Chapter 24
Gramps wanted to join us at the scene, but I told him not to come. It’s time for me to take the reins. I couldn’t save Chris, but I can at least handle the authorities.
Orion’s too shaky to drive, so I take over, following closely after Malik all the way to the house.
My nerves are a bundle of frayed edges. I called Lizzie right after I spoke to Gramps and asked her to meet us. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about Chris’s death over the phone, and the last thing I want is for her to find out from someone else.
By the time we get home, some of the Elders have arrived. They sit around the dining room table, faces still as stone. Malik walks straight into his grandmother’s arms. Her expression cracks as she clutches him tight. She whispers something into his ear, and his shoulders shake as he sobs.
“What happened?” Gramps asks. “We need the whole story.”
I grip the back of a chair so tightly my knuckles ache. The guys remain silent as I tell the Council about the party, my confrontation with Aria, and Chris’s death.
Aunt Lorraine shakes her head. “Haven’t you done this before?” she asks. “Why couldn’t you save him?”
I stare down at my hands, feeling betrayed by my own magic. This time shouldn’t have been any different than with Marian. Except…
“The little girl that Gramps and I saved didn’t have much magic to begin with,” I muse aloud. “Her father was a mortal. But Chris was a full-blooded witch. I don’t think he could survive the loss of his magic.”
The others shift uncomfortably.
“This illness, or demon possession, or whatever it is, robs the person of their magic.” I think of James Peterson. “That’s why they’re dead and the little girl isn’t.”
“That’s a good theory, baby,” Aunt Roberta says.
“Oh, stop,” Aunt Lorraine says, releasing Malik so she can aim her dark gaze on the rest of us. “This has gotten ridiculously out of hand. We can’t continue to excuse Mikaela’s weakness. I have been advocating for fresh blood for years. It is past time to elect a new Witch Queen.”
Gramps aims a stern finger at his sister. “Lorraine, I’ve had enough of you.” He narrows his eyes and gets to his feet. “It’s me you’ve got a problem with. You couldn’t stand to see my wife succeed, and now you’re trying to sabotage my granddaughter. I won’t have it. We are family.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Aunt Lorraine snaps. “It has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with Adelaide’s incompetence. It’s her fault that those witches were emboldened to do this. She didn’t stamp them out when she had the chance.”
Now Aunt Roberta rises from her seat. The three of them stand off against one another while the rest of us watch with hesitation.
“Don’t you start,” she hisses. “Do you think you could’ve done a better job? A lot of innocent people would’ve died. Adelaide did what she thought was best.”
“Besides,” Gramps chimes in, “it was Rose who chose not to confront them when their dark activities came to light.”
“Hey, hey,” I say. “Can someone please give me the full story so I can know what the hell we’re actually dealing with?” All three Elders shoot me a look. I duck my head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to curse.”
“The mortals ran the Hightowers’ ancestors out of Salem,” Aunt Roberta begins. “By the time their descendants made it here, they’d left a trail of destruction in their wake. It was an open secret that they dealt in blood magic, and they brought that mess with them.”
“Your great-grandmother was hesitant to confront them,” Gramps says. “Adelaide tried, and that’s when they disappeared. There were signs that they hadn’t left New Orleans—stories in the paper about mysterious disappearances.”
“The human sacrifice stopped when Gloria became Matron,” Aunt Roberta says. “And your grandmother left it alone. She didn’t think it was worth it to start a war.”
“And now look where we are.” Aunt Lorraine marches over to Gramps and stabs her finger at him. The older sister scolding her little brother. There are some roles that don’t change with age. “The time for inaction is over.”
“I’m well aware.” Gramps brushes her aside and comes over to me. “You’ve been to their home.”
Even though it’s not a question, I still answer, “Yes. Malik and I found it.”
Gramps grabs a sheet of paper and scribbles a note. He hands it to Orion. “Take this message to their house. Malik, you’ll go with him.” Gramps narrows his eyes at Orion. “You’re only the messenger. Do not engage, and do not disappoint me.”
