Page 10 of The Magic of Discovery
I grabbed the list of supplies from my back pocket and handed it to her. Just then, her phone pinged. Pulling it out, she glanced at it and rolled her eyes before stuffing it back in her pocket. It wasn’t the first time today I’d heard her phone blowing up, and she had ignored each and every message. Raising my eyebrow, I silently asked the question, but she waved her hand. “Just a douche. Let me look at your list.” Opening it up, she scanned it quickly. The guys and I were planning to come back, either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, to do a large shop to stock up on everything, so we only needed a few things now.
“Oh, I love sweet corn! And burgers? I’m glad I agreed to come to this cookout; the food sounds like it’s going to be amazing.” Her whole face lit up when she got excited. It was contagious, and I wanted to make it happen as often as possible.
“The food will be spectacular, the company will be superb, and dessert... well, that is to be determined.” I flashed a wolfish grin at her, and her cheeks immediately went rosy.
“You’re an animal,” she whispered.
“You have no idea,” I growled, forcing myself to take a step forward, away from her. In my head, the pacing of four big paws, an agitated flicking of a long furry tail, and the words, ‘Mine, mine, mine, mine,’ played on repeat.
Mother of Saturn, we finally made it to Peridot Park. It was only a ten-minute walk from the downtown area, but I was overwhelmed by the hotness surrounding me. Kai had been looking at me like he wanted to devour me, and I was here for it. Fucking hell.
So far, all of the guys had been chatty with me today, even Sloane. After Cam had punched him for his snark, he had really changed his tune. Thank the stars, because I honestly just wanted to have a fun afternoon with these guys. Cam gave off some serious I’m-always-in-control alpha type vibes. He observed every little detail around him and silently eyed his friends as if he could see their thoughts and would know if there was anything amiss. Yeah, Cam was a protector.He’s definitely the dad of the group,I concluded, and while the other guys had large personalities and their own ideas, it seemed to me that they had enough respect for Cam to indulge his alpha behavior.
It had taken us longer than I’d anticipated to get through our little tour, but that was due to all of the nosy as hell neighbors of mine. They actually had the gumption to approach the group of new guys now that I was with them, instead of just peeking out of their windows and attempting to look like they weren’t interested.Yeah, you know the type.
When you lived in a small town where the tiniest of things were turned into major news, you got used to this behavior. One year, we had a boy who had gotten arrested for performing some dark magic. Everyone had already suspected that he was dabbling in it, but when the cop cars pulled up outside of his parents’ house, you would’ve thought it was a ten car pile up on the I-95. Everyone was on their porches, not even trying to hide their rubbernecking. Phones in hands, snapping pictures, calling their grandmas and twice-removed cousins to let them know that little old Jacky boy was finally going to be locked up, and yes, of course, his mama was crying!
Didn’t faze me anymore. That was just Emerald Lakes. That small town charm that drew in tourists who wanted to escape the bustle of the cities? We had it in spades.
“Is there more than one lake in town?” Cam asked as we all trudged along the paved walkway that wound through thickly wooded areas.
“Yeah, there are a few, but Emerald Lake is the largest, and it’s at the heart of this park. People tend to use the smaller ones for fishing, and the town made some beachy areas that get pretty busy in the summer.” He nodded as I continued. “There are seven pavilions here at Peridot, and they get rented out sometimes for private events like parties or company picnics. My favorite one is where I’m taking you now. It’s within one hundred yards of the lake but tucked away from the playground equipment so it’s also nice and tranquil.”
“Do you get a lot of tourists then?” Fischer spoke up. Suddenly, he was right beside me, and I turned my head to the left to smile at him.
“I mean, a pretty decent amount. We’re a ninety percent magical population here, only ten percent human. Humans do like coming for long weekends and holidays, so that’s where we make most of our money. They get to visit, ohh and ahh over everyday magic, spend some money, then they head back home. Emerald Lakes hosts some large festivals, as well. Halloween is obviously a popular holiday for the magical community, and humans go ape shit for spooky stuff. Who does spooky better than witches?” I raised an eyebrow at him and wiggled my fingers while making “ooooooo” sounds.
