The Bone Witch (The Osseous Chronicles, #1)

by Ivy Asher

Working with Rogan to undo the jinx on Tad unloosened the memory, and now it wants attention that I don’t have the time for.

The lesson from my early teenage years comes rushing back. I can hear my Grammy’s voice explaining to us the history of witch battles and how they were fought. I remember pretending to be as into it as Tad was as she detailed how groups of witches liked to fight. “One on one, the odds are more even,” Grammy agreed when Tad asked why witches didn’t duel like they did back in the olden days. “But no one likes to lose, Tadpole, which is why magic users prefer strength in numbers,” she explained, as if it were the most riveting story she ever told. “Witches like to surround and attack, creating a force, a grid, where magic bounces off of other witches. That way the magic becomes stronger and more lethal,” she declares as she mimes a sword fight. “In a grid, it doesn’t matter if your magical blow or attack misses its mark. The magic bounces around inside the circle until it hits someone, or a partner-witch takes it and combines the force with their attack, until BOOM!” she shouts, and it makes me and all of my cousins jump in surprise. Her voice fades as our childish giggles fill my mind, and loss constricts around me, so tight that it all at once makes it hard to breathe. I recall her telling us that normally witches can’t feed off of each other like that. That our magic is usually only our magic, but witches and covens have found ways around that. I learned that day that amulets that protect and temporarily link witches to a partner in a group have been a game-changer when it...

but I don’t have enough time to high-five my weird sense of humor; I need to come up with some kind of plan.

Subtle movement comes from behind me, and I spin ready to magically cut a bitch.