In the Pines Series by Meredith Spies

Sometimes magic is simple—coffee grounds and salt, red pepper and castor oil. An old pair of glasses, a new deck of cards, a snippet of hair and the whisper of a crow’s wing.Other times, it’s far harder—mountain stone and a dead man’s fingers, things that look human and demand a secret in payment, old trains that run only when the moon is dark and the creek is dry to carry you into the dark... moreSometimes magic is simple—coffee grounds and salt, red pepper and castor oil. An old pair of glasses, a new deck of cards, a snippet of hair and the whisper of a crow’s wing.Other times, it’s far harder—mountain stone and a dead man’s fingers, things that look human and demand a secret in payment, old trains that run only when the moon is dark and the creek is dry to carry you into the dark.It’s been months since Silas Crane first encountered Eli, the shadowy Fetch with a goal in Find the man who stole away Danny, Silas’ baby brother. Find the man who has been stealing immortality from people like Silas, like Eli, people with their roots sunk deep in the old ways. Now, something else has stirred in the mountains. Something rides the darkness with Jackdaw and threatens to tear apart Silas’ reality before they can find Danny, before they can stop this ancient thing creeping down the valleys towards the holler.Simple magics might be best, but the harder ones are sometimes more necessary. less

Red pepper in a foot track. A safety pin in the sugar bowl. Vinegar and a rusty nail and your enemy's name in a bottle.Sometimes the simple magics are the best.But sometimes... sometimes it's a crow's whisper at dawn. Blood dripped into the soil, feeding the mountain. Marrow and dirt and breath and words older than rocks... moreRed pepper in a foot track. A safety pin in the sugar bowl. Vinegar and a rusty nail and your enemy's name in a bottle.Sometimes the simple magics are the best.But sometimes... sometimes it's a crow's whisper at dawn. Blood dripped into the soil, feeding the mountain. Marrow and dirt and breath and words older than rocks. The old blue house isn't where it all began for Silas, but it's where everything started to pick up speed, racing back up the mountain to the old bones and dirt that held it all together. Going back to the place where Jack stole Danny, where Eli crept in and made Silas an offer both improbable and tempting, was the only way to pull the evil out of the holler by the root. But Silas can't do it alone... A powerful worker, someone who knows the dark secrets of the stone and root, is the only one who can help.And this time, it's not Eli. less