, would you have made the change yet?”
Merle rubbed her nose and shifted on the stool. “Yes. No.” She grimaced. “Maybe?”
Hazel smirked, peeled an orange, and set the fruit in front of the younger witch. “Eat.”
“I mean,” Merle said around chewing, “I don’t hate him anymore. And he’s…okay, for a domineering, feudal, autocratic fallen god who loves to slurp up power for breakfast and keeps a dragon and a griffin as oversized pets.”
