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Phaedra wrapped her fingers around the teacup. “I feel so useless right now. I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t apologize. I feel the same way. Even if we manage to send the white stag away, the Wild Hunt can do a lot of damage here. I’ve seen photos of the aftermath in other places.” I shook my head. “We’ve got to find a way to prevent that level of devastation or Wild Acres will never recover.”
Phaedra’s fingernails clicked against the outside of her teacup. “What about a spell to see the imminent future? We might learn something that helps us change it.” She pushed back her chair and skirted the counter to enter the kitchen. “It’s a simple looking glass spell. I should have all the ingredients I need.”
“Won’t that just be a mirror? A reflection of the current reality?”
Smirking, she reached for a bottle on the shelf. “Does a funhouse mirror show you the current reality?”
“Gods, I hope not. It means I either look like a pool noodle or Jabba the Hutt.”
Phaedra cackled. “That’s quite a range.”
“I don’t understand, though. A funhouse mirror is distorted, but you’re trying to see the future.”
“The looking glass spell involves a glimpse of an unfamiliar situation.”
“Why not choose a clairvoyant spell?”
“Because the Wild Hunt is otherworldly, and the looking glass is designed to see the strange and unexpected.” Phaedra took a pinch of turmeric and added it to the cauldron.
“Turmeric?” I queried. “Isn’t that for purification?”
“For sun energy, which will help us with illumination in this spell.” She continued adding ingredients, unperturbed. “Do you doubt my prowess, Miss Clay?”
“Of course not.” It was my old trust wound around witches rising to the surface. I tamped it down. Phaedra had earned my respect, as well as my trust.
She stirred the contents of the cauldron and peered inside. “Hmm.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing, as in I can’t see anything. You try.”
I walked over and peered into the cauldron. The colorful liquids swirled into a recognizable form. My reflection, except?—
The mark of the rose on my forehead was visible.
I snapped upright and jerked toward Phaedra. “Do you see something on my forehead?”
She scrutinized my face. “Like what?”
“A mark of some kind.”
“Not even a freckle. I’m envious.”
I looked back at the contents of the cauldron. My reflection was gone, replaced by three identical silhouettes. I watched closely to see whether they came into focus.
Three women.
At first, I thought they might be the Fates, but these women weren’t the Moirai sisters I’d met at Eternity Fashion House. They looked like triplets.
I motioned for Phaedra to come closer. “Can you see them?”
Her head joined mine over the cauldron. “No, all I see is murky liquid.”
A vision for my eyes only. Why? What did they hope to tell me?
“What do you see?” Phaedra asked. “Is it the Wild Hunt?”
