It’s all she can manage, but the D-word is enough to lend credence to my other theory.
The Dark Arcana are very likely behind this, which is both good news and bad. Good, because if they’re possessing non-Arcana witches like Casey and Janelle, it stands to reason they haven’t yet invaded the bodies of their Light Arcana counterparts, which would be much more difficult for us to fight.
Of course, we’re assuming that Lala’s beliefs about how the Dark Arcana rise to power are accurate, and that Casey and Janelle are not, in fact, Arcana witches. I’m only slightly more confident about the latter.
The bad news—rather, the worse news—is that if we can’t figure out how to expel them, Casey and Janelle could be possessed indefinitely.
As much as Professor Maddox doesn’t want to hear it, it means we’d have to kill them.
Fortunately for my colleague, we don’t have to cross that bridge just yet.
I slide my chair over to the other cot to check on Janelle. She gives me the same death stare, the same idle threats.
And she gets the same needle in the neck.
I can’t lie.Thatone felt good. Even Professor Maddox doesn’t flinch.
We wait for the serum to work its way into her bloodstream, but unlike Casey, Janelle remains mute, her face smooth and untroubled, even as she continues to give me the evil eye.
“The serum has no effect on her,” I say.
Professor Maddox nods. We both know what that means—there’s a good chance Janelle has been playing along with her hitchhiker from the start, willingly offering herself as a vessel. To what ends? That remains to be seen, but no one in her right mind would agree to something so dangerous unless she had something incredibly important to gain.
Or to lose.
I turn back Casey for another go, alternating between reminders of Kirin and the APOA career she loves, and threats against the monster whose taken up residence inside her. But after an hour of interrogation and two more doses of serum, it’s clear we’ve hit a brick wall.
Time to call in the big guns.
I grab an athame from the table and slice across each woman’s palm, squeezing their blood into a single glass bowl. I then slice and squeeze my own palm, swirling our blood together.
Professor Maddox paces behind us, her body tense, but she keeps her mouth shut.
“Since you’re both having trouble remembering your true identities,” I say, setting the bowl of mixed blood on the table and retrieving a deck of Tarot cards, “we’re going to try a new spell.”
I drop the Moon card into the bowl, watching as it slowly dissolves, turning the blood completely clear.
“Cheers, ladies.” I pick up the bowl and hold it to Janelle’s lips, forcing her to drink half the liquid inside. She tries to resist me, but drinking is a command she must obey.
Casey is next, and I force her to finish the contents. Then I close my eyes, pushing my magick into their minds as I chant my spell.
Magick of Moon, break this illusion
By blood and by will, dispel this confusion
Reveal to us what darkness has hidden
Reveal to us usurpers unbidden
For a moment nothing happens, and I worry the spell wasn’t strong enough. But just as I’m reaching for the bowl to make another batch, a primal scream erupts from Janelle, damn near shattering the windows. Casey follows, her head thrashing, her eyes rolling back. Janelle is foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog.
“Dr. Devane, stop this at once!” Professor Maddox reaches out to steady Casey’s head, but I grab her wrist.
“Just wait,” I snap. “Ten seconds.”
She stills, and together we sit through the torturous screams, silently counting down…
And there it is.
