Chapter Twenty
Within half an hour, Blair, Belinda and Bianca were making the preparations to summon the spirits of the Stormvale witches to determine if one, or all of them, was behind the festival sabotage.
Blair had no idea what they would do if they did manage to summon them.
She was hoping the spirits themselves would tell them what to do.
They first pushed the coffee table from the living room into the dining room, then rolled up the area rug, revealing the large white circle with a cross through it painted on the hardwood floors in white.
Blair tensed seeing it again. As a child, the Briarwoods would sit in this circle once a week for magic practice – not just for summoning, but also for protection spells, seeing spells and even healing spells.
The sisters had used the circle only a handful of times since their parents passed.
Seeing it always reminded Blair of Mom and Dad, and she always felt a pang of guilt that she hadn’t been able to keep up their traditions with her sisters.
‘I’ll light the candles,’ Belinda said, taking four white tapered candles in simple silver holders out of a cabinet.
After placing them on the circle at north, east, south and west, she lit them with a match.
Bianca brought a box of salt from the kitchen and sprinkled it along the white outline of the circle.
While her sisters were preparing the circle, Blair lowered the lights and took down her parents’ old magic book from the cabinet, opening it to the section on summoning spirits. She hadn’t used it in years, so she wanted to refresh her memory with the incantation.
When the circle was ready, the three sisters sat inside it, hands joined. They closed their eyes and focused their minds, as they did whenever using a tricky spell.
Finally, when the room fell silent, Blair started the summoning.
‘Guardians of the north, east, south and west, hear our pleas. We seek the spirits of the sisters Stormvale: Hecate, Ysadora and Nestis,’ Blair said.
‘We mean no harm to the sisters Stormvale: Hecate, Ysadora and Nestis. We invite the sisters Stormvale – Hecate, Ysadora and Nestis – to communicate freely with us, should they wish.’
Blair then recited the summoning spell in the First Language.
When she was done, Belinda repeated the same words Blair had said, first the English, and then in the First Language. Bianca then repeated the entire incantation.
The room was silent. Blair didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary for several long moments.
They tried saying the spell a second time in both languages, but again, nothing happened.
When it was Bianca’s final turn, she said the words with more feeling, more intensity than her older sisters, but Bianca’s incantation was also unsuccessful.
Blair exhaled, opening her eyes. They’d failed. ‘Either the Stormvale witches don’t want to talk to us, or they don’t exist,’ she said.
‘Or our circle wasn’t strong enough.’ Bianca let go of Blair and Belinda’s hands. ‘I think there aren’t enough of us. Only powerful witches can summon with three. Five, or seven witches would be better.’
Belinda leaned down to blow out the candles. ‘Maybe. But we’re also completely out of practice in using advanced magic. We really should make a habit of practising in the circle once a week.’
Blair agreed, but it was rare that all three of them were even home at the same time. ‘Okay, so summoning the spirits didn’t work. Anyone have any other ideas?’
‘I can research the symbol,’ Belinda suggested.
‘And you should go back to Luke,’ Bianca said to Blair.
Her face was straight this time, the normal teasing that was usually there whenever Bianca mentioned Luke was gone.
‘If you think about it, he’s the only part of the prophecy that is actionable.
Go to he who makes tall buildings.’ Bianca paused.
‘Actually, maybe we can . . . No, never mind.’ She got up to get a broom to sweep up the salt.
Belinda raised an eyebrow. ‘What were you going to say?’
Bianca squeezed her lips together, then smiled. ‘Okay, this is an idea, and we don’t have to do it, but maybe you should invite him here to dinner.’
Bianca wanted to invite Luke over? They never invited people over to their house. For several reasons, some of which were the sentient cat and Bianca’s mutant plants everywhere. True, the living room rug covered the circle, but there were still soot marks all over the dining room.
Bianca nodded. ‘Maybe Belinda will be able to see something in his future, or you will see something in his past. You know our abilities are stronger together, and in this house.’
Blair knew what Bianca meant. As a soothsayer, Belinda often got feelings about someone’s future, even without using her normal tools like reading tea leaves or tarot cards.
And Blair had a similar ability but could see into a person’s past. All Blair usually detected were emotions and a handful of core memories, plus what their favourite flavours were.
It was how Blair was able to customize her lattes for her customers.
‘It’s a good idea,’ Belinda said. ‘If you’re going to spend so much time with Luke, then I think we should get to know him better. We’re not supposed to keep relationships secret from each other.’
Blair shook her head, annoyed. ‘It’s not a relationship! It’s casual! And you’ve both known him since you were children! And he’s been coming to Belinda’s book club for weeks!’
‘Yeah, and he’s a delight,’ Belinda said. ‘Such great insights on how to recognize toxic masculinity in genre fiction. He’s truly doing the work to challenge society’s biases.’
That was news to Blair, but she wasn’t surprised.
‘We want to see your dynamic together,’ Bianca said. ‘Plus, Kass should meet him, too. He’s a member of the family.’
Both Belinda and Bianca gave Blair knowing glares.
Blair sighed. Her sisters were right. She and Luke had been ‘just casual’ for two weeks now, which actually made him one of her longest relationships ever, even though this wasn’t a relationship.
And yes, Blair was still emotionally preparing herself for when it would end, but the fact was, casual or not, Luke was a huge part of Blair’s life right now.
And the Briarwoods had a reason not to keep people who were big parts of their lives a secret.
‘Okay, I’ll ask him. When? I can do it Thursday.’
Bianca smiled. ‘I’ll need a bit more time to prepare.’ She looked at the calendar app on her phone. ‘Next Monday night? That will give me time to cook.’
Blair nodded. It was cutting it close before the festival started on the following Saturday – Halloween, but Bianca was a much better cook than Blair was.
And Blair needed time to de-magic the house by cleaning the soot from the dining room, and hiding the magic books, tarot cards and strange plants everywhere.
It looked way too much like witches lived in this house.
Blair texted Luke the moment they’d finished cleaning up after the failed summoning, asking him if he’d like to come to the house for dinner in one week – next Monday. He texted back immediately.
luke: Seriously? You want me over for dinner? To your house?
blair: Yes, seriously. I told you my sisters know about us now. Bianca’s cooking. You said you wanted to come to my house.
luke: I wanted a bigger bed for sex. Not a dinner party.
blair: Why not both?
Maybe this was a bad idea. It was a few minutes before he responded. Blair stared at the little three dots on her phone, not sure if he was writing a novel in response, or if he didn’t know what to say. Finally, his text popped up.
luke: Sorry. I was surprised. Yes, I’d be honoured to join the Briarwoods for dinner. Can I bring dessert?
Blair exhaled. This was fine. Just having a friend over to her house for dinner and a little magic-fuelled interrogation. What could go wrong?