Page 19 of Casting Butterflies

Misha’s lips flattened into a thin line. “I cannot believe it chose you.”

“It who? Who was that voice? Or should I say what?”

“You spoke with Anivivi, a spirit imprisoned within the necklace.” Misha didn’t sound happy about it.

“Whose spirit? Are you saying I’m possessed by someone’s ghost?” Fuck me. My head better not start spinning.

“More like imbued with their power.” Misha rubbed his jaw. “The Elders will not be pleased.”

“Neither am I. I didn’t ask for this. The only reason I ended up saying yes was because it claimed it would bring me in contact with someone who can help Cedric get rid of his curse.”

Misha’s gaze strayed to Cedric. “I thought your aura seemed familiar, but the shape confused.”

“Can you fix him? I’ll gladly give you whatever the voice infected me with if you do,” I offered.

“Alas, what you ask is not that simple.”

I sighed. “Of course it isn’t. Guess I’ll be maxing out my credit cards because I doubt getting to Russia is cheap. Assuming that’s the correct location.”

“It is,” Misha’s flat reply.

“Do you know where in Russia and what I’m supposed to do? And how dangerous will this be because, while I have more bravery than common sense, at least according to my mom, I’m not a fighter. Although I did pretty good against that demon imp. Think I’ll be able to whack whatever I’m facing with a frying pan?”

Misha stared at me before shaking his head. and I detected a hint of disgust on his face. “I cannot believe Anivivi chose you.”

“Deal with it,” my dry and somewhat annoyed reply because I dare any woman to not be miffed when a super-hot dude disses her.

“Apparently I don’t have a choice. Pack your things. We’ll depart tonight,” my tall blond intruder commanded.

As if he called the shots. “Hold on a second there. You can’t seriously just expect me to toss together a suitcase on that kind of short notice. Not to mention, my passport is expired. My bad. Everything was closed during COVID, and I completely forgot to renew it once things opened back up. But I hear it’s only a few weeks to get a new one⁠—”

“We don’t have a few weeks,” Misha snapped.

“Why the rush? You weren’t in a hurry when Papillon owned the darned thing.”

“Because she had it secured. Not only could we not detect it but the enemy couldn’t either. Now that Anivivi has been let loose, it will be on the hunt.”

“Enemy!” I squeaked. Were these the wrong hands the seers mentioned? “What are we talking about? Demon? Elf prince?” The latter might sound odd, except Charlie’s new hubby, Ulseere, had been a hunter for the Eastern King in the Infernal dimension, tasked with bringing back a different naughty prince. And yes, my life had taken a twist into the weird the last few months. At least I couldn’t complain about boredom.

“It won’t be the enemy that hunts but its pet. The pernicae was created with one task only. To capture the spirit now residing in you and return it to its master.”

Hearing I was possessed deserved some explanation but the fact a monster chased me seemed a tad more important. “Surely we have a bit of time. I mean I just got possessed in the last hour.” I’d barely had time to catch my breath—or get drunk. Speaking of which, I took a swig of vodka.

“It is likely close by.”

“And you know that how?” I queried.

“Because the moment the pendant holding Anivivi was removed from whatever containment hid it, my people and I sensed it. Hence why I immediately left Russia. The pernicae likely roused as well and has had time to make its way here.”

I glanced at Cedric, who’d been unnaturally quiet. “You ever hear of this pernicae creature?”

“Yesss.” A low hiss. “Had I known the necklace would draw it, I would have warned you to steer clear.”

“That bad?”

Cedric reached out a paw and patted my arm. “Very. I will mourn when you’re gone.”

The fact he already assumed I’d die should have sent me to a corner to huddle in a fetal position crying, or to the freezer for all the ice cream. However, the way Cedric and this Russian jerk both assumed the voice made a huge mistake in picking me, and that I would for sure die, rankled. Like, hello, I might not be some trained warrior or sorceress—which sounded way cooler than witch—but the spirit had seen something in me.