Hecate's Hollow by Rose Tallie

Author:Rose, Tallie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Graylloyd Publishing
Published: 2022-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Lemon’s arms ached from carrying boxes into and out of the storage room of the Red and White Apothecary. But she had to do at least one shift before she took off again. Her mother was bent over the counter, marking places on the map where the waterfall could be. Unfortunately, she remembered the vomiting more than the location.

Elias’s mother’s crows had been little help. They did not fly far enough to know the place, and Lemon was not hopeful of finding it on their first shot again. But after that it would be the wing of a bat, which she already had in the shop and then Julian’s blood.

And he was coming. She didn’t know what she would do. Magic did not work on Hathornes, with few exceptions—potions that were really just archaic medicine or things like Ruby’s gathered clouds that would still hang over them. But spells and enchantments? It was impossible. Sheer force might be their only option, but even in a town like Hecate’s Hollow, holding a man down and cutting into him was illegal. And she understood it. She really did, but she didn’t see many other options.

Amaryllis pushed her reading glasses up her head and looked at Lemon. “I hope you know I’m proud of you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You’re braver than I ever was. Whether or not you succeed, I’m proud of you.”

Lemon’s thoughts strayed to when she was a child, all the screaming, her mother’s bruises, broken glass and fear—so much fear. There had been times she’d been angry with her mother, blamed her for not leaving, but as she had grown older she’d found forgiveness and understanding.

Because her mother had gotten out, which was more than so many people managed, and she had created something beautiful. She pulled her mother into an embrace, breathing in the scent of her Dior perfume. “I’m proud of you too, mama.”

Amaryllis pulled away enough to look at her, and she smiled. “Oh Lemonade, please be careful with all of this. And let your friends help. Don’t shoulder all the burden. Know, you have generations of witches before you who have undone wrongs that were not theirs to carry, but they did it all the same.” She took Lemon’s face in her hands. “You are good and strong and you make our ancestors proud. You are the reason we were given magic—to help and to heal. I love you so much.”

Lemon blinked away the tears in her eyes as her mother let her go. Outside of the shop, the sun was shining and people milled about in the square. She had a home, she had friends, and maybe she had found someone she could love. She tried not to think of the obstacles, of how they would get the blood they needed, of what Claudia would do once she was cured and didn’t need Lemon anymore.

But the last thought stuck, refusing to be pushed away like the others. What would Claudia do? Would a woman who had traveled the world ever be happy in a small town? Lemon knew she could not leave.

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