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I looked down. At the end of the chain, an amulet about the size of a silver dollar nestled between my br**sts. A large moonstone sat in the center of a gold setting etched with characters that looked like hieroglyphs. I assumed they were actually Hekatian, the mage ceremonial language.
I met my sister’s eyes, which glistened suspiciously. “What does it say?”
“It says: ‘For she is the torchbearer, this daughter of Hekate; she will light the way.’ ”
My eyes stung, and I had trouble swallowing. “Thanks,” I said, not trusting myself to say more.
Maisie wrapped me in a fierce hug. “Thank you, sister.”
When the cheering and praises to Hekate finally petered out, Orpheus nodded to a nearby female mage with long silver hair. Wise eyes looked out from a youthful face bearing an impish smile. She wore a purple chiton and an amulet similar to the one I just received.
“Rhea Lazarus, High Priestess of the Elder Moon, will now commence with the cleansing rites,” Orpheus said.
I paused. Was this the aunt Adam mentioned? I glanced at him for confirmation. But his eyes were on the female. The fond smile on his face gave me my answer.
Rhea winked back at her nephew before focusing on me. In her hands she held a bundle of dried herbs. She whispered something and the tip of the bundle sparked. Fragrant smoke rose from it and tickled my nose. She started chanting something I couldn’t understand as she waved the smoldering bundle around my head. Then she moved in a counterclockwise circle around me.
I tried not to fidget during the process. The rest of the mages watched in silence. I guess they were used to having a weird old lady wave foul-smelling smoke in their faces.
When she finished her last lap, she snapped her fingers and a young female mage in a gray chiton came forward. She held a golden goblet out to me. “Drink.”
I took the cup and looked inside. The liquid’s lack of color didn’t give me any clues about its makeup. It could have been water or vodka or strychnine for all I knew.
I looked up to ask the girl what it was, but she vanished. And when I say vanish, I don’t mean she’d walked away. Poof—she was gone. No one else seemed surprised by this.
I glanced at Adam. He nodded reassuringly. Since Rhea was his aunt, I figured I could trust her.
I raised the goblet to my nose and sniffed. The scent of lemons and something floral—roses maybe—shooed away any lingering doubts. I lifted the cup to my lips and took a large mouthful.
Turns out roses and lemon combined with salt and cayenne pepper tastes like burning. What’s worse, the salty magma made my mouth swell and pucker like a monkey’s ass.
I gasped and thrust the goblet at Adam, but Rhea’s voice stopped him. “No. She must drink it all to complete the cleansing.”
Adam’s smile was apologetic as he backed away.
The expectant stares of the council and the crowd weighed down on me. Something told me I wasn’t getting out of there unless I finished the foul drink. So, instead of being a baby, I decided to just get it over with.
“Bottoms up,” I said. With a flick of the wrist, I tossed back the rest. My throat burned and my stomach roiled. When it was all gone, I gasped. “Nasty!”
Murmurs of disapproval echoed through the room. Next to me, Adam cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. I ignored all of this in favor of rubbing at my tongue with my palm, hoping to relieve some of the hellfire.
Adam nudged me. “Stop that.”
“My uvula is on fire!” I whisper-yelled.
By then, the cayenne had started to wear off, but not the nausea. I swallowed against the hot spit pooling in my mouth. “I don’t feel so good.”
“You have to keep the potion down,” said Rhea. “It must have time to work through your system.”
Maisie was looking at me like I’d let her down. Like I’d failed some kind of test. “You’ll be fine.”
I glared at Adam with a look that clearly said, “What the hell did you get me into?”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes. Ass.
Orpheus looked from Maisie to me. “Shall we continue?”
Maisie nodded resolutely. “Yes.”
Casting one last anxious look in my direction, Orpheus cleared his throat. “Moving on. As you all know, the council is still considering a proposal to declare war on the Dominae.”
Both cheers and boos met this announcement. Despite my discomfort, I forced myself to pay attention.
Orpheus slammed a gavel on the table. “In light of the divisive nature of this issue, we have delayed a vote until all parties can make their cases.” A few in the crowd grumbled their impatience over the delay, but the members of the council all nodded. “High Priestess Maisie? Do you have anything to add?”
Maisie rose from her seat to Orpheus’s right. Adam had said Maisie was the leader of the council, but from what I’d seen, Orpheus was in charge. I made a note to ask Adam about her role later.
“Thank you, Councilman Orpheus. I would like to report to the council that I had a troubling vision last night. In it, Sabina was standing in the Sacred Grove at the Crossroads. Shadows closed in from all sides while drums beat in the distance.”
A shiver passed down my spine, and I struggled not to shift under the curious glances coming my way. Worried murmurs spread through the room. Members of the council shot me speculative looks ranging from curious to downright antagonistic. Orpheus raised his hands for silence. “What is your interpretation of this vision?” he asked Maisie.
Maisie looked at me, her expression closed. “Obviously, the shadows represent our enemies and the drums are the drums of war. As for Sabina’s role? That is harder to decipher. However, I believe it means she will be instrumental in whatever’s coming.”
A male mage in the audience jumped up. “The vision is a clear sign we must declare war now!”
“The vision is a warning against war!” A female this time.
Suddenly the room was filled with heated shouts for and against declaring war. I looked at Adam, whose jaw was tight. He’d told me the council was on the verge of declaring war before we left California. Either he’d exaggerated to get me to come with him, or things had gotten complicated after he left to come back for Vinca’s funeral. I wasn’t in favor of a war, but I was even less in favor of getting involved in politics, so I kept my mouth shut.
Orpheus banged the gavel like he was hammering a stubborn nail. “Silence! Fighting among ourselves will not solve this problem. You must allow the council you elected to debate the issue and figure out what is best for all magekind.”
