Southern Charms

Good News

The old cabin sat at the base of a deeply wooded hill. I looked at it in trepidation as Ash led me around to the back. No matter how chilly things had been lately, I knew snakes would make an appearance as soon as it warmed back up. This was Mississippi. It would warm back up.

"You don't have some kind of spell you can cast to make all the creepy crawlies go away?"

Ash shot me a surprised look. "We've been running from demons and my sister for days now, and you're afraid of a few snakes?"

"Um, it's Copperhead mating season right now, and we can't save the town if we're snake bit."

Throwing me a wink, he put an arm around my waist and tugged me against his side. "I'll take care of you Rose. Always."

He spoke as though teasing, until he said the last word. The hitch in the syllables, the lowering tone as he reached the s... all were signs of fear he refused to let me see in his expression. I wanted to tell him I would be fine. That this was simple, and I believed in him.

But we were dealing with tricksters and tyrants. Men, who no doubt had rigged the system. Ash would blame himself if anything went wrong.

"There," he puffed as we reached the hilltop. He swung a finger toward a rock. "I found it last night. We can use it as the altar. I think it'll catch the sun's light perfectly."

"You've got the bowl?"

He held it up before setting it on the rock. Then, in went the purified water. The stream falling from the bottle turned lavender in the brightening morning, the color deepening as it filled the container. Soon, hints of bronze and pink would infuse the liquid, but we had to wait for gold.

"Stone is next."

Ash trembled as he dropped the Vampire Stone into the water. It broke the surface tension with an audible thunk, but it didn't sink straight to the bottom. Instead, it moved slowly, almost like it was falling through mud instead of pure water.

"Is that supposed to be happening?" I asked when the water started to boil.

"It is. The book says the purified water is trying to fuse with the stone and cast off the negative energy, but it's the blood and sun that completes the bond."

"Okay. How much time do we have?"

"Sunrise is 7:11 A.M. It's 7:07."

Four minutes. I gulped and tried to ignore the lyrics to "Four Minutes" that suddenly popped into my head. As much as I loved the song, I didn't want to share my last thoughts with Justin Timberlake and Madonna. My eyes slid to the boy at my side. I would share them with him.

"You okay?" he asked as we crouched over the bowl. I held my finger over the surface while he pressed a pin to my skin.

"Sure," I replied, the lie clear to both of us. "Willow and I did something like this one summer."

"You poured your blood into spell to stop a warlock who summons demons?"

I snorted. "No, smartass. During my first year at school in St. Augustine, Flannery mentioned this thing impoten girls do with their friends when they want to become sisters. They each prick their finger and mingle their blood together."

Ash's eyes never left the clock on his phone as it counted down to sunrise, but I could tell from the stiff way he held himself that was listening. So, I kept talking.

"I went home and found Willow first thing. I figured if impotens could do that kind of magic, then I definitely could, and we know how much power there is in blood."