Page 116 of A Time of Witches

Lilith arched a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you…?” He lifted his palms toward her in presentation. “Why are you…almost invisible?” There was a crack to his voice, a pitch of fear.

“Huh?” Lilith glanced down at herself and saw the floor through her feet, the wall through her ribs.

Terror gaped within her, a black hole she fell into.

“I’m…disappearing.” The explanation came out of her mouth in a soft whimper, one of helplessness and raw understanding. “I’m ceasing to exist.” Those familiar words caught in her throat.

Asher’s eyes bulged. “What?” He shook his head. “How? Why? Aunt Jacqueline didn’t…disappear? Did she?”

“What happened to Aunt Jacqueline?”

“She’s missing.” Asher shook his head. “What is even happening right now?”

Lilith’s birthmark stung, the sensation sharp with urgency. “We have to find her.”

A breeze swept through the room, fluttering her hair.

“I’m not missing, you silly fools.” Aunt Jacqueline appeared in the doorway, nightdress belling out around her skinny frame, her hair unbound and floating around her shoulders like finely spun cotton. At her feet were three familiar animals: Lord Wimbleton the third, who sat in front of her like a squat pile of white and black fur, with Toby and Dragon on either side of her.

Aunt Jacqueline tsked at Lilith. “Look at you—you’re already fading. We’re running out of time.”

“What is this all about?” Asher demanded. “Aunt Jacqueline, where have you been? What are you doing?”

Aunt Jacqueline stepped closer, sure-footed and confident as she lifted a metal lantern. A thick plume of gray smoke billowed from punctured holes. With a slender, aged hand, she swept the smoke toward Lilith, the scent of burning bay leaves both acrid and fragrant as the smoke washed over her.

“Be seen,” the older woman intoned in a melodious voice. “Be seen. Be seen.”

A sense of reassurance coiled through Lilith. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the aromatic smoke, inviting its infusion of strength.

“That’s better,” Aunt Jacqueline said with evident satisfaction.

Lilith opened her eyes to find Asher gaping at her. She looked down, relieved to see her body entirely visible once more. The swirling pit of despair in her stomach downgraded to a bubbling simmer.

“The effect is temporary,” Aunt Jacqueline cautioned before Lilith could allow herself to embrace a sense of relief.

“I need to find Jacinda,” Lilith said. “I discovered what she wanted.”

Aunt Jacqueline shook her head. “You won’t find her here. Not now, not after Sybil’s arrest.”

Lilith blinked. “How do you know that?”

“Stop,” Asher said vehemently. “Will someone explain to me what is happening right now?”

Aunt Jacqueline gave Lilith a soul-suffering look before addressing her nephew. “I’ll tell you on the way to the honeysuckle clearing.”

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Sybil

Sybil shifted her weight from one foot to the other, the shackles around her ankle bones clanking. Jacinda stood before her one last time, containing a lifetime of secrets. A lifetime of love.

Sybil knew what her loss would do to Jacinda. The pain of that understanding was overwhelming, ineffable. “Jacinda.” She choked out the single word, barely a whisper.

The guard cast a look of caution before departing, leaving them alone.

“They told me…” Jacinda’s words clotted with emotion. “They told me you are…”