“What is it?” Holly scooted forward on the couch.
“Magic.”
Holly’s mouth dropped open. “Are you insane? Humans can’t use magic, can they?”
Elise wrinkled her nose.
“Where did you get an idiotic idea like that? You think witches just fall out of the sky?”
“I…hadn’t really thought about it.”
“Some are born, but those who aren’t so lucky have to figure out how to get ahold of magic on their own. Pick up a book once in a while, and you’d know this.”
“Fine! Okay, humans can have magic. How do I get some?”
“I don’t know.” Elise shrugged. “But I know how to lend it.”
“Lend magic? That’s a thing?” Elise fixed Holly with a look. “I know, I know. Read a book.”
“Exactly. Give me your hands.”
Holly pressed her hands against the bodice of her dress. “What are you going to do?”
“Just relax.” Elise’s smile was nothing short of feral. “I’m going to lend you some magic.”
“Can you give me a play by play before you start? If I’m going to go insane from having someone else’s magic, I’d like to know ahead of time.”
“Insane from someone else’s magic?” Elise furrowed her brow. “It’s not an STD! Calm down. Do you want to help your four boyfriends or not?”
“Fine!” Holly held out her hands for Elise to grab.
Elise closed her eyes and began muttering under her breath. Holly recognized a few of the syllables. It was the same language spoken by the coven sisters. The language of magic.
Pale, gold light shone from where their hands intertwined.
Holly felt a sensation unlike anything she’d ever felt before. It was like water was being poured directly into her but not. It was something thicker, slower, and richer than water. It rushed through her veins, carrying light throughout her body.
Elise slumped forward, gasping for breath.
Fearing that she was killing her, Holly yanked her hands back.
The light disappeared.
“I wasn’t done,” Elise rasped.
“You look like shit,” Holly pointed out. “I’m grateful for any help I can get, but I’m not about to kill you over it.”
“It’s fine.” She sighed heavily. “Just get me some chocolate or something. Juice, maybe?”
Holly scurried to the kitchen and ripped open the cupboards. Her gaze landed on a half-eaten package of store-bought cookies. She grabbed them and ran back to the couch.
“Will this work?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Elise nibbled on a cookie. The color returned to her face.
“Sugar helps magic?”
“It’s a weird quirk,” Elise said. “You probably won’t find that one in a book. It’s better to let magic replenish naturally, but we don’t have a lot of time.”
“What do you mean, we? You’re not going anywhere with that ankle.”
Elise tore through her bandage and began unraveling it.
“That’s why I’m going to heal myself.”
“Is that safe?”
“Not really.” Elise shrugged. “But if you’re going to get down to the silver mines, you need a ride. There aren’t any roads up there anymore. If you were to walk, even run, it would take you hours. You need a shifter.”
Holly shook her head in confusion.
“But you lost your powers.”
“Not lost,” Elise snapped. “They were stolen from me.”
“I know,” Holly said. “I’m sorry. But how are you going to shift without your powers?”
“I need you to go into the basement and get something of mine.”
“You’ve been keeping things in Johnny’s studio? Does he know?”
“Of course, he knows,” Elise snapped. “You’ll know what’s mine the moment you see it. Bring it to me.”
“Or you could just tell me exactly what it is, and we can save ourselves the headache.”
“Just go!” Elise rolled her eyes as she shoved another cookie into her mouth.
Holly quickly made her way down to the basement. She took the stairs two at a time. When she was nearly to the bottom, she heard the distinct sound of tearing fabric. She looked down at her dress to find that she’s torn it right down the leg. “Shit,” she muttered. When she continued down the stairs, she found movement was far easier.
Once in the basement, she looked around Johnny’s studio for anything that screamed Elise. It wasn’t hard.
In the corner of the room, propped up on old packing crates, was a black iron cauldron.
“Are you kidding me?” Holly muttered. “Can this be any more cliché?”
She approached the cauldron. It was filled halfway with an electric blue bubbling liquid. Holly grabbed the handles of the cauldron and lifted, but the damn thing didn’t budge. “Fuck!”
The tear in her dress worsened as she struggled.
She was about to give up when she noticed a crystal vial placed next to the cauldron. She grabbed it, dipped it into the liquid, and hoped it was enough for whatever the hell Elise was planning.
Careful not to spill a single drop, she made her way back up the stairs.
“A cauldron?” Holly asked. “Seriously?”
“Don’t look at me! I found it in your grandmother’s attic. It’s not like I have a lot of resources being trapped up here.”
“What does it do?”
“If it works, it’ll grant me the temporary ability to shift into my bear form.”
“What do you mean, if? That’s a pretty big if!”
“Unless you want to start walking, it’s the only option we have,” Elise insisted. “Grab me more sweet things to eat. I still have to heal my ankle.”
Holly carefully set the crystal vial down on the coffee table and went back into the kitchen. She grabbed anything and everything a sugar-crazy toddler would go mad for. When she returned to the living room, Elise was hunched over her ankle.
The same pale light that shone from their joined hands now shone from her ankle. Her
