Which made me wonder if we were, in fact, dealing with a second wellspring—one that was far younger in creation than the one in O’Connor territory.
It’d be a rare occurrence, Belle said. But it’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.
If this reservation has a second wellspring, then we need to call in the RWA, even if the council won’t. My mental tone was grim. Our magic will never be enough to protect two such forces, especially if this second one is still developing.
Yes, although I can’t believe that they haven’t pressed the matter of having a witch on the reservation, given they are aware of the unguarded nature of the first wellspring.
Except that, according to Anna, Gabe is still here, and his magic is protecting the place.
Aiden doesn’t believe that’s possible, she said. And I tend to agree.
So did I. There was no way known Gabe could have killed his wife and escaped the notice—and the noses—of three werewolf packs for well over a year now. Not even if he’d called upon every ounce of magical skill in his arsenal.
We continued to follow the weaving path through the trees, and the sting of magic got stronger with every step. Whether or not this wellspring was young, it was giving every indication it would end up being as powerful as the other.
From up ahead came glimmers of sunlight, suggesting we were finally nearing the clearing in which Aiden’s sister had been murdered. My gaze fell to his back, and though there was no outward tension evident in the set of his shoulders, it was nevertheless visible in his aura. In the dark swirl of grief and the flashes of red that indicated heartbreak.
I clenched my fingers against the desire to reach out and comfort him. A touch, no matter how well-meaning, wouldn’t ease his pain. Especially when that touch came from someone who was still, in many respects, a stranger, and a witch besides.
We reached the edge of the clearing and stopped. It wasn’t very large, but it was strewn with rocks and other debris. Directly opposite us was a sharp cliff face—the rubble scattered around the clearing had obviously come from a long-ago landslip—and at the base of this was an ankle-deep rock basin. Water bubbled up close to the cliff’s face, lapped over the edge of the basin, and then wound its way down the gentle slope, where it would no doubt join forces with the stream we’d heard but hadn’t seen further down the mountain.
That tiny well was also the source of the wild magic; the air shimmered with the force of it, and the hairs on my arms stood on end. And with it came the thick sense of presence—of awareness—that I’d felt both in the forest above Castle Rock, and in the cemetery when it had angrily snatched my spell and twisted it into something so much more powerful.
Whatever the awareness was—however it had come to be a part of the wild magic—this was where it had been born.
Or, perhaps, died.
Because given the overtly feminine feel to the sentience, I very much suspected that its source was none other than Aiden’s murdered sister.
Chapter Five
You can’t infuse someone’s soul into wild magic, Belle said. You simply can’t.
That we know of, I replied. But it’s not like we’ve had anything more than rudimentary learning when it comes to the stuff.
True. She frowned and studied the small clearing. There is something else here, though.
I studied the clearing for a moment, but couldn’t feel anything more than the wild magic. Like what?
If I knew, I’d say.
Have you asked your guides if they’re sensing anything other than the wild magic?
Yes.
And?
They can’t even get into the clearing. Something is not only blocking them from doing so, but also preventing them from seeing what might lie within this place.
It takes pretty powerful magic to do something like that, Belle. I hesitated. Or is the wild magic itself blocking them?
They were able to enter the area holding the original wellspring easily enough, so it’s not that.
Meaning Gabe must have placed a spell around the area. Odd that neither of us sensed it.
Not really. Not given our less than stellar capabilities and the fact he’s a vetted, RWA approved witch.
Maybe, but if the spells protecting this place are active, it means he is still alive. Spells only very rarely outlasted the death of their creator.