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“What spell?” I turned to them. “Tell me.”
“The Greater Asa Mordente spell. The final death.”
The Greater Asa Mordente spell was insanely powerful, but highly dangerous, and it involved summoning, among other things, the phoenix—not exactly child’s play, and so many things could go wrong. But it was the only hope we had.
“That means you have to be in the Netherworld with me.” I held up my hand as Smoky and Delilah started to protest. “We have no choice. We have to make this work. Morio, you spend the afternoon preparing for the spell. Have everything ready. I’ll spend some time reading up on it again after I check out the talisman.”
Smoky stared at me, his lips pressed together, but he said nothing. Delilah looked stricken, but I gave her a shake of the head.
Vanzir shrugged. “It’s the best plan we have.”
After a moment, Morio leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “We can do this, my love. We’ve progressed far enough with the death magic to do so. Aeval…” He stopped.
I stood, irritated. “Aeval what?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“No, there will be no ‘never mind.’ Aeval what? No secrets. Tell me, now. Especially if it will help.”
He hung his head for a moment, then apparently decided I wasn’t going to give up on this. “Very well. Remember when you found out that the order of the Moon Mother trains their own sorceresses—and that they use dark Moon magic and death magic?”
I slowly nodded, Queen Asteria’s words lingering in my ears. I hadn’t wanted to think about them but now, they were coming home to roost.
“Perhaps now is the time to tell you. Your beloved Moon Mother trains her own sorcerers, although she will not call them that. They wield dark Moon magic…death magic. Why do you think Morio’s magic comes so easily to you?”
“I remember…”
“Just what do you think you are becoming? Her priestesses are divided, Bright Moon and Dark Moon. Derisa is High Priestess of the Bright Moon Mother. When you take the role of the first Earthside high priestess, you will be taking the role of the Dark Moon High Priestess…and you will evolve from being a witch into being one of the Moon Mother’s sorceresses. Your powers are already greatly increasing…more than you realize.”
I stared at him, unable to speak. I hated sorcerers—I’d been brought up to hate them. And now I was to become one?
“It’s just a word,” Morio whispered. “Just a word, sweetheart.”
Breathing deeply, I pushed aside my fear and distaste. We didn’t have the luxury for me to angst over something that I had no control over. I’d deal with the ramifications of it later, once we’d killed Gulakah. And apparently I was more capable of doing the latter than I’d believed. For my beloved Moon Mother, I would do anything.
“Fine. So, Morio and I can handle being in the Netherworld easier than anybody here, except for Shade. I still don’t like those odds. Who else can go?”
“I can,” Vanzir said. “But it’s harder for anybody else here to manage. Smoky might be able to…and Roz.”
Smoky grimaced. “Yes, and I will. But I can’t stay for long. I am of the white and silver line of dragons. The Netherworlds is the domain of the shadow dragons, and we do not mix well with the energy there.”
“What about vampires?” I asked Shade.
He shook his head. “Weird crossover problem. Menolly can’t go physically into the realm of the dead, since she’s undead. Neither can she go in spirit, since she’s a vampire and trapped in her body. And she can’t go on the Dream-Time because the Dream-Time is not the same realm.”
“Then once we find him, it’s Shade, Roz, Vanzir, Morio, and me. And Smoky for as long as he can hang out. We try to kill him with the Greater Asa Mordente spell.”
When nobody said anything, I shrugged, and, over Delilah and Iris’s protests, I pushed the discussion on to our plans for the night, which mostly consisted of where people were going to be. I picked up the talisman.
“I guess it’s time to try this out. Here goes nothing,” I said. “Just nobody hit me or anything, even playfully.” Before I draped it over my head, I kissed Smoky, Trillian, and then Morio.
As the medallion settled down around my neck, a surge of energy raced through me. It was disconcerting, like going through a portal, and as I watched the others, their reactions almost made me laugh. Delilah began to cough as Iris and Hanna clapped their hands to their mouths. Nerissa—who had the day off—let out a low whistle. Smoky was scowling, Morio had a curious grin on his face, and Trillian just stood, leaning against the kitchen counter, nodding. Shade, Vanzir, and Rozurial all just stared.
“What? What? Tell me I’m not covered in warts. Please.” I did have my vanity, even when under a spell.
“Um, no. No warts. Definitely not,” Roz croaked out.
I couldn’t stand it anymore and headed to the mirror in the hall bathroom. There, staring back, was a complete stranger. I was still a little busty but appeared to have lost about thirty pounds and was more athletic. I was shorter, about five feet, two inches, and though my hair was still long, it was a pale wheat color—almost tawny, like Nerissa’s—and was sporting a Farrah Fawcett look. My eyes were no longer violet but a rich, vibrant green. My ears still had the faintest of points to them. I didn’t look human, but then again, Gulakah was also recruiting Fae.
