“That’s what I’m talking about,” she says. “Now promise me.”
“Okay,chica. For you, I promise to try.”
“No. Not for me. For you.”
“Right. For me. I promise for me. I fucking love you, Jess. You know that?”
“And I love you. More than the mooooon,” she says dramatically. “More than double-dark chocolate scones with peanut butter icing.”
“Gah, I miss your baking already.” I laugh, then the waterworks start up again. “What am I going to do without you?”
Squaring her shoulders, staring straight into the camera, she says firmly, “Stevie, I’ll tell you what. You’re gonna walk straight out onto that campus—every single day for the next four years—and learn your magick like a fucking boss bitch. And you’re gonna own your power, be ruthlessly unapologetic about it, and rock that shit like the goddess-damned, sparkly-ass, witch queen of the desert you are.That’swhat you’re gonna do. Deal?”
“Deal,” I say emphatically.
Outside my floor-to-ceiling windows, far beyond the Petrified Forest of Iron and Bone, lightning flickers across the purple sky, and I press my hand to the glass and smile, claiming that lightning for myself. A confirmation that I’m on the right path. A gift from the universe.
And a warning to anyone who dares to stand in my way.
Twenty-One
KIRIN
The lightning flickers once, twice, three times. That’s the signal.
I pull the black hood low over my eyes, whisper a cloaking spell, and head out into the night, slipping unseen into the Petrified Forest of Iron and Bone.
I find two of the others already assembled at the Fool’s Grave, a sacred cave hidden deep in the forest and almost entirely surrounded by steep, rocky outcroppings. This far north, the only way through the maze of rock is through a single narrow passageway, invisible to all but the four, guarded by the magick and blood of the brotherhood.
The wall sconces have already been lit, the fire throwing long shadows on the cave walls.
“How did the tour go?” Cass asks, the concern in his eyes a dead giveaway, despite his attempts at playing it cool. “I trust she’s settling in alright?”
“She’s a little overwhelmed,” I reply, “which is to be expected. She wanted some time alone. But she was in good spirits when I left her at the dorms.”
“She’d better be in good spirits,” Baz says with a graceless snort. “She’s living pretty large for a first-year. Better than any of us ever got. Hell, I’ve been here five years and I still haven’t achieved sixth floor, corner room status.”
“Yeah, but you’re an asshole,” I remind him.
Baz grins. “The Academy has a non-discrimination policy.”
“Not against assholes.”
“I’m here, I’m here!” Ansel’s voice echoes down the winding narrow canyon, the rest of him tumbling in soon after.
“You’d think after all these years he’d figure out how to be on time,” Cass says. Then, to our latecomer, “Thank you for joining us, Mr. McCauley. I hope we’re not pulling you away from anything important.”
His cheeks are red with exertion, clashing with his ginger hair, which is now sticking up in every direction. “That last mile’s a bitch.”
“Christ, Ani.” Baz grabs the back of Ansel’s neck, gives him a playful shake. “You need a GPS chip embedded in your skull.”
“Now that we’re all assembled…” Cass clears his throat, the warning glint in his eye letting us know there’s no more time for jokes.
As the oldest and most experienced of the Brotherhood—at least in our current incarnations—he’s taken point on the matter, and we’ve gladly let him. Cass is a good man. A hardass at times, but he’s led us this far, and I trust him to see it through. We all do.
Pulling our black hoods low over our brows, we gather around the altar, a chest-high pillar of petrified wood, the top polished smooth from years of ritual use, carved with a large pentacle. In that moment, a sacred hush falls over the room, and all other thoughts and concerns evaporate.
Cass pulls a silver athame from his robe, whispers the incantation against the blade, then draws it quickly across his palm.
