“Have the police found the other driver yet?” Samantha asks eventually.
“No. Mac didn’t catch the number plate because it all happened so fast.”
“Well, it sounds like an unfortunate, terrible accident, and it’s probably best you try to put it to the back of your mind,” Kimi says. “We’ll do a meditation in a minute, and Ella can do a healing spell if you want.”
I hesitate. “That sounds great, but first… There are a couple of things I want to mention.” I sip the hot chocolate, taking time to form my thoughts. “When I lost consciousness, I had a vision.”
Everyone exchanges a glance. Out of all the witches in the room, I’m the one who has often received visions that the rest of the group have helped to translate.
“Okay,” Kimi says. “What was in the vision?”
I tell them about Tia and the Grove, and how she was crying and saying she was sorry. “I’d have said it was a near-death experience,” I tell them, “but obviously Tia’s alive, and anyway, it felt like a vision. It was so odd; at the end, she said, ‘Kia kaha.’”
“What does that mean?” Leigh asks.
“I didn’t know at the time, but Mac said it to me after I was put in the ambulance. He told me later at the hospital that it’s Maori—his dad’s from New Zealand—and it means ‘stay strong.’ I felt that, in the vision, Tia was telling me to trust him.”
“That would make sense,” Kimi says.
“There’s something else,” I add. I tell them about the wolf. “Then, when I awoke, the grass was covered in snow, and there were prints in the grass all around me. I asked Mac what they were, and he said he thought they were from a large dog.”
Everyone goes quiet.
“People walk their dogs there all the time,” Ella says.
“Yes.”
“There are lots of wild animals on the moors,” Charlie adds.
“That’s true. But I’ll tell you another reason it’s odd. When I eventually got home and opened my emails, I had one from Tia. She said she was going dark for a few days to do research and apologized for not making the meeting tonight. Then she told me about the story she was writing.” I take out my phone and show them the photos she sent me. “Apparently, they appeared across Devon the morning of my accident. Has anyone here heard of the Devil’s Footprints?” Nobody has, so I tell them what Tia told me. “The odd thing is, the prints around me appeared one hundred and sixty-five years ago to the day after the Devil’s Footprints appeared.”
Everyone passes around the phone, huddling together to examine the photos. “That’s so weird,” Samantha states. “I’ve got goosebumps.”
“Me too,” I admit. “I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon.” I glance across at Kimi and Ella, who are talking in low voices. “You know something, don’t you?”
It’s an unspoken agreement in the Crows that although everyone’s entitled to their privacy, we don’t keep secrets from each other. I can see they’re reluctant to share, though.
“In divination,” Ella says, “dreaming about a wolf symbolizes bad judgment or gullibility. It’s about being taken in by something or someone. For witches, as well, it can relate to a person who works with dark magic.”
I’ve always been taught that magic, like electricity, is neither good nor bad. It can be used for good, and we use it for healing, protection, and for helping others. However, I know there are people out there who use it for their own, darker purposes—to gain power and wealth, to hurt or control others, or to raise demons from the Lower Realms. I’ve never seen any, but Kimi has told us about the ones she’s seen, and I’d trust her with my life, so I know she’s telling the truth.
“You think my vision was about someone I know who is practicing dark magic?” I ask.
Ella shrugs. “Wolves can also indicate sexual desire and sexuality.”
“Maybe you’re just going to get laid,” Charlie adds helpfully, causing everyone to laugh, and eliminating some of the tension that Kimi and Ella’s suspicions had aroused.
I think of Mac, of his sexy smile, of his mischievous comment on the phone, I don’t want to wear you out. I can think of worse things than being worn out in bed by D. S. Callum Macbeth.
“Your eyes have glazed over,” Charlie says. “Was he really gorgeous?”
“He was. I’ll take a selfie with him tomorrow so I can show you what he looks like.”
“You hardly ever smiled when you talked about Jude,” Samantha says. “But you’re smiling now.”
My face warms a little. Kimi smiles. “Then let’s hope the vision related to your love life, and nothing more sinister. Anyway, we have something for you.” She reaches behind her, retrieves a paper-wrapped present, and hands it to me.
Everyone’s clearly in on it as they’re all smiling. I can feel from the weight and shape of it that it’s a book. I tear off the paper. It’s a beautiful journal. On the front is a pentacle, wound with ivy.
“A new Book of Shadows,” I whisper, and swallow hard. “Thank you so much.”
“Fill it with knowledge and love of the Craft,” Kimi says. “You have much power in you, Persy. Use it wisely.” She rises and begins to collect the empty mugs. “Time for business, sisters. Get yourselves ready.”
Placing the book to one side, even though I’m eager to begin writing in it, I sit more upright on my cushion, my legs crossed, hands in my lap. Kimi goes over to the altar and begins lighting the candles around the room. She always casts the circle for us before we begin our rituals, creating a safe space free from negative energies.
“I wrote a healing spell for Ella to read,” Charlie says. With the heart of a poet, she has a skill for weaving words, and she’s the one we turn to when we have an idea for a new incantation.
“Thank you.” I reach out and hold her hand briefly. I’m so glad I have these women as my friends. I trust and love every one of them.
I think of Tia then, and wish she was here with us. I don’t like not knowing where she is. But she’s always been like this. The two of us might look very similar, but we’ve always been very different in personality. I’m quiet and reserved. Timid, some would say, although I feel it’s more that I’m shy, and prefer to keep my thoughts to myself, at least until I know a person well. I’m not a coward, I don’t think. But then I suppose everyone likes to think they’re brave. It’s only when we’re put in a position that tests our courage that we find out the truth.
Tia has always been the loud one. Funny, outspoken, the first to put her hand up, to take risks despite any hint of danger. She can be hotheaded and impulsive, but she’s not stupid. I’m sure she’s taking care of herself, wherever she is, but I’ll feel better when I see her again.
Kimi has finished lighting the candles and now walks over to where a small potted plant and a crystal mark the direction of north. We fall quiet as she puts her hands around the plant and says the words, “Spirits of Earth, I call on you.” She walks to the incense in its holder that marks east. “Spirits of Air, I call on you.” Next is the essential oil burner with its tealight, marking south. “Spirits of Fire, I call on you.” Lastly, she walks to the small pile of seashells by the wall. “Spirits of Water, I call on you.” With each element, I picture thick brown earth, wind in the trees, crackling flames, or flowing water, and I know the others are doing the same.