“Sounds like you can see just fine to me,” Holly said. “Are you a witch?”
“Clever girl.” The woman chuckled. “I made the spell that protects your house. Now that you know I’m not a threat, come to the edge of the deck and see me for yourself.”
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Holly asked. “One scream from me, and you’ll have four angry shifters to contend with.”
“I know,” the woman said. “Yet I’m here all the same. I want to help you if you allow me.”
Slowly, Holly retrieved her staff and walked to the railing. Standing below her in a pool of moonlight was a witch with bone-white skin, deep-red hair, and eyes that shone like gold coins.
No, wait. Her eyes were gold coins.
“I feel your gaze upon me,” the woman said. Her white teeth gleamed as her dark lips pulled up into a smile.
“Who are you?” Holly clutched her staff close to her chest.
“My name is Edwina. I am one of three witches who live in the Silver Spruce forest. I am known as the heart witch to those who seek my talents.”
“Nice to meet you,” Holly stammered, not knowing what else to say. “What do you want?”
“Like I said, I want to offer help. Will you walk with me?”
“Leave the protection of the house? Walk through the woods teeming with dark shifters who’d like nothing more than to capture me again? No, thanks. That’s a hard pass from me.”
“You’re safe with me.” Edwina spoke in such a soothing, measured tone that Holly was tempted to take her at her word.
“I need some kind of insurance,” Holly said. “Otherwise, no deal.”
“Take this.” Edwina reached for one of her golden eyes and pulled it free. For one horrible moment, Holly saw the empty cavity that was once an eye socket.
Edwina tossed the coin into the air. It landed perfectly on the railing.
Holly stared at the coin equal parts repulsed and amazed.
“I gave my eyes for my power,” Edwina explained. “You hold one coin, then you hold half of my power. Is that insurance enough for you?”
Holly took the coin between her thumb and forefinger. It looked like an ordinary gold coin on the surface, but the moment she touched it, she felt a hum of power from within it. “Yes,” she said, tucking it into her pocket. “Meet me at the front door.” Holly decided to take her staff, just in case.
When she opened the door, Edwina stood at the bottom of the porch steps, her pale hands clasped in front of her. She wore a long, black dress that covered her arms and stopped at the tips of her pointed boots.
“I didn’t think witches really dressed like that,” Holly said.
“I have at least ten pairs of jeans at home, but I must admit I have a flair for the dramatic. All of my sisters and I do.”
“How many do you have?” It seemed like the polite thing to ask.
“No blood sisters but two coven sisters,” Edwina explained. “You will meet them soon.”
“Are they heart witches as well?”
Edwina and Holly walked side by side into the woods, sticking to one of the thin hiking trails that ribboned through the mountains.
“No.” Edwina shook her shiny red hair.
Holly waited for her to continue, but that was all the information the heart witch was willing to give about her sisters.
“What sort of help are you offering?” Holly asked.
“Guidance, if it’s necessary,” Edwina replied. “I want to know where you stand. My coven sisters and I need to know if we’re at risk.”
“This is a fight between bear clans. How does that involve witches?”
“We are of this earth, aren’t we? We are beings of both the natural and unnatural worlds?”
The Maiden used similar words just last night. It couldn’t have been a coincidence.
“Are the dark shifters a danger to you and your sisters?”
“Anything that threatens the balance is a danger to us. Magic comes from the energies around us. If those are thrown into chaos, magic can become unpredictable and dangerous.”
“I thought shifters didn’t have magic,” Holly said.
Edwina made a face. “Where did you learn that?”
“The men told me as much when they revealed their abilities to me. They said shifters possess enough only to change forms, but even that is incredibly taxing.”
“While that is somewhat true, there is nothing preventing a shifter from acquiring magic. It’s not an easy feat, to be sure, but it’s not impossible.”
“Do the dark shifters have magic?” That was the last damn thing Holly needed right now. Her staff wasn’t going to stop a magical fireball from charring her to bits. Did magic users even use fire, or was that only in the movies?
“Not that I’ve been able to detect,” Edwina said. “Though our definitions of dark shifters may differ.”
Holly let out a long sigh. She didn’t want to mince words with a witch in the woods at midnight. “Does anyone who wants to shed their humanity in favor of living as a morally depraved, super-powered-bear bastard have access to magic?”
“No.”
“Good. That’s one less thing for me to worry about.”
“But you do stand against the dark shifters, don’t you?”
“That’s an odd thing to ask.” Holly frowned. “Yes, of course, I do.”
“I only ask because my sisters and I know one of the Silver Spruce firstborns has fallen in with them.”
“Fallen in? The prick leads them,” Holly muttered.
“That may not be the case,” Edwina replied.
Holly stopped dead in her tracks. “What do you mean? I spent a week locked up in the silver mine at his command.”
“There is a veil between Silver Spruce and Golden Oak. It was put in place after the tragedy fifteen years ago.”
“A veil?”
“My predecessor, the heart witch who came
