Free Baehrly Alive by Elizabeth A. Reeves

other eyes, at my Magic to see if I could muster out one more spell. Surprisingly the Earth here offered up a good trickle of energy and I was able to work a minor healing spell—adjusting our bodies to the higher altitude and oxygen availability.
    Donovan immediately sucked in a deep breath. “Ah. That feels great. You know, I didn’t even realize how woozy I was getting.”
    I shook my head. “Me neither. I’ve gotten so used to having headaches lately, that I didn’t even realize that I was getting short of breath. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that detail. My dad would have lectured me for hours for forgetting something as important as that.”
    “You can’t think of everything,” Donovan said gently. “Why don’t we take a break and eat something? I know that working Magic makes you starving.”
    That was an understatement. Magic burned an insane amount of calories—especially if I was using my own energy and not plugging into the earth.
    I grateful dropped down on a rotting log and dug into my pack for some jerky and dried fruit. We hadn’t planned on being gone overnight, but I had prepared for that much.
    Even if I had forgotten about something like needing to breathe.
    My brain wasn’t going to let me forget that one for quite some time.
    I raised my eyebrows as Donovan offered me a rather sticky and squashed candy bar.
    “Chocolate?” I asked. “You brought chocolate?”
    Donovan chuckled. “Do you want any or not?”
    I snatched at the bar before he could change his mind. I might be going crazy one vampire venom-induced nightmare at a time, but I wasn’t crazy enough to turn down chocolate.
    “Oh, bliss,” I murmured, as I pulled back the wrapper, not even caring that I was getting gooey, melted chocolate all over my fingers.
    Donovan gave me a strange look.
    “What?” I muttered through a mouthful of chocolate.
    He shook his head and looked down at his pack, but he couldn’t hide his smile.
    “Chocolate,” I informed him, “is the most powerful force on earth.”
    “Not love?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.
    I shook my head. “Nah. Love is for pansies. Chocolate is the real thing, baby.”
    Donovan chuckled. “Are you sure you’re getting enough oxygen now?”
    I made a face at him. “Cute. Just for that you’re going to be the one setting up camp tonight while I try to find our elusive Magical spring.”
    “You’re trying to tell me that it wasn’t going to me all along?” He raised one eyebrow challengingly at me.
    “Who knows,” I said evasively. “I might have decided to be nice. This once.”
    Donovan muttered something that sounded an awful lot like ‘pig fly’. I frowned. Had I failed to mention flying pigs to him?
    Had I failed to feed him flying pig bacon?
    Now, that was just plain wrong. Flying pig bacon was one of the best things about being part of the Magical Community.
    I was going to have to rectify that when we got back home.
    Our break and snack gave me the boost I needed to face our next step—climbing a mountain. We didn’t even get to climb on nice, designated path. Because this was forbidden territory, we were forced to work our way straight through the woods, climbing over, under, and around ancient wood falls and trying to avoid the worst of the venomous plants and insects.
    The air around us was brilliant with the pungent piney perfume that touched the very center of my Earth Witch being. If anything could soothe my rumpled soul it was this—raw wilderness, where every step we took was akin to sacrilege.
    It was hallowed ground.
    For any lesser task, I would never have dared to stray even near this place. More than one culture held it sacred—which is why it was forbidden for anyone even to be here.
    But, despite my careless words and easy humor, love was not something to be dismissed. My little brother’s life was more sacred to me than even the sanctity of this place. I would desecrate this place with my presence if there was any