MAKING MAGICKAL ALLIANCES: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel by Leigh Raventhorne (ebook reader android TXT) 📕

eyes and reached for my magick, weaving and painting the picture I held in my mind around the outside of the boat. Then I tied it down, picturing the way the boat had been tied to the dock. If it worked, anyone who happened to look our way would only see nine women and one man sitting around and talking quietly during a leisurely boat ride. I left Jeremy and Cappy in the cockpit, as that wouldn’t be viewed as anything out of the ordinary. When I opened my eyes, I could see the magick surrounding the boat. And, more importantly, moving with it.

Tess straightened and looked around. “Did you just do what I think you did?” Ruthann wrinkled her nose in confusion and looked around, squinting. Rayna and the others followed suit, more or less.

“If I did it right, I think so. Nobody outside the boat should be able to see what we’re about to do.”

Sam and Rand both looked downright impressed. Rand looked around at the edge of the spell. Could he see it?

He should be able to, yes. My back straightened as the soft voice, barely louder than a whisper, spoke into my mind.

So many questions surged to the forefront. Did you help me with the glamour around the boat?

No. You did not need my help.

How is it that—

“So where do you want us, Rox?” I wasn’t sure if Tess’s interruption was a relief or not.

Pulling my attention back to the task at hand, I had four of the women stand on one side and three on the other. Rand stood by my side, watching.

“We’ll try this individually first. Go ahead and invoke the crystals to raise your shields.”

Tess reached for her pendant, but stopped when she saw that Sam was the only other one who had. The rest of the women shifted uncomfortably.

Frowning, I asked, “What?”

It was Rayna who answered. “You didn’t give us the spell.”

I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut again. I’d forgotten about that, since I didn’t need the words of a spell to focus my magick. Did they actually need them, or was it just so ingrained in their minds it had never occurred to them to do it any other way? Scrambling, I remembered the sing-songy book of simple spells from my aunt’s workshop. Would any rhyming words work? Guess we’d find out. Crap, what rhymed with shield?

“Oops. Sorry. Lucky for you, it’s short and easy.” In that sing-song cadence Zara had once made me spend an afternoon attempting, I said, “Shield, shield, crystal magick I wield, let nothing pass through, unless I yield. When you use it as a group, just substitute we for I.”

Nodding, they whispered the words under their breath and I could feel them pulling on the magick of the crystal pendants. Sam looked a little unsure of herself, but I saw her reach for the pendant again and mouth the words with the others.

The magick practically leapt out from the five witches from the firm, forming solid looking shields around each of them. Tess was pulling on the magick from her crystal, but what formed in front of her looked weak. Sam stood there holding her pendant and chewing her lip. There wasn’t so much as a shimmer around her.

Do you want that one to be able to use magick?

What? Crap. If this bracelet was going to be this chatty all the time, maybe I really did need to name it. The voice was feminine, at least in my mind.

Aware that everyone was staring at me, I put a finger up. “Give me a sec. Um, practice raising and lowering the shields a couple of times, then try it with the person next to you.”

Before I did this, I needed Zara. Could I reach her from all the way out here? Zara?

I’ve told you, distance is not an issue. To answer your question, yes, you need to name it.

You aren’t upset?

No. It is powerful enough to keep you alive. That is what matters.

Reassured, I started going through names in my head, and came up with nothing. What did one name a fae Object? I tried to remember books I’d read growing up. Nancy, as in Nancy Drew? No, that didn’t sound right. Judging by the distinct lack of approval coming from the bracelet, that wasn’t it. I’d read tons of books about horses when I was a teenager, trying to talk my parents into letting me take riding lessons. A horse’s name didn’t sound right, though. Piers Anthony? There were a lot of interesting names in his books. Wasn’t there a horse named Blue in there? Or was that the name of one of the books? The Blue Adept, that was it. I looked down at my wrist. Sapphires were blue, maybe that would work. Kind of like Old Yeller or something. If it was possible to feel a frown, that’s what was coming from the bracelet now. Okay, not Blue. Wracking my brain, I remembered a series I’d read well into the eighties. I’d loved all the Trixie Belden books. What about Trixie? I felt a spark of interest.

Does Trixie work for you?

Yes, I believe it will . . .

The voice sounded thoughtful, but stronger. I hoped I had done the right thing.

You have. I like the name. If I am stronger, then so will you be. Now, about the one without any magick. Do you wish her to be able to use magick?

I didn’t know how to answer that. And was it really my decision to make? I motioned Sam over. “I don’t know exactly how this would work, or even if it’s something you would want, but . . . how would you feel about having your own magick?” I kept my voice low enough that the others wouldn’t overhear. Rand