Chapter Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Eight
Cally sighed, resisting the urge to throw the obsidian across the room.
“Two days left, and we’ve got nowhere.”
“It should be working by now,” Eve muttered.
“I’m sorry, I’m doing my best—”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Eve had that look, like her phenomenal brain was on the cusp of some breakthrough. “We’ve done spells before, right? And that was without Gaeilge, an instruction manual, and with a coven full of enthusiastic amateurs.”
“Yeah?”
“So, how come we can send you on a dream quest through Minh’s nightclub, but we can’t find a phone I’ve hidden somewhere in the room after two days’ trying?”
“How come I can’t, you mean.”
“Let’s take a break and think this over.”
Cally didn’t want to think this over, but a break sounded good. She sat back on the carpet, propped one elbow on her knee, and let her head slump into her hand.
“Talk me through what you’re doing,” Eve requested. To her credit, she never gave meaningless platitudes or hollow encouragement, but her brand of never-say-die bonhomie was wearing in its own way.
“Failing to cast a simple spell.”
“Well actually, right now you’re sulking.”
Cally turned her head enough to give her a glare, and it was irritating when Eve returned it with a smile.
“Fine,” she said, resigned. “I’m trying to cast a finding spell, using an incantation that I’ve now said so much I dream about it at night, while sitting in a circle that we don’t know is necessary, surrounded by four candles that have been replaced eight times, increasing the chances of Marcel noticing. ”
“Okay,” Eve encouraged, like this was an analysis exercise on a Monday morning meeting. “And when you’re actually casting it, what are you doing?”
“Pricking my finger, wiping blood, holding the stone, saying the incantation.”
“While focusing on your phone, right?”
“What?”
Eve raised an eyebrow. “You are focusing on your phone, aren’t you?”
“Oh. Yeah, I suppose.”
“You suppose, or ‘yes, Miss Sullivan, I am one-hundred-percent focusing on my phone with all my intent, because that’s what—” She broke off with a gasp, a hand flying to her mouth. “That’s it! That’s what I’ve been missing!”
Cally straightened, perked up by Eve’s eureka moment. “What?”
“Intent!” She bounced on her chair. “Don’t you see? Every spell we’ve done in the coven that’s worked has been powered by intent! And your blood—of course. But if you’re not one-hundred-percent concentrating on your phone, there’s no intent in the spell. Does that make sense?”
Cally paused, thinking back. The strong desire she’d had to make the crystals glow, both for Amelia and for Mr. Alexander.
Her commitment to Priya’s finding spell—reluctant, yes, but present.
“You might be on to something there.” She gripped the obsidian.
“Okay, let me try this again. Full-on intent.”
Eve settled back in her chair, but her energy still inspired Cally, demanding results.
She should be the witch, not me.
Cally closed her eyes. She needed positive thinking. She had to make this work, and they were running out of time.
Eve knows it too. Is that why she’s trying so hard? Because she’s worried?
Of course she was, and that was another incentive.
She thought of the phone, feeling the sense of loss and wanting to have it back as if it were the most important thing. Then she pricked her finger and smeared more blood on the obsidian. “Fáinne draíochta, soiléir go léir, faigh an caillteanach, tabhair chugam aréir.”
Immediately, she felt a pull, like her bond to Antoine. She said the invocation again, and it grew stronger. Carefully, keeping one hand on the obsidian and her eyes closed, she extended an arm in the direction. “There.”
“You felt something this time?”
Cally opened her eyes. “Yes, I did. But you asking that question means I didn’t get it right, did I?”
“Well… your direction is kind of off.” Eve leaned forward in her enthusiasm. “But it’s real progress!”
Cally frowned. “I don’t get it.” She focused on Antoine, and their bond tugged straight from across the hallway, where he slept. She shook her head. “I can feel Antoine, and I know where the pull is from. The spell was the same. So what’s wrong?”
“But you’ve done the spell. Now all we have to do is figure out the direction issue.”
“How do we do that?”
“I’ve no idea,” Eve said, somehow managing to make it sound like a positive.
“But don’t you see? The Circle must be bound to the Cardinal set aright.
It’s in the immobilization spell too. This is exactly what we needed to know where we’re going wrong.
Now all we need to do is figure out how to get it right! ”
“You’re a little energizer bunny. I wish I had half your enthusiasm.”
“I can go all night long, babe.” Eve waggled her eyebrows at her, then grew serious. “All right. Let’s try aligning the candles more carefully to the compass points, and give it another go. Which way is north in this house?”
*
“Still off by about ten degrees,” Eve said, and Cally lowered her hand.
“Damn it. Every single time.”
“I don’t get it,” Eve said, scratching the back of her head. “We’re absolutely certain those candles are aligned, right?”
“Short of using a compass.”
Eve sighed. “Let me have a think about it. I think we should prepare the immobilization spell, so at least it’s ready.”
“Yeah, but unless I’m standing on top of Nico Aldobrandini, being off by ten degrees means it’s going to miss.”
“Fine. You start learning that incantation, I’ll go see if Marcel has a compass.”
“Actually, there’s an app on my phone—if I knew where it was,” Cally added pointedly, stretching her stiff legs as she rose and went for the tome.
“Good point.” Eve pulled out hers and swiped for the app. “But they’re not that accurate, are they?”
