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“No.” Beth looked from Patricia to Sonia, shaking her head. “No. That’s not right. Let me—”
“You may try again at a later time,” Shobha said. “But you should get some rest first. Gather your strength.”
Hazel sat frozen, watching the exchange with anxiety an insidious beat underneath her skin. Next to her, Merle looked on in shock, a forgotten breadstick dangling from her hand.
“There must be a mistake,” Beth said.
“It happens.” Carla Gutierrez regarded Beth with pity in her eyes. “Maybe your grief is still too raw? Losing your mother can be devastating for your mental health.” And Carla should know what she was talking about—it wasn’t too long ago that her own mother, Catarina, had died in the early days of the war between the Aequitas and the Draconians. One of the first witches to lose her life to the senseless strife within the community.
“Try again when you have processed a bit more,” Sonia said. “I’m sure it will work out. This might have just been too soon.”
Hazel glanced at Merle, who returned the look with raised brows.
Beth sniffed and wiped at her cheeks. She rose and broke the circle by scuffing the tip of her shoe over the salt line. One by one, she extinguished the candles and cleaned up while Sonia declared the meeting adjourned. The other Elders came to their feet, some speaking to each other while filing out of the room.
Merle and Hazel were among the last to leave, walking in tight silence until they reached the sidewalk. The night air was a cool kiss on Hazel’s skin as she turned to Merle.
“So.”
Merle rocked back on her heels. “Yeah.”
“That went well.”
“About as well as trying to give a cat a pill.”
“Painful to watch.” Hazel pursed her lips.
“A bloody disaster.”
Hazel grimaced. “I don’t know what else I can even say to them anymore. It’s willful ignorance at this point.”
“No.” Merle shook her head. “It’s collectively sanctioned suicide.”
“First the Callahans, and now the Frosts as well. That’s two families cut off from ambient magic because the Powers That Be are getting weaker.” Hazel looked out into the night, swallowing hard. “If this continues at this pace, we won’t even need to wait for the next malevolent god showing up for this community to be destroyed. Witches will simply die in regular fights with demons.”
Merle was silent for a long moment. “I get this thought sometimes,” she eventually said, her voice quiet, “this wicked impulse to just leave them to their fate.” She met Hazel’s eyes. “There’s only so much suicidal obstinance I can watch, you know? At some point, I may need to walk away to not be dragged down with them.”
Hazel pressed her lips together. “Yeah. I know.” She briefly closed her eyes. “Let’s hope they wake up before it comes to that.”
“From your lips to the gods’ ears,” Merle said, then stopped short, her brows drawing together. “Or should that be Arawn’s ears now?” Her nose wrinkled. “Ew, no. I damn sure hope he doesn’t have omniscient-eavesdropping god powers. That would be disturbing.”
Hazel shuddered. “Extremely.”
They said their goodbyes, and Hazel walked back to her car, her thoughts keeping her morbid company on the drive home. The Elders’ frustrating denial to face the truth would already be enough fodder for her mind to chew on, but compounding it all was the fact that she hadn’t made much headway with regard to the ritual murder.
This morning, she’d actually found some information on blood sacrifice—going into more detail on its potential uses than any of the other books she’d leafed through so far. However, it hadn’t really given her another clue as to what the witch had attempted to do…or had already done. From what Hazel had gathered, a blood sacrifice ritual like the one the witch had committed would mostly be used in a supplemental way, to raise additional power for something else the witch wanted to achieve.
What exactly that was, however, still eluded her. It all hinged upon the sigil. That was the main clue, the one thing pointing at the real intent behind the witch’s sinister actions. Until Hazel could identify the sigil and connect it to a ritual or spell, she was grasping in the dark.
The house lay quiet when she parked the car. Basil had texted that he was out with Isa, and Lily and Alek had returned home some time ago. As for Rose…she was probably gone, too, like most nights.
Hazel heaved a sigh and slowly made her way to the kitchen. Maybe she could get in another hour or so in the library, looking through some more books. But first she’d grab a bite to eat. She hadn’t had a real dinner, only wolfed down a sandwich on the way to the Espinozas’.
His presence whispered over her senses the moment she stepped into the kitchen. Dark, delicious energy with a bite that teased her magic.
She sucked in a breath and whirled around.
Tallak leaned against the wall next to the door, arms crossed and eyes glowing like embers. “You and I,” he said, his voice holding a silken threat, “have unfinished business.”
