Chapter 21: Finding Love

Amelia set the bushels of freshly picked plants down on the chair that Silvana had fallen asleep in.

“Why did my little Sylvie just run off like that?” Amelia asked with real worry.

Kurt held back a smile and pressed a hand to his red cheek. He acted as though the mark Silvana had left on him truly stung.

Amelia felt the rage in her throat when she asked, “Kurt, did she slap you?”

Kurt winced as Amelia pressed a hand to his cheek and said, “She did, but it’s not like you think.”

“I think,” Amelia said, placing her hands on her hips with the raging fireplace behind her, “that she better have a damn good reason for putting her hands on you.”

Kurt feigned worry, jumped to his feet, and hugged Amelia. His gentleness soothed her slightly and he told her, “Hey now, take it easy. This is a big misunderstanding.”

“I would hope so!” Amelia yelled.

Kurt looked her in the eyes and with complete compassion and empathy said, “The most embarrassing thing happened. I was helping to get those knots out from her back when she fell asleep. That baggy shirt of hers got caught when she slipped over and dozed off, and I accidentally unhooked her bra.”

Kurt shook his head and pressed a palm to his forehead, “I can’t believe such a thing happened, and I owe her a sincere apology.”

Still fuming, Amelia said, “Well, it’s not like an accident like that justifies her lashing out at you. Nobody hurts my man!”

Kurt led her closer to the bathroom door and so Silvana could hear, he said, “Amelia, she’s going through a lot. What she’s feeling now is totally deserved.”

Inside, Silvana clipped her bra back to place and splashed water onto her face. She patted her face dry and let her anger simmer for a second.

Had Kurt just made an honest mistake?

She wanted to believe so, but her instinct was telling her that he acted as rotten as she originally thought he was.

Kurt knocked on the bathroom door and Silvana noticed how disheveled she was with her hair ratty and unbrushed, and her eyes laced with thick crow’s feet. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept soundly, and she had fallen asleep during the worst time.

She recalled her pleasant dream of Kurt and Amelia kayaking out in the lake while she cooked eggs and Bruce chopped wood for the fire. They would roast marshmallows at night and pass around a whiskey bottle, and have couples’ movie nights where they’d rotate who chose what they’d watch. She thought about how happy Amelia had been with Kurt, and how perfect their lives would be if these two werewolf brothers got along.

Silvana thought about how Kurt called her his sister, and she chose to give him the benefit of the doubt that his actions hadn’t been purposeful, though that didn’t change the fact that such contact was reserved strictly for her loyal Alpha.

If Kurt was acting, he was doing a damn good job when he knocked on the bathroom door and said, “Silvana, about what just happened, I’m so terribly sorry. Whatever anger you feel towards me right now I understand. Please understand that wasn’t my intention, and that I’m happy to speak with you further if you’re comfortable doing so.”

Amelia was impressed. This was how her rough-around-the-edges-man spoke, so elegantly, proving that his tattered denim clothing and raggy demeanor was only a product of his upbringing and a choice of style.

What really mattered was how he took things on the chin like a man, and accepted responsibility for his mistakes.

Silvana exited the bathroom.

“It’s okay, Kurt,” she said, rolling her shoulder. “I appreciate you helping me out. These things happen.”

Silvana rubbed a finger to her tired, itchy eyes and said, “I’m sorry for slapping you.”

“I deserved it,” Kurt grinned. “Though maybe next time you could avoid my money-maker.”

“I know I’d appreciate that!” Amelia added.

She touched the back of Silvana’s arm. “How are you feeling, lovie-girl?”

“Exhausted,” Silvana admitted. She found more strength inside herself and said, “But I’m ready to find Bruce if you both are.”

Kurt clapped and said, “Let’s do it, sis.”

And when Silvana got close to him and Amelia, he opened up for a hug.

“I’m sorry, again,” he said sincerely.

Silvana gave him a quick hug, focusing more on getting down to business.

Amelia handed Silvana the supplies for the spell.

Eager to show off new magic, Silvana blew a kiss to a long, unlit red wax candle. The wick ignited with a magical pink flame.

