Page 34 of Dream Weaver

“So, someone else did that,” I concluded.

Another nod.

“Who?” I ventured.

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. But they didn’t use this ax.”

I scratched my chin, still trying to puzzle it out. Another witch — or part witch, or whatever Abby was — and another ax? If so, which ax?

Then it clicked, and my eyes went wide.

“Someone with the stolen ax?”

Abby blew out a long, slow breath. “I hope not, but yes.”

My gut twisted in warning. “So, someone using a spelled ax is disturbing the vortexes… But why?”

She blew out her cheeks, and the furrow in her brow deepened. “I wish I knew.”

Chapter Ten

ABBY

Over the next two days, Cooper and I churned out five axes. The details still needed work, but we were on such a roll, we didn’t want to stop. We worked all day Friday and Saturday, then dug right back in on the following Monday. A good thing, too, because at ten in the morning, Cooper’s phone rang.

“Lundsven here,” he said, wiping his brow.

His eyes brightened as he listened, and his whole face lit up.

“I’m on my way.”

There was a wildfire, so he was off. And I swear, a kid wouldn’t have run faster to an ice cream truck.

“Wait. Take this.” I found myself handing him the ax we’d just completed. It wasn’t polished, but it was sturdy, and something in me insisted he take it.

He stared, then slowly accepted it.

“Call it a test run. If you have a chance, I mean.” I twisted my hands nervously.

Nervous because I was dying to know if the ax had that…er, special something the original did.

Nervous because every fire was dangerous, and I wanted Cooper to come home safe.

Well, I wanted that for every fire crew, every time. But him, especially.

He nodded, and our eyes met for what seemed like a lifetime. Emotions bottled up in my throat, forming a lump there.

Cooper’s deep, brown eyes swirled and sparkled. “See you soon,” he finally whispered.

It took everything I had not to touch him.

“See you soon,” I whispered.

And then he was gone.

He stayed away two days. Enough time for me to finish the decorative details of our first few axes, but too long in every other way.

“I miss Cooper,” Claire sighed on his second afternoon away.

---