“That makes sense.”

“So I just need to convince them of that.”

“How? I doubt they speak English.”

“I imagine not.” I walked toward them. “But maybe they can read my intentions. I feel like I can read theirs.”

“Be careful.”

From the wariness in Lachlan’s voice, I knew without looking that he hadn’t stashed the dagger. At least the dagger was less threatening than if he’d turned into a wolf.

I reached the wall of figures and pressed my hand to the chest of the nearest. Roots twisted and turned under my palm. The creature stayed stock still, and I couldn’t decide if it was alive or not. There were no facial features that I could see, even though it sported a vaguely head-shaped mass of roots.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, envisioning only my intentions concerning the burial mound. I vowed not to harm it and to take only what I needed.

At first, I had no idea if it worked, but then the magic in the air changed. The roots under my hand disappeared, and I opened my eyes.

The guardians in front of me had returned to the soil. The other figures stayed where they were, but a passage had been created.

I looked back at Lachlan. “Come on.”

Together, we entered the clearing and approached the burial mound. The strongest sense of awareness overcame me, as if I were standing at the grave of an ancestor.

No doubt I was. Somehow, my mother had come into possession of that book and hidden it for me. Perhaps whoever was in this mound had played a role.

Slowly, I climbed to the top of the mound.

“What next?” Lachlan asked. “I don’t suppose we just start digging.”

“Absolutely not.” Horror flashed through me. “For one, it’s illegal. We don’t have a permit. And for another, it just feels wrong. It’s a grave.”

Lachlan nodded, his eyes flashing, and I recalled that we’d dug up his brother’s grave just recently.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know—”

“This is different, you’re right. We don’t need to disturb this body, most likely, so we shouldn’t.”

I nodded.

“Can you use that potion of yours to reveal what’s underground?” he asked.

“Yes. I have one more.” I drew my bag from the ether and prepared a spray bottle of the potion. I likely wouldn’t have enough to cover the entire mound, so I’d have to be smart.

I started with the middle, dousing the grass until it glowed. As I worked, the outline of a massive ship revealed itself.

They’d buried an entire boat in here.

Phenomenal.

At one point, I revealed the outline of a buried body and stopped to pay my respects. It was just a few moments of silence, but it made me feel better about this whole strange business.

When I finally revealed the location of the stone, I gasped. It rested at the feet of the body, glowing brightly about ten feet underground. “I found it.”

Lachlan joined me in inspecting the earth. “How do you want to get it?”

Could I? I looked toward the root figures who guarded the mound. Would they allow me to take something from the mound? Or would they attack? If they attacked, could we defeat them? Did I even want to try?

All of this felt very questionable.

“We need that stone,” Lachlan said. “If we don’t take it, the Maker will. And he’s not going to do good with it.”

I nodded, knowing he was right.

“It’s meant for you,” he pressed. “You're the one for whom these stones were hidden.”

“Do you think so?” The idea definitely made me feel a bit less shit about this whole thing.

“I do.”

I nodded again. “We’ll return it when we’re done.”

“We will.”

“And I’ll try not to disturb the grave…much.” But the idea of digging into it and removing the dirt turned my stomach. It felt like a step too far.

I knelt and pressed my hand to the soft, wet grass. I could feel the thrum of magic and history beneath my palm. Definitely familiar. Like it was part of me.

“Who were you?” I murmured.

There was no response, of course, but the crescent moon on my palm sparked with magic.

My power.

Could I? Should I?

It felt possible here in a way it hadn’t before. I needed to try.

I could feel the moon pulling at me even though it had long since set. It was always there, after all. The power flowed through me, making me feel like I was made of pure light.

I called upon the stone, trying to draw it to me. I started with the tiniest amount of power I could muster, trying to keep tight control of it. This was by far the most dangerous operation I’d ever tried. One wrong move, and I’d yank my ancestor right out of her grave and have a dancing skeleton call forth an army of root monsters.

Not good.

Power thrummed through me, and when it finally began to work, I could feel it. The stone felt like part of me, and as it rose through the earth, it seemed like a piece of my soul was returning to my body.

When it pierced the grass and touched my palm, a sense of peace surged through me. A wide smile stretched my face, and I clutched the stone, rising.

“It worked.” I turned to Lachlan and held out the rock to show him.

“Well done.”

“Now, let’s get out of here.”

He nodded, and we left the burial mound. I said a quick goodbye in my mind as we crossed through the barrier created by the guardians. As we walked away, I looked back to see them disappear into the ground.

“That wasn’t so hard,” I said.

Before Lachlan could answer, the air popped with magic. Figures appeared all around us, at least a dozen of them. More followed, one after the other.

My heart leapt into my throat, my skin chilling.

The Maker. This had to be his doing.

“We’ve got to go.” Lachlan reached for his pocket, no doubt to retrieve a transport charm, but a bolt of magic hit him straight in the stomach, driving him backward.

I felt the percussive blast—a sonic boom, sent by the mage who stood directly in front of us. My power surged through me, and I called upon my newest magic, dragging a tree from the ground to throw it at the mage.

It slammed into him, but not before his power burst through me, throwing me back against another trunk. The air was knocked from my lungs, and the Moon Stone tumbled from my hand.

Panic flared as I scrambled upright, every inch of me in pain. My insides felt like they’d been scrambled, and I could barely see.

My vision was good enough to spot a figure swoop in to steal the Moon Stone, however. He was a small man, but fast. He darted in and grabbed it, then raced away, disappearing behind the cover of his friends.

Rage filled me, and I called upon my power. But there were too many of them. They converged upon me, and in the distance, I saw the Maker. He watched with avarice, his plan no doubt going just as he wanted.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Lachlan as he was hit by another sonic boom. It slammed him into a tree, and ice filled my veins.

How many of those could he survive? Two would be deadly for a less powerful supernatural.

Four attackers converged on me, each dressed in plain, dark clothes. Their faces were concealed by hoods, but I could feel the determination in their gazes.