“If you had just accepted help with moving,” Amber calls to me from the couch. “I know you don’t like people going through your stuff, but I’m pretty sure I was with you at some point or another when you bought all the things in this apartment.”
Amber is being so casual, blissfully unaware of the situation. Everything from last night’s summoning had been consumed, from the chalk to the offering of earrings. Hopefully Alexander doesn’t want those back because he isn’t getting them. I’m not even sure where things go when they’re consumed by a spell. Maybe to the plane of the summoned creature or perhaps the Veil.
I walk back to the living room, standing right in the spot where the circle once was, my carpet and coffee table still pushed against the wall.
Amber’s face falls into one of concern. “Minnie? When you said you had a secret to tell me…” She stands up, almost in slow motion, and places her hands on my shoulders. “Are you… Minnie, are you dying?”
“What?” Where did that come from? I guess we’re both being a little strange today. “No, I'm not dying. Not as far as I know. It’s worse than that.”
“Worse than my best friend dying?” Amber knits her brows, her nose scrunching. “Not possible.”
“You say that now…” I reach over to my bookshelf where the wand I made the night before still sits. I hold it with both hands, one hand on the base and the other covering the wand’s crystal tip. “Amber… I cast a spell last night.” She nods. “And I summoned…” It feels like I’m talking with a mouth full of peanut butter, the words sticking in my mouth. “I summoned something.”
Amber’s brows go from a tight V to an astonished O. She bats her thick eyelashes as if blinking could reset her brain. Finally, she purses her two-toned lips before speaking. “What did you summon, and where is it?”
“I don’t know where it is.”
Something snaps behind Amber’s eyes. She opens her mouth then shuts it, her teeth clicking. She closes her eyes. “Minerva…”
If I shut my eyes, I would think I’m talking to her Mom right now.
“It gets worse.”
“You know I thought you might say that…” She takes another slow breath, eyes still closed. “But hell if I know how it could get any worse.”
“Funny… you mentioned Hell.”
Amber’s eyes open. “Minerva Holiday Morris, did you summon a devil? Of all things?” I must make some sort of face to confirm her suspicions because she groans before sucking her teeth. “Why?Why a devil? You couldn’t summon anything else? You’ve wanted a cat for years! Summon a fairy cat or something.”
“Because I need help.”
“Help with what? Moving in?”
“Okay, you are really hung up on me being slow to unpack,” I point out.
Amber shakes her head and ignores my comment. “I don’t understand why you can’t ask for help. You have to be drastic. Is my help not good enough?”
“Maybe…” I mutter to myself, but of course she hears.
“Minnie, I don’t want to say something I’ll regret later.”
“How mature of you,” I respond in a voice much too dry to not come off as an insult.
Amber’s jaw tightens but then she takes a slow breath in from her nose. “Just… tell me. What’s going on that made you think summoning a devil was…” She chews her lip a second before finishing with, “Appropriate.”
“Because…” My voice becomes a whisper without me even realizing. It’s like there’s a curse on my tongue that prevents me from speaking on the matter, but I persist. “I know who my Father is.”
I expect shock, some outcry of surprise, but Amber looks at me with what I hope isn’t pity. She chews her lip again, but before I can ask, she gives me the answer I’m looking for. “When did you find out about Arthur le Fay?”
My eyes go wide. “When didyoufind out about Arthur le Fay? How long have you known he was my Father?”
“Only a month or so. The coven has a connection with this couple in the city that helps out wayward supernaturals. One of them is a le Fay. He’s concerned about you.”
I immediately know who she’s talking about because it’s the very same person who informed me of the truth. His business card reads Lancelot le Fay. I had no interest in keeping the card or ever being in contact with him, but I remember that much. Now I find out he’s asking around about me.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing,” Amber assures me. “To be honest, we haven’t even met, but I’ve spoken with his sponsor, and he says the guy isn’t connected with the family at all anymore. But he knows how they operate. If you actually want some kind of closure, he’s your man.”
