Unsheathing her athame, she glanced up at me. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“You’re totally safe,” I assured her. At Darius’s insistence, I’d fed before we began the ritual. Neither of us believed I’d attack my sisters, but if I felt even a pang of thirst, there was a good chance I’d get distracted by freshly spilled blood and ruin the ritual.
Addie and I unsheathed our athames, following Haley’s lead. At her direction, we all sliced our palms, then squeezed our blood into the glass bowl at the center of the circle, three crimson streams merging into one.
The tang of their blood filled my senses, making my mouth water. But I stayed focused, magic tingling inside, warming me.
Addie placed a piece of bloodstone inside the bowl, and I sprinkled African dream root powder on top.
Haley instructed us to touch our fingers to the rim, and then we recited the spell she’d crafted.
“Blood of Silversbane, blood of fae
On ancestors past we call today
Seeking your guidance, your wisdom, your love
Without and within, below and above
Bestow upon us the vision we seek
That we may hear the words they speak.”
After our seventh incantation, we released the bowl and clasped hands, my skin tingling as our blood and magic connected and bound us. A sense of belonging washed over me, and though I was still getting to know Haley and had just met Addie, I felt the years of our separation melt away, leaving only the unbreakable bond of our sisterhood.
Blinking away tears, I glanced down at the bowl, the blood inside rapidly changing before my eyes.
Glowing brightly at first, it darkened to near-black, then, ever so slightly, began to swirl around the bloodstone. Entranced, I let my eyelids flutter closed, then followed the tug on my consciousness.
The sensation was similar to swimming in a calm, warm ocean—drifting along on gentle waves, weightless. But then the tide turned, an undertow sucking me further from the shore, pulling me down, down, down…
When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in the center of a familiar home. I knew I’d been there before—recently, too—but I couldn’t place it. There was no furniture, and though the room was freshly cleaned, it was also damaged. Floorboards were missing, walls bashed in, windows taped up.
“Norah’s house,” Haley said suddenly, and I turned to find her standing at my right side. Addie was on her other side, the three of us still holding hands.
It took me a beat to realize she was right. The last time I’d been here, the guys had basically destroyed the place fighting off a pack of rogue vampires while I saved Asher from a devil’s trap in the attic.
“How did we get here?” I asked.
“It’s just the vision,” Haley said. “There must be something we need to see here.”
“Is there anything that can seeus?” Addie asked.
Haley shook her head. “We’re basically in the astral realm. Come on.”
We followed her into the dining room, where a lone woman sat at a large dining table with her back to us. Dark blue fingernails, manicured into sharp points, tapped impatiently against the table. Every few seconds, she glanced at her cell and sighed.
Creeping around to the side of the table, I turned to look at her from the front, gasping at the sight.
Too much eye-makeup. Dark hair pulled into a severe French twist. Lips pressed together in perpetual annoyance.
“It’s you,” I blurted out.
“She can’t hear you,” Haley said.
I turned toward my sisters. “It’s her. Trinity.”
Haley nodded. She’d seen her before, too—the night we’d done the blood spell for Darius. But Addie seemed shocked into silence, her mouth hanging open, her fingers wrapped so tightly around the back of one of the dining chairs, her knuckles had turned white.
