Winded Read Free

she was about tonight. And he
knew the perfect spot to see the thing done.
    She hadn’t consulted her Grimoire, or the many others that
had been handed down through the hands of so many Devices who had come before
her. There was no need. She’d read them all too many times to think she’d
missed anything important. No, the spell she needed wasn’t in those old,
fragile pages. It was writ on the tissues of her own heart. It just needed her
voice to lend it power, and one of the few pieces of land that still held a
whisper of the ancient purity that had once been so plentiful in this New
World.
    Ball led her to one such place now. A large stone, as big as
a semi, planted in the ground at an angle so that it created a sort of lean-to,
was the only object in the wide meadow. Under the lee of the rock and along its
sides, an enormous patch of eternally blooming night jasmine colored the
ground. This was a spot of earth that no frost or snow ever touched. It was a
sacred space. And the rock itself was one of the four keystones on the
island—four large, standing rocks that had no business being where they were
other than to keep watch at each compass bearing on the land.
    Vetiver had never used this particular spot to cast her
voice into the four cardinal directions.
    She’d never dared.
    It didn’t bother her. She accepted the truth that she wasn’t
a powerful witch, or even a particularly talented one. But she was a daughter
of nature and that was more than enough for her to be satisfied. She wasn’t
proud. Nor was she power hungry. It wasn’t that she wanted more magic for
herself now, it was that she needed it, to see her job done.
    She felt a pressing need for haste. Something dark and
threatening loomed on the horizon, just beyond her sight. A wild, hungry thing
knocked at the wards on the island and Vetiver was afraid it wasn’t a
metaphorical beast. With such imminent danger at hand, it would take all of her
strength and effort to keep the island closed to the evil that wanted in so
badly. And even trying her best might not be enough. In the past there had
always been more than one Device witch invoking the autumnal spells. It was a
precarious time. The world in a state of change, from living summer to dormant
winter, made all the wards tremble. It took a lot of power to ensure their
stability.
    The binding spells must hold. This island was more than an
island. It was a doorway. And the door must remain closed. Because on the other
side of the threshold there lurked a threat to all who lived here, a threat
Vetiver felt like a hand around her throat. Squeezing.
    Careful not to trespass on the delicate flowers, Vetiver
skirted the little garden and climbed up the backside of the stone, until she
stood on the ledge overlooking the meadow.
    The wind picked up, bringing with it the perfume of the
jasmine blossoms. It wasn’t a gentle gust, but it barely touched her and only
disturbed her enough to lift her hair and cool her face. She was perfectly
balanced on the edge of the enormous stone. There was no chance Vetiver would
fall, though looking out over the dusk-kissed blooms from such a great height
gave her a moment of vertigo. Her heart pounded, blood singing hot in her
veins.
    “I need your guidance,” she told the wind, the trees and the
sky. “My people are gone. I am the last of my line. I know it isn’t my place to
ask for your help with this burden, but I’m afraid that I can’t guard this land
alone. The world is moving too fast for me to protect my own home, much less
this whole island and everyone who’s moved here.” Her teeth ground bitterly. “I
feel the weight of too many greedy souls to guard and these people have no wish
to receive the island’s protection. Or mine.”
    Ball moved behind her and Vetiver looked down to find that
he had produced her ebony-handled Athame. He deposited the worn dagger at her
feet, having secreted it out here somehow without her noticing.
    This wasn’t what