Page 99 of Spirit Storm

I lean my head back against the chair and look at the ceiling. Don't these people get it? We're fighting a losing battle that will make or break the human world as we know it. Why are they more worried about chapter politics and the inconvenience of talking to young witches than releasing a majorly major demon? "What about the journals? Did you find anything useful?"

Orion and Rowan exchange a look, and then Rowan fields the question. "Useful is a strong word, but there are a few mentions of the preparations the Nine took before the ritual. Nothing that jumps out as helpful, but they set the stage a little better."

I let out a long sigh. "Why can't there ever be a journal that just says, 'Here's everything you need to know. Have at it.'"

"That would be so helpful," Asher agrees.

Rowan smiles. “We haven’t finished going through them, but Khylie is pretty sure we can piece the ritual together.”

“Okay, well, that’s something.”

Wylder, who has been quietly taking it all in since we sat down, gives me a smile. "Here's where I think we stand. Until Mica has the weapons forged and ready, we have two priorities. First is fix the rune circles. Of the six destroyed lockstones, five of them still need to be repaired. Xavier is incredible, but it might be a task too great for one man, given how badly we need the wards back in place."

Clara raises her hand slightly. "Khylie mentioned Xavier knows other stone witches. I bet we can rally them if they know how important it is."

I brush my fingers off on my pants. "It's late and we've taken up two full days of their time. We'll talk to them about that in the morning. What else?"

Wylder continues. "Second, we need to find nine descendants willing and trained enough to perform the ritual and survive it."

"Do they have to be descendants, or can they just be spirit witches?" Orion asks.

Good question. "If it doesn't have to be descendants, I could ask Sebastian."

"The Order probably has a way to filter witches by affinity," Orion says.

Asher makes a face. "Magical profiling? Rude."

I chuckle. "Maybe that's true, but it works in our favor if they do."

"And what does willing look like in this situation?" Orion asks. "Given what happened to Henrik and that first response Poppy got to her email asking for help. There's no way to guess how people are going to respond to the idea. Especially knowing that people died the first time around."

No one has a good answer for that, and I don't try to invent one.

"You know what? That's tomorrow's problem. For tonight, we're in the Bahamas, I'm starving, and I could really use a drink. Who wants to toss in the towel for the night and take a breather?"

Asher brightens. "I could use a breather."

Rowan blinks. "You had me at 'drink'."

I point at the window and the darkening strip of ocean beyond it. "All right, Brigade. I vote we put our feet in the sand, walk up the shoreline, and spend an hour or two filling our social wells at that seaside bar I see lighting up the beach."

Asher shoots to his feet. "I second the motion. Everyone dressed and ready in ten minutes. There are shenanigans to be had."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The sand is cool under my feet when I drop into a low stance and try again. We're expecting Khylie and her brother to join us, but so far, they haven't shown up.

"Relax." Wylder steps in behind me, his deep voice close to my ear. "It's your affinity, the same as spirit magic. Stop bracing for the worst."

"I'm not bracing."

He chuckles and kisses the back of my head. "Your shoulders are at your ears."

Oh, so they are. I drop them, step forward, and stretch out my neck. The breeze coming off the water is warm and smells like salt and coconut sunscreen. It's nothing like the heavy, charged air I'm trying to manipulate.

A wild peal of laughter down the beach draws my attention to Clara, knee-deep in the surf, threading ribbons of seawater up into spirals above her head like she's conducting a personal orchestra.

Further out, Izzy is a tiny figure in the waves, surrounded by a pod of dolphins that found her twenty minutes ago and apparently decided she's one of them now.