Lux

Lux pushed herself to her feet. Sara Elizabeth wiped at the dirt staining her hot pink yoga pants and white crop top while giving Kitty the stink eye. Ruby watched all of them with her arms folded across her chest. She was garbed in her usual attire of chunky black boots, black skirt, and black top. The girl was a walking cliche, but she owned it.

"Anyone going to explain?" Ruby lifted her eyebrow as she spoke, igniting Lux's ire.

"This is public property," Kitty snapped.

"The trail is. We are no longer on the trail."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "However did you deduce that Sherlock? Here's another factoid: you aren't on the trail either."

"God, you're such a freak." Sara Elizabeth had her hands on her hips, and Lux wasn't sure who she'd intended to insult with her words. Probably everyone.

Lux groaned and said, "This is getting us nowhere. Kitty and I are up here for the same reason you two are up here. We're snooping around."

Ruby shrugged and walked past Lux to peer into the ditch. "Guilty. But why did Sara Elizabeth attack Kitty? That seemed a little unnecessary."

"I didn't see who it was before I jumped her. It's just a little creepy up here. But I'm not actually up here to snoop. I was here the day after it opened to the public, and I dropped my ring," Sara Elizabeth said, squatting down and reaching for the shiny object Lux dropped during the chaos.

They were all quiet as the cheerleader dug through the dirt before she straightened with her fist closed around an object. Her features softened with relief, and she walked away without speaking. Ruby and Kitty stepped in front of her, arms crossed like angry sentinels.

"Whatcha got there?"

"None of your damn business," Sara Elizabeth growled, the effect dampened by her Tinkerbell pixie cut and flushed cheeks. "Out of my way."

The gem at Ruby's throat gleamed just like Kitty's emeralds, and a large stick zoomed into the back of Sara Elizabeth's knees, sending her reeling backwards. Her hands opened as she tried to balance herself, and the ring hovered in the air long enough for Kitty to swipe it.

"Aw, hell no. Are you serious?" Kitty shouted.

She stared at the ring as though it were a bug before tossing it to Ruby. The petite girl examined the item, her thin lips twisting with disgust before nodding.

"The stone has magical residue. She's a Trueborn."

Sara Elizabeth's splutters of outrage stopped as she registered their words. "This is some kind of joke right? I cannot be in a Circle with you two." She paused and looked at Lux. "Three?"

Lux took the proffered ring. A heat that was beginning to feel familiar to her began to spread through her palm. The ring was simple, very unlike anything she would've expected from her nemesis. It was a large, unadorned sapphire with a thin silver band, but there was no denying that it was a channeling stone. Memaw was going to get an earful as soon as Lux made it home.

"Well isn't this a shit show," she muttered.

Sara Elizabeth groaned. "At least we can agree on that."

****************************************

Declan

"What are you doing here?"

Declan jumped at the sound of Lux's voice entering the kitchen. He'd been staring at the unappetizing options in the fridge for nearly five minutes and had just settled on trying his hand at this thing the Godelieve women called takeout. He shut the door in haste, aware of the precious cold air he'd allowed to leak out and turned to greet the young witch.

"You're bleeding," he hissed, rushing to her side. His fingers prodded at the cut on her forehead until he was satisfied it was nothing more than a scrape and had bled profusely as head wounds tended to do. Most of the blood had already dried into rusty flecks that were nearly hidden by the streaks of dirt covering her face. "What trouble did you manage to get into?"

Chuckling, she pushed his hands away, though he couldn't help but notice the way she tightened her fingers around his before letting them slide off his skin. "I went hiking and took a tumble. Memaw should've told you what a clutz I am."

"Would you like something to drink? Or maybe a washcloth?"

"Yes to the drink. No to the washcloth. I'm about to take a shower." She pulled a leaf from her hair and tossed it on the counter. "I may be in there all night. I guess with my luck with showers, I should be grateful you're here right now."

Memories of Lux's wet curves surged through his mind and heated his face. He had no memory of struggling with these types of thoughts before he went to sleep, but he chalked part of it up to the dance shared on her birthday. Seeing her body was one thing. Knowing how it felt pressed against his was quite another. He opened the fridge and stuck his entire head inside, hoping the cold would erase the evidence of his lust.

"A coke?" he managed to squeak out.

"Sure."

