Page 170 of Whispers of Wisteria
“You’re Mu?” Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. “But you’re a girl.”
A ripple of indignation passed over me. “So are you,” I pointed out.
I wanted to press further, but we didn’t have time for this. I continued my original purpose, “Never mind that, you need to shift now, okay?”
“But…” She looked at her hands. “I can’t. Mr. Cole did something to me. He said I’ll never be a wolf again.”
A chill passed through the air, followed by the heady weight of tainted magic. It wasn’t even the most potent spell in the grand scheme of things. Yet, it was binding. I could even see the thin black threads wrapped around Gloria’s small figure, holding her back.
But there was also a weakness. Primarily, if the witch used the victim’s blood.
“Youcan.” I knelt and waited for her to look at me. “You’re the one in charge of this spell. If you don’t think you can shift, you won’t be able to.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” She wiped at her eyes, smearing dirt across her cheek. “I’ve been trying, but it doesn’t work. I can’t break a witch’s curse.”
Internally, I groaned.
I was terrible with children to start, and this wasn’t an ideal situation. The two of us were in a memory, another realm, somewhere…
I wasn’t sure what was going on or whose power was in control right now. I was pretty much relying on guesswork, theory, and instinct.
But whatever, there was no time.
This left me no choice—I had to rely on hero-worship. Kids would believe anything.
“Just who do you think I am?” I asked, touching my chest. My smile felt feeble and lopsided, but I ventured on. “I can take care of the witchcraft. That’s nothing.”
But even if I broke the threads, which should be easy enough, this was still reliant on her.
She needed to believe.
“Gloria, you need to trust me. When I tell you, I need you to shift.”
“You’re Mu,” she said, tears drying.
“Yes, that’s right.” I felt like such an idiot.
“You can doanything.” She sat up and held her hands together.
My smile wavered, but hopefully she didn’t notice. “Sure.”
She didn’t believe in herself. But she believed in me, which still led her to believe in herself.
Whatever worked.
“Wanna try?” I asked.
I reached for the thickest thread. It was wrapped around her head, like a braided crown, but not very tightly. I was able to slip my fingers behind it.
Younger Gloria took in a deep breath, her tiny fists clenching at her sides.
I didn’t even wait for her to say, ‘Okay’, before I pulled.
26
The scene shattered.There was a loud sound—metal grinding against metal—and I fell back onto the floor.
“Stop her!” someone shouted. Then, just as quickly, “Forget it! Just close the gate!”
