Page 97 of Final Shift
I was always up for a visit with the dryad and his companion banshee. “Come on in. As long as you share whatever’s in that bag.”
Ash grinned. He brushed a kiss over my cheek and walked in. Tess, looking pale and lovely in a lavender sweater and jeans, gave me a quick hug. She paused when she saw my mother, swallowed hard, and came inside.
“Hello, Tess,” Mom said.
Tess dipped her head. “Hello, Cliona.”
They’d never have the kind of relationship Moira and Mom did. Not with Mom being her queen and the experiences Tess had growing up. When Mom pretended, she did it hard core. She had a lot to make up with everyone, not just me.
Ash stopped abruptly when he spotted what I was working on. He handed the bag to Tess and crouched down to peer at the small seedling. When his eyes met mine, he let out a surprised chuckle. “You figured it out. Hot damn, Evie. I knew you would.”
I blinked. “This will work?”
Mom lowered herself to the floor gently, Fee still perched on her hand. “The dryad is correct. I’m glad he came. He is more adept with natural magic than I am. I can help you with the fae side, and Ash can help guide you as I assume he’s a little better with trees than you are.”
I shrugged. “Most of the time, I use vines and flora. Trees are an afterthought. Though I did just create those bristlecones.”
Ash blinked. “A bristlecone pine? When you went to Caelan’s. You’re keeping it alive inTexas?”
I nodded and briefly explained what I’d done. When I finished, Ash sat back and gawked. “You created a networkof ancient pine trees to hold enslavement bonds and threaded them to each other so they could travel wherever they pleased, both freeing them and ensuring they didn’t die.”
I squinted at him. “Um. Yes? I think?”
Ash let out a bark of laughter. “We have dedicated scientists who spend their entire lives trying to understand physics and quantum mechanics, and mages who do the same with magical theory, and here you are busting out complicated magic using logic and trees.”
Tess let out a warbly giggle. “As much of a disservice as it was not to train Evie in all her magic when she was younger, it did force her to use her magic intuitively. She bypassed all the rules no one ever told her about and created her own. That’s the way magic should be, isn’t it? Intuition driven by will and formed with one’s innate power?”
Man. Sometimes Tess dropped serious knowledge. We all stared at her for a long moment, before Ash smiled. “Yeah. Tess. That’s exactly right. I couldn’t have said it better.”
“I never thought of it like that, but I guess you’re right.” A thought occurred to me. “Is this why I’m having so much trouble with Dad’s magic lessons?”
Mom’s brow furrowed. “I—I want to say no, but this would make so much sense.” She let out a disturbed chuckle. “I feel befuddled. I never feel befuddled. Have we done a disservice to all our children by being so formal with their education?”
“I don’t mind being a science experiment as long as it helps other people,” I said dryly. I had some training, but I never knew who I truly was, so the education I received was lopsided at best. Add in the Chimera attack and well, here we were.
I stared down at the seedling. “Mom. Can you take us somewhere this evening?”
“After dessert,” Ash said. “We’ll go with you.”
“Did you bring enough for Moira?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course I did.”
“I’m texting her right now,” Tess said.
Forty-five minutes later,we were full of pie and hope. We stood on the edge of Donovan’s old territory and Rowan’s. I held the small seedling in the palm of my hands. We’d worked on it a little more at the cottage, but to test it, we needed to plant it first, then encourage it to grow.
Dad and Moira had popped in, and Rowan and Ethan tagged along when they saw us all piling out of the cottage. Ethan had sworn up a blue streak when he spotted Fee.
He slapped his hand over his chest like a senior citizen having a heart attack and screeched, “Is that a godsdamnphoenix?”
Rowan nodded, a sober expression on his face, though his eyes twinkled with mirth. “Yes, yes it is.”
“Fucking hell,” Ethan said under his breath. “And you signed up for this?”
I didn’t hear what Rowan said, but Ethan shot him a dark look.
My friends stood in a semi-circle watching quietly as I crouched to plant the seedling. “No idea if this is going to work,” I whispered.