He grabbed two of the red cans and tossed one to Lux. "I didn't much care for this drink when I first tried it, but it has grown on me."Another laugh escaped her lips, the sound light and musical in his ears. He feared he was becoming hypnotized by this girl, and that was a very dangerous line to cross.

"I bet it's the caffeine growing on you."

He swallowed, the burn delightful as it slid down his throat. "Whatever it is, I like it."

She struggled with another leaf in her hair. Declan set the can down and reached over to help. The silky strands of her auburn hair caressed his skin as he coaxed the debris from her hair. He didn't miss the hitch in her breathing as he dipped his head lower so he could see where the hair was tangled. It was a chore to keep his eyes locked on the target when out of the corner of his eye, he could see her chest heaving as she tried to remain calm.

"There," he whispered, pulling the leaf out and pulling away.

"Declan...why?" The soft gray of her eyes darkened like thunderheads, and her mouth parted slightly as if in invitation.

How he wanted to tell her it didn't matter. The rules were archaic and didn't apply to them, but the memory of another woman's body in his arms- this one broken and limp- stopped him.

"Lux, it's just not done."

"But why?" she pressed, catching his hand in hers. "I-I've never really dated or wanted to date. I mean, I've had crushes, but this is something different. You feel it too, right? It's almost like magic."

Declan didn't want to lie. He despised it, and he knew enough about the girl in front of him to know she would not forgive easily. Leora was a lot like that. She loved fast and hard, but once she was burned, she didn't give a person a chance to hurt her again. That part of her nature was in part responsible for the predicament they all found themselves in now, and for that reason above all else, he knew he had to be truthful.

"You know-"

"Hello, anyone home?" Phoebe called out, her timing impeccable. Lux and Declan jumped apart before the eldest Godelieve woman entered the room, but Declan suspected her sharp eyes missed nothing. She'd already warned him that they needed to talk, and he had little doubts about the topic. "How was your day dear?"

Clearing her throat, Lux tugged her gaze away from Declan and responded to her grandmother, "Well, let's see. Kitty and I made up. She told me all about the Vow you used on her. You've got some serious groveling to do about that."

"Lux, about that-"

"Nope," Lux cut her off, "You can grovel later. I want to give you a chance to tell me anything else you might be keeping from me."

Phoebe's dark brows drew together. "I feel like we cleared the air completely the other evening."

"So you don't know who the fourth member of our circle is?"

"You found another Trueborn? Another First Daughter?" Phoebe shot off the questions in rapid fire succession, excitement bright in her eyes. "Who?"

Her granddaughter eyed her skeptically. "You really don't know."

"Girl, I would've told you. You need at least five members in your circle to guard the Gate."

"See, it's details like those that you really need to tell me about."

"Lux!"

"Sara Elizabeth Hardy. She has a sapphire ring."

"Hardy? That's not one of the surnames in the circle."

"If it passes through the mother's line, wouldn't the surname change after marriage?"

Phoebe shook her head in the negative, but Declan answered for her. "Surnames are important and so witches do not change their names when they marry."

"Yeah, but if the women didn't know they were witches, they wouldn't have kept with tradition."

"I suppose, but I've kept up with all of the families over the years. I don't remember anyone marrying into the Hardy family. You're certain she's a Trueborn?"

"You know more about this than I do." Lux looked frustrated with the direction the conversation was going, and she rubbed her chest as though it ached. Declan frowned. She'd been doing that a lot lately. "She had the ring, and she knew what it meant when Ruby called her a Trueborn."

"I'll do some digging. Declan you can help me. Lux why don't you go grab a shower. You look and smell awful."

Luc didn't offer a snappy comeback before she hopped off of her stool and headed up the stairs. Phoebe turned to him with a fierce look. "We'll get to the matter of the new witch in a minute. We need to talk."

"Phoebe. I know what you want to say, and you don't need to say it."

"I think I do. I see the way you two look at each other. I teased her about you in the beginning because I thought you'd make sure there was plenty of distance, but the tension between you two is palpable. And not just the sexual kind. I can feel the magic spinning out of control when you're both in the same room. That's dangerous, Declan."

"I know, but we're going to have to spend a lot of time together. I'll be teaching them potions soon. What would you have me do?"

Phoebe was quiet for a moment. "Break her heart."