Aaron snickers. “Uh, Ave. I think you’d better clarify what you mean.”
“What?” Avery shrugs. Then suddenly it hits her. “Oh!” Shelaughs and elbows Aaron in the belly. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” She turns back to me and says pointedly, her eyes darting at Aaron, “What Imeantwas—I hear you could use some protection spells. Spells, Aaron, not condoms.”
I should be dying of embarrassment right now, but I’m too hung up on the wordspells. Is Avery some kind of witch?
Leo explains, “I told Avery what happened to you when that guy OD’d.”
“There are entire books on protection magic,” Avery says excitedly. “There’s shielding, and wards, and amulets—” She lifts a black heart pendant off her chest. “See this? It’s obsidian, and it absorbs negative energy. But I also did a spell on it, so it’s, like, double protective.”
My head spins. I know there are people who go around calling themselves witches, and I’ve also heard of Wicca and covens, but I’ve never met anyone in real life who believes in witchcraft.
Hesitantly, I ask, “What did you say it does?”
“Absorbs negative energy. Any kind: harmful emotions, psychic attacks, energy vampires…” She ticks off the list on her fingers. “…malevolent spirits, hexes…”
Malevolent spirits? She’s nuts. But my brain homes in on one phrase: harmful emotions. “Wait, so wearing a black necklace can protect you?” I move in to get a good look at the pendant. It’s pretty, in a Hot Topic sort of way.
“If you do a charm on it, or if it’s a crystal. There’s all sorts of stuff you can do with crystals, like carry them in your pocket or set up a grid. Herbs too. Oh, and you can learn how to shield. All you need for that is your own mind…”
She keeps talking, but I’m not registering anything she’s saying. Instead I gape, totally overwhelmed, wanting to understand but unsure how to even ask questions.
Leo leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. To Avery he says, in his calm, reasonable way, “How about we start small? Maybe with a few crystals and a book you could loan her?”
“Oh, yeah,” Avery says. “Sure. I know just what to give her.”
“Perfect.” Leo pats the table and eases back on the couch. Meanwhile, I let out a long exhale.
Aaron chuckles and changes the subject. “So Leo, man, any new theories?”
“Well—” Leo stretches his legs out to the side of the coffee table and crosses his feet at the ankles. In less than two seconds, those Doc Martens are rocking back and forth. He’s in thinking mode. “I just read an article about researchers who want to do DNA testing. They think some of the colony’s descendants are mixed in with a few indigenous groups, including the Cherokee out here.”
“All the way out here?”
“Possibly.”
“But they haven’t done any tests yet?”
Leo stops nibbling his bottom lip long enough to answer. “No. They’re still trying to find other relatives in the UK to compare them to.”
“Roanoke Colony,” Avery stage-whispers to me. “Leo’s obsessed.”
I nod. “He’s told me about it.”
I want to know more about this DNA stuff, but the guys’ discussion has switched to common British surnames. I’ll ask Leo about it some other time. Maybe we can meet at the library again after…
Oh shit.
I shoot to my feet. “What time is it?”
Aaron points to a clock behind my head. “Almost eight.”
“Oh god. I have to go.” I pat my pockets to make sure I have my wallet and keys, already halfway to the doors. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Betts, wait.” Leo jogs up to me. “Let me walk you back.”
“No, it’s fine. I have to run anyway. Like, literally.” I don’t stick around to argue with him.
Liv is gonna be so pissed.