Orion’s shoulders stiffen. “Why do I have to go?” he asks. “You really want to send me into enemy territory after they killed Chris?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want to do.” Gramps grasps both of Orion’s shoulders.
“They need to know that we’re not afraid of them, and you’re the best person to deliver that particular message.
You’ll be your sister’s right hand someday soon, and you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. Am I correct?”
Orion holds his gaze. “Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Gramps releases him with a pat on the shoulder. “Watch your backs, and meet us at the park directly afterward.”
“What’s the plan?” I demand.
Gramps exhales as he leans against a chair. “I need to speak to Gloria Hightower. I’ve had enough of this cat-and-mouse game. I—actually, no—you are going to be very direct with her about what’s at stake here.”
I point toward my chest. “Me?”
“Mm-hmm. Consider it part of your training.” With that, he leaves.
Aunt Lorraine clears her throat but doesn’t look in my direction. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s your fault that your grandparents left you woefully unprepared.”
“Oh, hush, Lorraine,” Aunt Roberta snaps. The two women squabble as they leave the room.
Once I’m alone, I squeeze my eyes shut. All I want to do is cry, or scream, or both, but I have work to do instead.
My phone dings. It’s Lizzie. Great, now I have to go ruin my best friend’s night, too.
We assemble in a secluded corner of the park near our house. Word has quietly spread of Chris’s death, so a few other witches have joined us. Orion and Malik made it back unscathed and stand on opposite sides of me, like two guardians crafted out of stone.
Beneath my breath, I fill them in on how Lizzie took the news of Chris’s death. She became a teary, snot-nosed mess before all the words had even left my lips. I had to call her mom to come pick her up.
“It isn’t right,” Orion murmurs. “He should still be alive.”
“I know.”
My attention has been spread too thin. I’ve wasted too much time focused on Joelle when I should’ve been doing everything I could to prevent more witches from dying.
I’m finished with that now. As far as Joelle and I are concerned, we’re done.
I’ll stay as far away from her as possible, even after the threat of the full moon passes.
Beside me, Orion curses, drawing my attention to the nearby copse of trees where a cloud of black smoke has appeared.
“Look alive,” Gramps shouts. His eyes find me in the crowd. “Mikaela, at my side.”
I stand beside Gramps, peering into the smoky void.
All of a sudden, there’s a blinding flash of light and a clap of thunder.
When my vision clears, the smoke has dissipated, and a group of six people stalks toward us.
I recognize Aria and the massive man from the bookstore.
At the front of the group stands a petite white woman who can be no one other than Gloria Hightower.
The Matron wears a thick black shawl, despite the heat, with red leather pumps.
Her white hair is cut in a neat shoulder-length bob, and a thick gold band with a ruby center adorns her left ring finger.
Aria is at her right side, half a step behind her grandmother.
Her expression is a closed book, difficult to read, as usual.
“You have a lot of nerve sending your grandson to my door, Ezekiel.” Gloria’s voice rings out across the field. “How did you know I wouldn’t break his neck and send his corpse back to you?”
A muscle in Gramps’s jaw twitches. “Because my grandson can hold his own, and it seems that you need dark entities to do your dirty work.”
Gloria tilts her head and clasps her hands together. “Oh?”
“You’ve killed two of my own,” Gramps says. “I’m well within my rights to retaliate against you.”
“So, why haven’t you?”
Gramps remains silent. They stare at each other, both refusing to back down.
Aria is the one who speaks. “They think we’ve summoned a demon.” Her gaze finds mine, and I clench my fists at my side.
“We don’t think,” I retort. “We know.” Gramps nudges me and I take a step forward, holding my phone up in the air. When I hit play on the audio recording, Gloria’s brows lift as she hears her own voice coming out of the speakers. Beside her, Aria glowers at me.
“See?” I ask. “You admitted to it yourself.”
“Stupid child,” Gloria growls. “When did you hear me say anything of the sort? All this proves is that I have well-informed spies.”
“But—”
“I’ve been aware of every single event that’s occurred in your coven for at least a decade,” she says. “I make a habit of keeping an eye on the threats to my family.”
