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“Don’t sell yourself short, babe,” I say.
She flashes me a quick smile and exhales. “I figured facing the fury of the others would be a way to test my abilities as a witch and as a fighter, but after all the talk of death, I’m reconsidering.”
In reality, it may already be a done deal. When a witch enters her name in the running for High Priestess, it’s like a spell of its own. The whole ceremony of a witch declaring her intention and projecting the essence of her magic locks them into the trial.
Fintan looks like he’s about to tell Josie the same thing, but promptly shuts his mouth when I shoot him a warning look.
There’s no point in causing more problems than we already have. Plus, since Phi was the one who technically put Josie’s name forward, we don’t know for sure it is a problem yet.
I hold up my hands to calm the drama. “Maybe you should consider the bird’s offer.”
Josephine and Finn look at me like I’m crazy.
“Why not? Personally, I think a familiar would be cool as all hell.” Especially if having Phi in her corner gives our Unity Witch a leg up in the upcoming free-for-all gladiator match.
A small, sad smile graces Josie’s lips as she turns to look over the raven still perched on the piano. “I used to think so too. But Grand-Mère was so against familiars she wouldn’t even let my mom have one growing up. It was the same with me. She always said a witch should be able to stand on her own merit without stooping low enough to make a deal with the devil.”
Sebastian snorts. “Claudette was always a do as I say and not as I do kind of woman. And by that, I mean a hypocritical bitch.”
Josie whirls to pin him with an icy glare. “Why don’t you go back to your lair and continue to rule your kingdom from the shadows?”
Sebastian stands from the chaise, his movements so quick that Josie flinches when he’s suddenly inches from her face. He smirks down at her, but Josie doesn’t let Sebastian back her down.
She can’t hide the way her heart skitters in her chest, but she doesn’t back down. “I’m guessing Claudette forgot to mention she had a familiar. Does the name Mot ring any bells?”
Josie doesn’t answer, but she doesn’t have to—the slight hitch in her breath gives her away.
By her reaction, I’d bet good money Claudette reminisced about her dear old friend Mot from New Orleans. She just left out the part about that friend being her familiar.
“Can confirm,” Phi says. “I knew Mot from before she and Claudette sealed their familiar bond. She was annoying, and wildly self-centered, but got away with it on this plane because she was a cute little bunny rabbit.”
I meet Josie’s gaze when she turns to hear what was said. “I don’t know how much Phi’s word means to you, but she backs up Sebastian’s claim.”
Josie throws her hands in the air before sinking onto the chaise where Sebastian sat a moment ago. “Just another thing to add to the ever-growing list of things Grand-Mère lied to me about.”
Heartbreak leaches through our bond and I rub at the ache in my chest. All the giddy excitement Josie felt earlier when anticipating a masquerade ball is long gone.
The night certainly hasn’t gone the way she hoped. And it’s far from over.
Finn sits next to her on the chaise and presses a soothing hand over her thigh. “I’m sure Claudette had her reasons for keeping you in the dark about the things she did. It could be as simple as the fact that Mot was gone long before you were born.”
Josie tilts her face up to Finn, confusion etched into her features beneath her mask. “What do you mean gone? Familiars don’t just disappear, and they’re damn near indestructible.”
Unless their witch dies, I amend silently with a glance at our deteriorating raven associate.
“Your grandmother broke the bond, and sent the horrible bitch straight back to hell,” Phi says.
I do my part as bird translator as she hops down from the piano and onto the leather ottoman in front of Josie.
Whoever owns this place is going to be pissed tomorrow when they find their furniture scratched to shit. Oh well, not my problem.
There is a healthy dose of curiosity in Josephine’s dark eyes, but she shakes her head with a sigh and sinks further into her slump. “It doesn’t matter. My answer is the same. I can’t create a familiar bond with you, Phi. I’m sorry.”
Josie looks at the floor instead of Phi as she delivers the verdict, and it’s a good thing because the way the raven deflates makes me pity the sickly demon inside in a way that would have crushed Josephine had she seen.
Sebastian tilts his head suddenly, the feather from his mask falling into his hair as he listens. I hear it too. The noise of guests floating down the hall is slowly falling to a hush. The elder witches must have made up their minds.
“Time’s up,” Sebastian tells Josie. “The crones have made their decision.” Something is said in the distance and there’s an outpouring of shock and outrage.