“Worth a check?”
Eve already had her phone flat, rotating it around while she watched the screen. “We’re off by maybe a couple of degrees. Not enough to account for your error. We need accuracy here; I’m going to go and bug Marcel.”
“Find my phone before you go, please? I need it for the phonetics.”
Eve retrieved it from behind a cushion, then handed it to her with a wink and headed for the door.
Cally turned to the immobilization spell with determination.
It was more complex than the finding spell Eve had chosen for her to practice, but the similarities were clear.
It made sense that both had a requirement for location, but she wondered how accurately she would need to know where the vampire was. Something to discuss with Darian.
She felt a thrill of anticipation. In only two days, she’d be casting this spell. If it went well, they’d kill the vampire responsible for the death of her mother.
No. Not merely ‘kill’. Execute.
It wasn’t revenge, it was justice, when no other form was possible.
Cally didn’t care if that was merely a convenient excuse. The vampire didn’t deserve to live. It wasn’t just her mother; it preyed on humans, killing indiscriminately.
So does Gabe. So does Antoine.
Whatever she’d said to Eve before, there was a hypocrisy here, one that made her uncomfortable.
How could she reason that one vampire was good, and another was not?
Slippery moral grounds.
But Antoine wasn’t a monster, he was a victim. And she was living proof he didn’t kill. Whereas Gabe… well, she owed Gabe for her life, and for Antoine’s.
Could vampires be good?
Did Nico Aldobrandini have an excuse for killing her mother?
If he did, was she prepared to hear it?
Eve returned before she had an answer to that question, carrying a tray with drinks and two plates of sandwiches. “Marcel is lovely. Why don’t I have a butler?”
“He’s not a butler.”
“He’s basically a butler.” She set the tray down carefully. “Anyway, here it is.” She held up a compass that looked like an antique, then leveled it above the candles. “Let’s get this checked and—” She trailed off as she stared at the needle. “Omigod. I’m such an idiot!”
“What is it?”
“Magnetic north! We’ve been aligning to true north! No wonder we’ve been off. You think the witches that wrote these spells were using Google Maps?” She carefully repositioned the candles. “Get your sexy butt over here and run the spell again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Eve swiped the obsidian before Cally could pick it up, walking back to the tray. “I also brought a damp cloth. This thing is covered in so much of your sticky blood that it looks like someone sneezed barbecue sauce.” She gave it a thorough wipe with a look of disgust, before handing it over.
Cally took it, then knelt in the circle and pricked her finger while ignoring where Eve hid her phone. At least I heal fast enough that my finger isn’t a pincushion.
“Ready?” Eve asked, sitting on the edge of her chair, eyes shining with anticipation.
“Let’s see if this works.”
She focused on her phone, concentrating on intent, the incantation coming smoothly after endless repetition, and no sooner had she finished uttering it than the pull was immediate, strong and insistent.
“There,” she said instantly, turning to point. “Wait, I want to try something.”
Cally rose to her feet, eyes still closed, the obsidian held out, still chanting as she stepped out of the circle.
The pull continued, increasing as she neared her phone, and the obsidian turned in her hand.
She stopped when she was sure, and opened her eyes to find a cushion lying at her feet.
She pushed it away and swept up her phone, turning to Eve with a grin. “It worked!”
“Awesome! I knew you could do it!” Eve jumped to her feet. “Damn, Cally, you’re a real witch!”
She’d heard it before, but never like this. For the first time, it meant something. “I am, aren’t I?” Her fingers tightened around the obsidian in one hand, her phone in the other, holding them like proof.
“Now all we have to do is figure out the immobilization spell.”
Her satisfaction faded as quickly as it had come. That was the real test, and they barely had a day left.
What if she failed? What would Darian do then?
“Eve,” she began, her guarded tone making her friend look up. “I’m going by myself on Friday.”
“No, you’re not, sweetheart.” Eve said it like the discussion was over.
It wasn’t. “It’s not safe. You’re not coming with me.”
“No, I am coming with you.” Eve crossed her arms, her chin tilted at a determined angle. “What if something goes wrong, and you need last-minute adjustments?”
“What if something goes wrong and Darian decides we’re both a liability?”
“Then you’ll kick him in the head and we’ll run.”
Cally pressed her lips together. “Please, Eve. This is putting you in danger.”
“Sweetheart,” Eve said softly, “our world is vampires and magic now. Danger is the new normal, and I’m not going to leave you to face it alone.”
Cally shook her head. “That doesn’t mean you have to be in danger. Hell, with my superhuman levels of marked-chattel healing, I could probably survive getting shot by Darian. You can’t.”
“I’m still coming.”
“Sorry, you’re not.”
Eve glared at her for a long moment. “Fine. Then I’ll go find Antoine and ask him to sit on you. He’s probably awake by now, listening in as I speak a bit louder.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Cally hissed.
Eve went up on her toes, trying to meet her height. “Watch. Me.”
“You’re blackmailing me, you little—” Cally sighed in mock indignation, then gave her a rueful smile. “Fine, you can come. I secretly wanted you to anyway, so thank you for giving me no choice.”
“Yay! And you absolutely have to wear that long leather coat Zoey lent you. So damn cool.”
She started singing the opening chords of Highway to Hell, playing air guitar.