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Finn is hardly ever a fan of my joking around, but I’d swear he seems pissed off at me, too. The look is gone too quickly to tell, and we don’t have time to sort out the Celt’s emotions, so I give him a quick recap.
“So far, I’ve spoken to two familiars, but I assume it works the same with regular critters. I haven’t exactly had time to test the limits of my new ability, let alone fill you two in on it.”
Finn’s brows furrow beneath the deep green of his mask. “So, then—why is the raven here?”
“That’s what I was trying to figure out when you asked me to explain how I can understand him.” Something about Finn’s tone sends a tendril of anger worming through me, and I have to shift my focus to keep my cool.
Josie takes over the explanation for me, her voice cutting through Fintan’s sudden bad mood. “Phi wants me to accept her as my familiar because with Adelaide dead, she’s about to be forced back into the confines of hell.”
Finn blinks. “She’s Adelaide’s familiar? There’s a lot to unpack there.”
“Tell me about it.” Josie groans, rubbing at her temples. “So much for leaving all the difficult stuff at home tonight.”
“Trust me,” Sebastian says from where he’s reclined himself on the chaise behind us, “there are no days off when you are someone as important as me or you.”
The sentiment seems to catch Josie off guard, almost like she forgot Sebastian was here to begin with. “I’m not important.”
“Yes, you are,” Sebastian insists, sitting up straighter, steepled hands resting between his spread knees. “I have lived in this city since its inception. The Dumont witches have been here longer than that. And that entire time, the Dumont witches have led the coven. God, Gaia, fate—whatever you want to call it, someone out there is putting you back on the path Claudette took you off twenty-five years ago.”
Josie opens her mouth, no doubt to start chewing Sebastian a new one, but Phi’s caw interrupts. “The pretentious pretty boy is right,” she says.
I clear my throat to take up my role as translator—and to hide my laugh. “Phi agrees with Bas,” I paraphrase for the sake of everyone here. “She says you’re to be the next high priestess.”
“No. I’m not.” Josie’s frustration leeches into me through our bond as she clenches her fists, fighting to keep her composure.
“You are,” Phi insists. “I refuse to be the familiar of some nobody witch.”
I fight the urge to defend Josephine’s honor. She doesn’t need me to, and Phi is only looking to provoke—and provoke the demon has.
“Are your ear holes full of feathers?” Josie cries, giving me emotional whiplash.
If this is any indication of what being an empath is like, I don’t envy Finn. My fangs extend against my will as an all-consuming anger threatens to overtake me through the bond.
“You are not my familiar. Not now. Not ever. My whole life has been other people making decisions for me. Now you’re doing the same thing. I’m sick of other people dictating how I live—where I live, what I can and can’t do, who I love—” her gaze flicks to Finn behind her, and briefly to me before she continues yelling at Phi. “—all of it has been chosen for me, like I’m some kind of avatar in another person’s video game. You won’t choose this for me. I’m retaking control over my life.”
I heave with Josie as the deluge of her rage washes over the room, falling into a silence so all-encompassing it leaves a ringing in my ears.
“Then what are you going to do about it?” Sebastian’s question cuts through and douses the flame of Josie’s anger.
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” she admits quietly, deflating.
Finn straightens. “We’ll go out and explain Phi’s interference to the elders.”
I roll my eyes. Did Finn not just hear Josie say she’s done with people making decisions for her? I get that he’s worried for our witch’s safety, but he’s going to have to curb that instinct and let her take the reins.
“Good luck with that,” Phi comments wryly, the sharp clicking of her beak drawing attention her way.
Finn may not understand the raven’s words, but that doesn’t save her from a classic Fintan scolding. “Do ye realize how dangerous this process is? What ye’ve done?”
Phi barely reacts to Finn’s anger. Either she doesn’t have the energy to, or she isn’t fazed by the Celt. “You will be nobody’s familiar if Josephine dies out there!”
Josie’s gaze bounces around the room to each of us. “Okay, seriously, am I going to die if I go out there and compete?”
No one is keen on answering Josie’s question.
Fintan holds up a hand. “Wait. Yer considering going through with the trial?”
Josie shifts under his stare. “Not to become high priestess, no. I have no interest in following Grand-Mère’s footsteps—I don’t even think I’m good enough to pass the first trial.”