“That was super,” Amelia said. “Should I call you Guardian now, or later?”

“Let’s hold off on any of that,” Silvana smirked. “Maybe after we find Bruce we can all get away from the spirits and courts and councils for a while.”

“So how exactly do we do this thing?” Kurt asked, crossing his arms.

“It’s not too complicated,” Silvana said, pouring the wax from a candle in a massive and elaborate symbol that resembled a five-point star inside a circle made of tree branches.

“You’ve really been practicing,” Amelia remarked, astounded at the detail of the symbol.

“Isn’t this going to stain our wooden floors?!” Kurt asked, considering how much he’d spent on the cabin.

“Oh honey,” Amelia said, patting Kurt’s head, “that’s just simply not how magic works.”

“Well,” Kurt said, watchful, “this isn’t exactly my speciality. How does it work?”

Silvana laced the middle of the circle with a bundle of tarragon, a bushel of bright green coriander, and marked it with an X-shape of long strands of mint vines.

“Observe,” Silvana said.

“Looks like my spice rack,” Kurt teased. “Are you seasoning a steak?”

“Funny,” Silvana said playfully. “But tarragon is a component for passion, coriander is used for intellectual pursuits, and mint for finding one’s true love.”

“Right,” Kurt affirmed with a wavering nod.

“And now all we need,” Amelia said, holding a piece of old parchment, “is to write a map from the spell that leads us right to Bruce.”

Kurt put his hands up and said, “You don’t really expect me to believe that you’re going to turn that ragged old piece of paper into a map to find—“

Silvana’s eyes glowed pink as Amelia set the parchment on top of the herbs.

“Take a step back, sweetie,” Amelia told Kurt.

He did so just in time to avoid the wax’s combustion into a circle of deep purple flames as tall as the ceiling. The herbs burned like the fuse to a stick of dynamite, and the map floated four feet in the air. Squiggly blue lines etched themselves onto the parchment, indicating the cabin, the city, and then becoming more detailed.

“This can’t be happening,” Kurt said.

“Oh it can,” Amelia giggled. “There’s nobody like my little Sylvie.”

“Now just think of your big Brucie!” Amelia said encouragingly.

Strands of Silvana’s hair floated above her head, and she stuck both her hands out before the raging flames as she further enchanted the map with her family’s magic words, “Tu Fui, Ego Eris.”

The map turned a deep blue, and dots started to fizzle and sizzle upon areas of the map.

“That’s it Silvana,” Amelia shouted over the crackling fire, “You’re getting closer.”

The paper burned with little blue dots marking possible locations where Bruce could be, and less and less dots started to fizzle out. Only three were left when Silvana stumbled and fell to a knee.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kurt asked, running over to Silvana. He looked at Amelia. “Is she okay?”

Silvana panted like she’d sprinted up ten flights of stairs.

“I don’t think I’m strong enough,” Silvana said. “This spell is giving me a headache.”

Then Silvana’s stomach grumbled loudly, and Amelia laughed.

“Oh, you’re plenty strong,” she told Silvana. “Our culprit is your empty stomach.”

Amelia ran to the kitchen and returned with smoked meats.

“Babe,” Amelia said, tilting her head to Kurt. “Why is the only real food in this house different kinds of meat?”

Kurt shook his head and rubbed his neck. “You’re talking to a werewolf, honey. Our diet is pretty consistent.”

Silvana graciously accepted a log of soppressata and said, “I’ll happily take anything.”

Amelia offered her best friend a glass of wine and said, “Here, can’t hurt to loosen up either.”

Refreshed from food and drink, Silvana attempted the spell once more.

Again, flames rippled throughout the floor and to the ceiling, and the map shimmered with blue spots.

“Just like that, Sylvie!” Amelia said.

Even Kurt rooted her on and said, “There you go! You’re getting there!”

Focused, concentrating, and with her eyes shut, Silvana felt the dots disappearing one by one.

Finally, a single dot remained.

She opened her eyes.

Kurt scratched his head and Amelia mumbled, “That’s not possible.”

The map displayed Bruce inside of Silvana’s house.