“All part of the process,” Haley assured me. “He just needs to rest now. How about you? Feeling okay?”
“I… I’m fine. Just a little dizzy. Nothing some OJ and chocolate won’t fix.”
“Here, hold this.” She pressed a piece of smoky quartz into my left palm, folding my fingers around it. “It will help ground you. Take—”
I gasped as a new image jolted my mind, accompanied by a sharp burst of pain that had me dropping to my knees and clutching my head.
“Breathe, Gray.” Haley knelt by my side, rubbing circles on my back. “Deep breaths. Count backward from ten if you need to.”
“There’s another image,” I said, trying to focus on it. Onher, I realized. “A woman. I don’t think she’s from Darius’s memories.”
“A woman? What does she look like?” Haley asked. Her voice held a note of concern.
“She’s sitting at a desk in the middle of a huge office, flipping through old books. She’s wearing modern clothes—a black pantsuit, blue silk blouse. Her jacket has some kind of silvery-looking pin in the shape of a crown, with two swords crossing underneath.”
Haley sighed. “Dark braid over her left shoulder, a little too much eye makeup?”
“You see her too?” I opened my eyes, slowing getting to my feet. Just as quickly as she’d arrived, the woman was gone, taking the head-splitting pain with her.
“Not at the moment,” Haley said, “But I had a similar vision while I was chanting. When I saw her, though, there was with a younger woman with her—same color hair, glasses. It looked like they were packing up boxes together. Papers, files, office stuff.”
“Why did we both see her?”
Haley shook her head, blowing out the candles in our circle.
“It’s possible,” Liam said, “she’s one of your ancestors. Despite the protective crystals, her essence may have felt drawn here. Both of you possess very strong, very special magic, amplified by your bloodline. Working spells together is bound to have unforeseen effects.”
“That would make sense,” Haley said, “but I’m pretty sure the women I saw weren’t dead.”
“I’m with Haley on this one, Liam. It didn’t feel like a spirit or even a memory, like when I’d seen people from Darius’s past. It felt like we were spying on someone.”
“Yeah,” Haley said, “I didn’t get the sense she knew we were there. She definitely wasn’t watching us. The minute she appeared in my mind, I let her drift past, bringing myself back to my breathing and chanting.”
A shiver rolled through my body, and I rubbed my arms.
“Not to worry,” Liam assured me, resting his hands on my shoulders. “Shared visions are perfectly within the realm of possibility in a situation like this.”
His warmth brought me back to the moment, a few tiny sparks zapping my skin where he touched me. That was one thing thathadn’tchanged—his effect on me. No matter what we’d gone through or what the Old Ones had done to his powers, Liam still had the ability to electrify me with the simplest touch.
“Sorry,” he continued, releasing me, and immediately I missed the contact. Missed him.
Why did everything have to be so complicated?
“Anyway,” he said, “sometimes witches inadvertently connect with the energy fields of others, especially during intense spellcraft. It’s possible you picked up on a remnant of something that happened in this lodge in the very recent past, or something that’s happening nearby as we speak. There are other properties in the area.”
Liam’s explanation made sense, and Haley and I shook off the lingering creepiness and set to work picking up the candles and other materials from our ritual. We decided to leave the protective crystals in place, and to leave the main candle burning—the one that had sat between me and Darius, casting his face in a warm glow.
I moved it to the bedside table, smiling at my sister and Liam. “I couldn’t have done this without you. Both of you.”
“Maybe not,” Liam said with a wink, “but knowing you, you would have found another way.”
“Are you calling me stubborn?”
“I am. And I believe it’s one of the best qualities a witch can possess.”
I laughed, then took my place in the chair next to the bed, where I’d remain until my vampire woke up. I wanted to be the first person he saw when he did.
I brushed my knuckles over his stubbled jaw, marveling at his grace, his beauty, the power of our bond. “So what happens now?”