“We’re not a threat to you,” I snap. “We didn’t even know your whereabouts until a week ago. If anything, you’ve always been the threat. You kill innocents for your own gain.”
Gloria’s reptilian eyes gleam. “You seem to have all the answers. Then tell me, what is the name of the demon we’ve invoked?
What purposes do we have for dragging it onto this earthly plane?
” A knowing smile crosses her face. “But you won’t be able to answer either of those questions because you’re nothing but a child playing at being a queen. ”
Her words stoke a fire inside me. It burns so hot I could explode with it and set the entire field ablaze.
“I saw your family’s crest,” I blurt out. It’s a bold exaggeration, but I’m willing to bet that an old family like the Hightowers do indeed have a crest.
Across the way, Aria stills and subtly shifts so her left arm is angled away from me. I remember the tattoo I spotted in the bookstore.
“Birds,” I say. “You have birds on your family’s crest, correct?”
Gloria narrows her eyes. “What type of bird did you see, girl?”
This is the detail that will make or break me.
I clearly saw hawks in my scrying mirror, but I haven’t been able to get a clear enough view of Aria’s tattoo.
Whatever’s on her arm is their family bird, I’m sure of it.
But I don’t want to lose all credibility if I get it wrong. So, instead, I go with another detail.
“Does the blackthorn tree mean anything to you?”
Gloria’s jaw tightens. “Plenty of families have trees and birds in their crests,” she says. “That detail wouldn’t hold up in a mortal court of law, and it certainly doesn’t prove anything.”
“It has to be you—”
Gramps rests a hand on my arm, tossing water over the flames of my anger. “It’s clear that our two covens cannot coexist. Take your coven and leave New Orleans.”
“I refuse to be forced out of my own home like my foremothers before me.” She lifts her chin. “If you want us to leave, you’ll have to make us.”
The witches around us stiffen at her words. That’s a declaration of war if I ever heard one.
Aria places a hand on Gloria’s shoulder. “Grandmother—”
“Silence,” Gloria hisses. “You’ll speak when you’re spoken to.”
Aria jolts like she’s been stung. Her pale cheeks redden as she shifts her gaze to her feet.
“If you have nothing else to say, I believe we’re done here,” Gloria says, turning to leave.
Gramps lifts his hand, and a bolt of lightning strikes the grass at her feet. “You’ll leave when I say you can.”
Gloria’s eyes flash as sparks fly from her fingertips. “Do you really want to play this game? We both know who will win.”
Black smoke rises from the ground beneath Gloria’s feet. “I’m growing tired of this.”
Gloria’s fingertips glow red as a ball of flame hovers over her palm. Elemental magic is the easiest to wield in battle but also the most destructive. If we wage war now, we risk destroying everything in a mile radius.
“Stop it!” I scream, rushing to stand in between Gramps and Gloria. “This isn’t the place, Gramps,” I whisper. “Please.”
“We’ll look weak if we back down now,” he snarls.
“And how will we look if we destroy the city we love?” I reach for his hand. “There won’t be a city left to represent if you two burn it all to the ground.”
My words sink in, and slowly his shoulders deflate. When I glance back, Aria is whispering fervently into her grandmother’s ear. She catches my eye and gives a curt nod. I still don’t trust her, but I can respect her for standing up to Gloria.
“Goodbye, Ezekiel. Good luck finding the demon you seek,” Gloria says.
Gramps steps around me and stalks toward Gloria. Two of her witches step out to defend her, but she raises a hand to stop them.
“Don’t pretend for a moment that we’re done. Once I confirm that you’re behind these deaths, I’m coming for you and everything you hold dear.”
Gloria’s eyes flash. “You can certainly die trying.”
Smoke rises from the ground. The last thing I see are Aria’s blue eyes locked on mine. I cover my eyes from the blinding light, and when I look up, they’re gone.
I approach Gramps and rest a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”
He sniffs. “All that woman cares about is power. It’ll destroy her in the end, but she might take the rest of us with her.”