Page 74 of The Librarian’s Familiar

“Do you need some candles and music. I have a torch and my phone.”

“You’re such a romantic.”

“I might be. I’ve never had the chance.” He’d never been that guy when dating a woman. He’d gone through the motions and ticked the right boxes, but life had been easier on his own. “Do you like that stuff?”

“Don’t know.” He shrugged. “I never let anyone close enough to find out.”

“Maybe after this, we should try? It might be stupid.”

“It might be nice…something special to celebrate surviving.”

August rolled his eyes. “Way to kill the mood.”

“Sorry.” Charlie frowned and stared at the sky. “I want to say I saw something, but it looks clear.”

“Maybe you magically saw something.” But now he was watching the sky. “Are we close enough?”

Charlie stopped walking, hand in his pocket with the rocks, and closed his eyes. “I can feel the edges of it, but I can’t grasp a thread to pull…” He cracked open his eyes. “There’s no actual threads, but that’s how I feel it.”

“It might be easier if there was a giant tangle of threads that we could see.” Something like when his other grandmother’s balls of wool got tangled, and he sat on the floor and helped her sort out the mess. He must have been all of five. August checked his watch. “We can keep going until midnight, but then I’m calling a halt for safety reasons. We need some sleep even if it’s only a few hours.”

Charlie looked like he was about to argue for a heartbeat, then he nodded. “I suppose I should listen to you since you’re trying to keep me alive.”

“Yeah, no need to make my job harder than it already is.” He grabbed Charlie’s hand. “Come on. I know a spot we can camp that will give us some protection if needed.”

And if they hauled ass, they’d be in the tent not long after midnight.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

August’s ideal spot was halfway up a hill, with rocks at their back, while they faced the direction the magic was building, and not for the first time, Charlie wished it was visible. They were approximately halfway between the prison and the town. Beyond the prison was the very human mine. He lined up the four pebbles August had given him in the dirt and sipped a cup of hot chocolate from the thermos August’s mother had packed. She’d put together enough food for a week’s worth of camping. He was hoping it was only one night.

He rearranged the order of the pebbles as he stared out at the sky, feeling for the strand of magic that would allow him to start unraveling what the other witch was doing. Between lining up the rocks and enjoying the microscopic order of their construction, it was enough order to feed his magic.

Where was the other witch?

They couldn’t be any further away than him. He doubted they were standing directly under the magic, and it was moving over their head like a personal storm cloud. That was risky as magic was volatile, and it was easy to lose control, particularly with something as large as the nimbus that was still swelling.

He extended his magic further, searching. A tangle of wool didn’t have a life of its own. This was more like an ever-moving nest of snakes, constantly turning and twisting. The magic was dense enough that a storm was starting to form. He could almost feel the pull of wind on his clothes and taste the ozone.

August put a hand on his shoulder, and he startled.

“Hey…are you okay? The tent is ready.”

“Yeah, I was focused on the magic and didn’t hear you.” Which wasn’t ideal. He gathered up the rocks and picked up the cup of hot chocolate, only to find that it was now cold. For how long has he been staring out at the sky?

He finished his drink, figuring that he needed it to ground him.

“Did you learn anything?” August asked.

“It’s starting to coalesce into a storm, but I haven’t managed to find a thread to untangle it yet. I’m too far away.”

August’s eyebrows pinched together. “Are you sure you’ll be able to do this?”

“Yes, it’ll be like unpicking a giant ward.” Which also meant if he got it wrong, it may release a vast amount of magic on the unsuspecting landscape. He hoped that the prison and the town were actively preparing. “Your brothers and parents will be telling people to prepare for a storm, right?”

“Yes. And because it is magical, Keaton said the foxes are going to keep watch around the town. They can make a perimeter to soften the impact.”

Charlie silently cursed. Even though that was a good idea, he didn’t like it. “They might get hurt.” He didn’t want anyone to take the brunt of the storm if he failed.