Rick scooted forward on the couch, steepling his hands under his chin. “So my magic is stronger when I’m with Poppy. The question is, how do we control it so she’s not turning me into something you’d find in the Home Depot garden center?”
Looking down at her hands, Poppy nodded. “Yeah. I think some control might be in order. That was probably the scariest half hour of my life. Though I won’t deny, it was a little cool. So how do I get a grip on this and keep from hurting someone?”
January gave her another one of those soothing smiles. “We teach you, of course. We teach both of you to harness your energy as a duo and manage it.”
Yeah. Just like Batman and Robin. Rick surely would be up for harnessing the magic he hated as a team, right?
“So what do we do until then, January? How do we figure out who this malevolent aura is and how do we stop it?” Wanda asked, threading her arm through Arch’s.
“If only I had the answer. First, we need to identify it and find out if it’s personal or some misguided spirit with a grudge.”
“Of course it’s personal. It launched me into the woods,” Poppy reminded, twisting her clammy hands together.
“That’s not what I mean, Poppy. What I mean is the act itself. Could be the anger this aura is presenting has nothing to do with you and everything to do with simply lashing out.”
“So maybe someone doesn’t necessarily want me dead—just a death in general?” Still, to think this aura was attached to her had Poppy far more freaked out than anything that had happened since this all began.
January blew out a breath of air, her lean cheeks puffing outward. “Maybe. But that doesn’t feel right. I know it’s scary, but the attack does feel aimed at you. However, if you can’t think of anyone who wishes you ill, the scenario of a temper tantrum, revenge with no care for collateral damage, does fit. But that this aura also wants death, whether that’s aimed at you personally or not, it’s still death.”
Poppy gulped, wiping her clammy hands on her thighs. “Okay, so here’s an outlandish thought, why don’t you witches and your magic spells and incantations call this thing up? Like, ‘Hey in there! Come out, come out wherever you are and stop beating up Poppy! What’d she ever do to you?’ You know, like a good old-fashioned exorcism?”
Calamity scoffed, her whiskers bobbing. “Because we don’t summon spirits, Poppy-Seed. Or at least neither January nor I do. And you’re not freakin’ possessed. It’s not the same as having an aura haunt yours. Auras are slippery sumbitches. They attach themselves to you and hook their claws into your soul.”
“If you two can’t do an incantation to summon this, we could still damn well put in an emergency call to Familiar Central and tell them about it, couldn’t we?” Rick asked, his anger clearly bubbling just below the surface. “We could get someone here who does specialize in it. As in pronto.”
January rolled her eyes as though he were crazy. “Rick, you know what this time of year is like without the blood moon. But with the blood moon upon us? Where are we going to find someone to identify an aura when it’s all hands on deck at every portal?”
“Portal?” Poppy squeaked. God, there was so much to learn. Portals and auras and double magic and fate. She was quite suddenly more overwhelmed than she’d been so far in this process.
Rick folded his hands in front of him and gave a curt nod. “Yes, portals. There are many. Some lead to good places, some to not-so-good places. As I mentioned, the blood moon thins the veil and opens up this world to evil from other planes. Everyone who has even a modicum of power is going to be in combat mode come Halloween.”
Poppy had this image of ghosts flying around in a midnight sky, circling for their prey. Sort of like Ghostbusters, but maybe less jokey.
“Okay, so we wait until after Halloween to call Familiar Central and rid me of this aura. It’s not far off. We just watch out for bad auras, right?”
No big deal. Just watch for totally invisible entities.
“To be safe, until we can get some answers, I’m going to do a protection spell on you, Poppy. I don’t know the strength of the aura. I might not be the strongest witch, but I’m no weakling.”
Yes! Yes, a protection spell, a whatever spell. Whatever would help, Poppy was down for.
Clapping her hands on her legs, she rose, ready to attack this and move on to the next problem. “Okay, so what do I do? Do I have to gather moths’ wings? Do we need a cauldron with bubbling green goo? Frogs? Oh, please don’t say frogs. I love frogs. They have those cute little legs and beady little eyes. I had a pond behind me where I lived when I was a kid, and I’d die if we had to sacrifice a frog.”
Both January and Rick barked a laugh. “No frogs,” January reassured. Rising from the armchair, she approached Archibald and gave him a quick hug. “So, Arch? Got some raspberry Kool-Aid?”
“Kool-Aid? Like for real, the kid is gonna drink a frickin’ metaphor?” Nina asked, her dark eyes skeptical.