Page 59 of Unbearable Attraction
"Terrified," she admitted. "But not of the magic. I'm scared of letting everyone down. Of proving Edmund right about dangerous necromancers who bite off more than they can chew."
"You won't," Luka said with certainty that warmed her through their bond. "You know why?"
"Because you'll be there to catch me if I fall?"
"Because you're not the same person who used to work alone." He gestured toward the paths where their friends and neighbors had disappeared into the woods. "Look around, Leenah. Look what you've built here. Not just our bond, butconnections with people who trust you enough to risk their own magic on your plan."
She did look, really look, at what Hollow Oak had become for her. Not just a place to hide from her family's disappointment or practice her abilities without judgment, but a home filled with people who'd accepted her completely. Twyla's matchmaking kindness, Miriam's gentle wisdom, even Maeve's gruff protectiveness. All of it woven together into a community that had space for a prickly necromancer with trust issues and a grieving bear shifter who'd forgotten how to hope.
"I've spent so many years thinking strength meant standing alone," she said softly. "But this feels stronger. Scarier, but stronger."
"Because it is stronger. One person can have power, but a community has something more important."
"What's that?"
Luka's smile transformed his entire face. "Purpose worth fighting for."
As they walked back toward town together, Leenah felt the truth of his words settling into her bones. Tomorrow, she would face the most complex magical working of her life, channeling the combined will of an entire supernatural community against someone who wanted to destroy everything they'd built.
38
LUKA
Dawn came too soon and not soon enough. Luka stood in his workshop, hands moving with practiced precision as he shaped the final ward anchors they'd need for today's working. The oak responded to his touch like an old friend, its grain patterns shifting to accommodate the protective symbols his grandfather had taught him decades ago.
"How many more?" Leenah asked from her spot at his workbench, where she'd been inscribing necromantic focusing stones with silver ink.
"Six. Maybe seven if we want backup anchors for the residential district." He paused to examine the piece he'd just finished, noting how the wood seemed to hum with contained energy. "Your grandmother's journals were right about combining earth magic with spirit work. These are holding more power than anything I've made before."
"That's because we're making them together." She looked up from her delicate work, silver streaking her fingertips. "I can feel your magic flowing through the wood even before I add the necromantic elements."
Their bond hummed between them, steady and warm despite the approaching confrontation. Through it, he could sense her determination mixed with carefully controlled fear. Not fear of Edmund or his magic, but fear of failing the people who'd trusted them with Hollow Oak's protection.
A soft knock interrupted their preparations. Twyla appeared in the doorway carrying a tray loaded with coffee and what looked like enough breakfast pastries to feed half the town.
"Fuel for the fight," she announced, setting the tray on his tool chest. "Can't have our defenders passing out from low blood sugar."
"Any word from the others?" Leenah asked, accepting a steaming mug gratefully.
"Maeve's got the tavern district locked down tight. Those protective charms on the Silver Fang are glowing like Christmas lights." Twyla's expression grew serious. "Miriam's coordinating with the inn guests who want to help. Turns out we've got a visiting earth witch and a hedge wizard willing to lend their power to the working."
"And Edmund?" Luka asked.
"Still holed up in the grove, but his barriers are spreading. Edgar tried to check on the Mercantile this morning and couldn't get within fifty yards of the building." Twyla's fae blood showed in the way shadows bent around her when she was agitated. "Whatever he's planning, it's big."
As if summoned by her words, a wave of wrongness swept through the town. The ward anchors Luka had been crafting suddenly blazed with reactive energy, their protective magic responding to a direct assault on Hollow Oak's barriers. Through the workshop windows, he could see the morning sky darkening with unnatural clouds.
"He's starting early," Leenah said, her necromantic abilities crackling in response to the supernatural disturbance.
The three of them rushed outside to find Main Street in chaos. The carefully maintained magical balance that kept Hollow Oak peaceful was unraveling before their eyes. Street lamps flickered with unstable energy, shop windows rattled in their frames, and the very air tasted of ozone and fear.
But it was the response of the townspeople that made Luka's bear rumble with fierce pride.
Instead of panicking, they were fighting back.
Twyla's café blazed with golden light as she channeled fae magic into the protective wards woven into its foundation. Down the street, Edgar and Rufus Tansley stood in front of their shop, hands raised as they poured witch magic into barrier spells that sparkled like starlight. Even Mrs. Henderson was contributing, her small hedge magic adding to the growing network of defensive power that spider-webbed across the commercial district.
"It's working," Leenah breathed, wonder coloring her voice. "They're all connected, all feeding power into the ward network."
