Page 33 of November Reign
“Come to the workroom with me. We’ll need the space.”
“Okay,” I said, gearing myself up to explain the process. “You’ll have to stand in the circle. I’ll draw runes around you to protect from outside influence, but you’ll need a tether for the spell.”
“What’s the tether?”
“Because you are trying to block a person from seeing, you’ll need to be tethered to another person.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Think of it like renting a car and then buying a car. So Basil is borrowing your image, using your hair as the payment, right?”
“Yeah…”
“So anyone with that hair could do the same. Unless you are tethered to an owner.”
“I dunno, this is sounding kind of like a demon contract.”
“That’s where this is different. In the circle you offer up some of your hair and a tiny bead of blood.”
“Blood magic, really?”
“Yes, and also no. I don’t use the blood and it has to be freely given by you for it to have any magic. So the blood, it binds the hair, then I put my blood over it, giving my share of the price. Then we are tethered together. Each time Basil tries to scry you with the hair, he will be blocked by our joint magic.”
“Can you see me, if you want to?”
“I would have to burn the entire thing. It would be a one time only spell. Instead I would have a sense of you. A sort of mental connection. It can be draining, so it isn’t done often.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” He still looked uncertain. What part of it worried him?
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t want to. Think of it this way, it’s an insurance plan. If anything happens to you out there, I’ll know straight away. Then I can come help.”
“Will you?”
“Of course. I understand why Damon is doing this, it doesn’t mean I completely agree. He hasn’t seen those texts or heard the full story. I trust you, Oak. So will Damon, eventually.”
Oak smirked. “Eventually. Maybe once Basil is dead.” He winced. “Sorry, he’s still your brother.”
“No. He isn’t. My big brother died a long time ago. This is a power-hungry monster in his place. He can’t be stopped. I’ve made my peace with it.”
I found myself in Oak’s arms again. He pressed the gentlest of kisses to my forehead.
“Do the spell, please. I think I like the thought of you knowing how I’m feeling.”
My face heated at the grin stretching across his face. “It’s not that powerful a spell. It’s not like it can read minds.”
“Probably for the best.” I caught the suggestive look and my blush deepened.
The spell didn’t take long to perform. I drew the runes in chalk, asked Oak to take his place and gave him a pair of silver scissors. The chunk of hair he cut from the back nearly made me cry. There was a lot! Luckily he had thick hair and the missing part couldn’t be seen.
With the tip of the scissors he said the words I asked him to repeat, and pricked his thumb. He coated the hair with his blood then gave it to me.
I used the same scissors to cut my finger, adding my blood to the lock of hair. With the final spell words, the tether was complete.
Straight away I could feel his anxiety.
“It’ll be okay. D’you know where you’ll go?”
“I’ve got an idea. I just—“