Fish laughed and then asked, “How’s the crime rate?”
“Pretty much non-existent, honestly. We all know each other, so if anyone’s in a rough spot, we all tend to step up and take care of our own. Nobody feels the need to steal or vandalize property. It’s really nice feeling so safe,” I confessed.
As we walked around the curve in the sidewalk that ran alongside the expansive lake, I smiled to myself when I saw the old oak tree, her gnarled branches reaching out, riddled with knots that reminded me of an old woman with severe arthritis. Parts of her massive branches dipped underwater before rising out again, reaching for the sun. All of the kids and teens loved this tree, climbing up as high as they could go. There were even some ropes tied to the limbs so you could swing far out into the lake, letting yourself fly for a few moments before you crashed into the beautiful green water.
“Guys, this is my favorite tree in the whole world,” I told them as I broke from the pack and walked up to the giant.
Kai whistled, holding his hand over his brow to block the sun while he peered towards the sky. “Wow. That thing’s gotta be eighty to one hundred feet tall, easy.”
“She’s eighty-eight feet tall and still growing. A few years ago, she’d been pretty sickly with something called oak wilt. I spent days trying different spells until I was finally able to stop further damage from occurring, and if you look over here, you can barely see where the worst parts were.” I motioned for them to follow.
The dark spots that I’d healed years ago had been nearly invisible, so you could imagine my surprise when around the edges of those scars, the color was darkening from a healthy brown to a darker shade. Not black, but still, this was different than the last time I’d checked on her. To anyone else, this wouldn’t raise concerns, but I suddenly felt antsy with the need to push some power into the twisted giant.
The guys walked around the base of the tree, showing a genuine interest in what I was talking about, and that made me smile softly. My smile only grew when Kai began to climb over the branches with the grace of a cat. They all began messing around, typical bro behavior, so I seized the opportunity to press my palm to the troublesome areas on the trunk and pushed some magic, the spots fading instantly. Satisfied, I stepped back and raised my voice to make sure all of the guys would hear me when I pointed to the pavilion that was just down the way.
Walking toward the destination, I explained, “This is it. There’s a charcoal grill over here, and you guys can just toss your stuff down on the picnic tables. It’ll be safe. Like I said, no thieves to be found.” I walked over to the closest table and set my backpack down before climbing onto the tabletop and sitting with my feet on the bench.
“Awesome location, Sprout,” Kai murmured while he began unloading his backpack and the groceries.
“Sprout? You’ve given her a pet name already?” Sloane’s exasperation at the nickname was obvious, especially when he ran a hand through his dark hair and then facepalmed. Maven snorted his agreement, and I shot the little traitor a dirty look.
“I mean, it kind of suits me. Iama green witch.” I walked out from under the pavilion toward a small flowerbed, and sparks of gold lit up along my fingers before I flicked them at the barely blooming flowers. Little flower sprouts began to rise to the glorious sun before opening up.Grow, little babies.Stooping down, I gathered a few of them all into my hand, letting my magic dissipate. Gathering up the stems, I handed the little bouquet to Kai, watching as he held them up to his face and inhaled deeply. A giggle escaped me at his antics and then full out laughter when he’d tried to toss me a saucy wink and instead started sneezing seconds later.
“That was so cool. I’ve never actually been around a green witch long enough to experience their magical abilities. You’ll have to show me what else you’re capable of some time,” Fischer exclaimed, genuine fascination shining through his voice.
I smiled at him. “Anytime, Fish.”
An expression I couldn’t decipher flitted across his features, and I blushed furiously at my boldness. “Oh my moons, is it okay if I call you Fish? I’ve just heard everyone else saying it. I’m sorry-”
Holding up a hand, he cut me off from apologizing further. “It’s okay. You can call me Fish. It’s my nickname, so don’t give it a second thought.” He smiled in reassurance.
