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“In Latin, it’s loosely translated as violent death,” Grant confirmed. “These demons literally get energy from murders and violent deaths. They feed off the events like we eat food.”
Talia drew a sharp breath. “Leto! That’s Latin for something, too, isn’t it?”
Talia conjured her incantations textbook and flipped to the glossary. “Yes, oh my Goddess. It’s literally in his name. Leto is to slay, kill, murder.”
I furrowed my brow. “So he chose his name as… what? Some dig against the coven because we use Latin in our spellwork?”
“It seems fitting for a smug asshole like him,” Talia said. “Leto’s taunting us. The coven uses Latin because when the first necromancer was born, Miriam went to study necromancy. That’s when she learned of the fae, who believed necromancy was a form of dark magic. Miriam didn’t want to associate with the fae, because they would’ve killed her family for practicing dark magic. Through her research, she found that necromancy had been practiced in ancient societies, and the texts she found were all written in Latin, originating from the Roman Empire. But the fae couldn’t read Latin, because it was already a dead language by that time. To hide the coven’s magic from the fae, Miriam studied the language and wrote all her grimoires in Latin. Even if the fae got their hands on a spellbook, they couldn’t translate them, and they wouldn’t know what kind of magic Miriam was using. They couldn’t steal her spells, either.”
“Thanks for the history lesson,” Nadine said. “But what does this mean?”
“If Leto wanted to hide what he was, he’d choose another name in a different language,” Talia pointed out. “But it’s Latin, which we’re familiar with. He’s putting it right in front of our faces, to show he’s better than us when the coven doesn’t figure it out. He’s definitely behind this.”
“But Lucas said he wasn’t there when it happened,” Nadine mused. “So how’d he orchestrate it?”
“I don’t know,” Grant said, sounding worried. He flipped from one page to another. “I don’t see that in here.”
“Could he have bribed someone to do it for him?” Nadine theorized. “Maybe he’s making other deals.”
“It’s possible,” I said thoughtfully. “But whoever did this was long gone before anyone found Perez.”
“How long will this satiate the demon?” Nadine asked. “How much time do we have before he strikes again?”
Grant shook his head. “I don’t know. He could go weeks, or even months between killings. Demons are very unpredictable. The more violent the murder, the more power he’ll get, so that can change the timeline.”
“We have to get rid of him,” Nadine stated.
“How?” Talia asked. “He’s on the priestesses’ side, so we can’t turn him in. This isn’t a typical exorcism or banishment. The priestesses are coven representatives, which means when he made that deal, he made a deal with the entire coven. He’d have to fulfill his end of the bargain before we could get rid of him for good.”
I crossed my arms. “There has to be another way. We must find a way to vanquish him ourselves, by any means necessary.”
I knew it sounded impossible, but we had no other choice.
“What if we went public?” Talia asked. “The coven might force him out of town.”
Nadine shook her head. “The priestesses will deny it. No one will believe us, and it’ll give them more reason to burn us at the stake.”
“Everyone in class seemed to love him,” I added. “I don’t know if he can compel people or what that was about, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the coven took his side.”
Grant frowned. “Then we have to find a powerful spell to stop him.”
He flipped another page, and Talia grabbed his hand to stop him. “Wait. What’s this?”
Grant eyed the page. “It looks like a spell for Seers, used to identify demon magic.”
“Can it tell us how he killed Perez?” I asked.
“It might. I can try it,” Talia offered.
“Then let’s do it,” I agreed.
Talia conjured a crystal ball and placed it on the center of the table. Our cats sat nearby, watching the ritual. Nadine conjured a bundle of sage, and she handed each of us a clear quartz crystal to amplify the spell’s energy.
I took the crystal and gripped it tightly. Goddess, I hoped this worked.
Grant conjured a few candles, and I lit them with my lighter, then lit Nadine’s herbs. She walked around the room, cleansing the area with the smoke.
“It will take a few minutes for me to get into a trance,” Talia said. “You guys can help with the spell by sharing positive intentions with me, okay?”
