“No!” Keller said quickly.
“It’s a damn good pie for your first try,” Garret said at the same time.
“I want you to make this every night,” Johnny said as he shoveled the food into his mouth.
Holly tipped her head back and let out a peal of laughter. “I’m just messing with you guys. I know it’s bad. I’ll stop trying to get creative in the kitchen. It’s just boring, you know? You guys get to go out and roam the woods. I’m stuck here.”
“I know it sucks,” Keller said, covering her hand with his own. “But we can’t risk letting you leave.”
“Not even to town?” she asked. “Isn’t town safe?”
“The bartender at The Bear’s Bane told me some strangers have been coming around lately,” Johnny said. “They might be looking for you.”
“We just can’t take the risk,” Garret added.
“I know.” Holly sighed. “I’m grateful I have you guys to look out for me. I’m just going a little crazy, that’s all.”
“We’ll figure out something soon,” Keller assured her. “Those bears that came to the house that night will make another appearance sooner or later.”
“What about Loch?” Holly asked. She hadn’t heard anything from him since the night he had broken in. He said it would only take him a couple of days to extract himself from whatever hellish situation he was in. What was taking so long?
“No one has seen him,” Keller said. “That only convinces me that he’s involved in the worst way.”
“I just don’t understand why.” Garret sighed. “Yeah, he was always a little off as a kid, but so was Johnny.”
“Hey!”
“What? My point is, you turned out all right. You’re on Holly’s side. You’re not trying to return to the dark ways.”
“Thank you, I think?” Johnny smirked. “I don’t know what Loch’s trying to gain from this.”
“Power,” Keller said. “What else is there to be gained from going back to the dark ways?”
“How do we know those who want to return to the dark ways will do something bad?” Holly asked. “What if they just want to walk around as bears forever?”
“Imagine if bears possessed the intelligence of humans,” Keller said. “There would be no humans. Bears are one of the apex predators of the animal kingdom. If I went head to head with the bear version of me, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“There are communities of shifters who live totally in their animal form,” Johnny continued. “They live by strict rules to avoid disrupting the ecosystem around them. We know that’s not the case because of you.”
“Right.” Holly bit the inside of her cheek. “The maiden quells those who want to go bear in a bad way.”
“Exactly. If whoever those bears wanted to live in harmony with everything else, you wouldn’t have risen as the maiden.”
“You can’t blame me for hoping otherwise.” Holly shrugged.
“I wish it were different,” Garret said.
“We all do,” Keller said. “Unfortunately, wishing doesn’t count for much.”
“I think I’m done with dinner,” Holly said, pushing away her plate. Talking about the dark ways and the prophecy always put her off her appetite.
“We’ll handle the washing up,” Garret offered. “Go relax.”
Holly had done enough relaxing to last a lifetime. There was nothing else to do in the house besides cook and relax. The very word relax set her teeth on edge. She made her way to the study and picked up the book on wards Loch had told her to read.
Wards were far trickier than Loch implied. The designs were complicated and incredibly easy to get wrong. Holly tried practicing on paper, but after nearly setting the study on fire twice, thanks to spontaneous combustion, she put a stop to her practicing pretty quickly. She’d brought it up to the guys before, but none of them were great at making wards, either. On top of that, the ward book had nothing to do with charms. She still didn’t have a good way to tell the guys about the concealment charm without exposing Loch.
This was getting far too complicated and stressful for her liking.
A knock on the study door drew her out of her thoughts.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and Keller popped in his head.
“Just making sure you’re okay,” he said. Holly smiled.
“I figured one of you would be in sooner or later,” she said. “I’m okay.”
“Just okay?” Keller stepped in and closed the door behind him.
“I feel useless and restless,” she confessed. “I want to help more.”
“Is that why you won’t give up on the wards?”
“Pretty much. It seems like the only thing I can really do even if I can’t actually do it. Eventually, I’ll figure it out.”
“As long as you don’t set yourself on fire, I say go for it.” Keller laughed.
Holly raised a brow. “I expected you to talk me out of it,” she said. “You’re the rational one of the house, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“I can’t be the rational one all the time.” Keller shrugged. “I need a break every once in a while.”
“You’re staying here tomorrow morning, right?” she asked. She had made a chart for them the other day so they could keep track of who went out searching and who stayed with Holly. It wasn’t necessary, she just wanted something to do. Finding glitter pens to make the chart was the most exciting thing that had happened to her in a while.
“That’s right.”
“You can take a break from being the rational one with me.” She grinned. “We can do something wild like hide-and-seek or something.” It was supposed to be a joke, but that actually sounded like fun to Holly. The house was huge. There were several rooms she hadn’t explored yet.
“That’s one idea.” Keller chuckled. “But I might have a better one.”
“Oh?”
“Get a good night’s rest. We’re
