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“Do you know what happens when you travel via magic?” Her gaze bores into me. “It’s like dropping a stone into the ocean. The water around it is affected, and that ripple doesn’t stop when it’s out of sight. It goes in every direction, leaving nothing untouched. That’s why it’s banned in most conservative covens. A ripple can be too hard to change—or stop—if it gets out of hand. And impossible to control.”

“So, um, are you saying I shouldn’t do it?”

She grins, hooking her arm on the back of her chair. “That’s one thing I won’t ever say.”

Because she’s a rule-breaker.

“All I mean is for you to be aware. There are some who hide behind their ignorance. What does that do? It creates problems. Especially hidden ones, like rot.” Beatrice sighs. “Such is the way of things now. Coven leaders don’t want to teach their witches how to defend themselves. They’re content to sit back and watch the wolf shifters wipe them out of existence.”

I sit up. “That’s true. They don’t teach us how to fight them.”

“They use ignorance to mask that there are solutions. A wolf shifter isn’t as affected by our magic? I’m sure you’ve come up with other options, having been traveling with one.”

We go quiet again. I don’t have an answer for that. She would know I was traveling with Kian. I bite my lip, but she waves off my worry.

“Here’s a secret, Astra: there are no such things as secrets.” She cracks a smile. “So what can I do for you? Honestly, this time.”

I smile at her joke, but it fades quickly. “My mother was taken by demons.”

She nods. “I heard.”

“How?”

“Spirits,” she says simply. “Your friend, the one who betrayed you? Cecelia? Well, for one, she didn’t get my address quite right. I’m obviously not living surrounded by neighbors. A long time ago, she trained me to communicate with spirits. Lucky for me, they liked me better. She tried to teach me the normal way of scrying and the seeing into the future, too. But, alas, I can only scry when I give the glass a drop of my blood. And I can only see the future when I sacrifice a piece of my soul.”

I stare at her.

“So the spirits are the way to go,” she finishes. “Spirits, while finicky, unruly creatures, are desperate for something. A taste of magic, usually, that lets them feel something. Imagine existing on this plane but being unable to feel the wind? That gift is more gentle on my body, and more precious to them, than scrying my life blood away or peering into the future and shattering my soul more.”

More. As in, she’s done it before.

The weird part is… she’s charming in a quirky way. She seems like she could be a replacement for Sarah Jessica Parker if they wanted to remake Hocus Pocus. Thin, pretty, blonde. Carefree, sort of.

But so fucking dark.

“I need to know how to rescue her from the shadow realm,” I say in a rush. “Please. Can you help me?”

She watches me. Deciding. She nods slowly. “I’ll do my best. But there’s a process. Steps to follow to ensure we get all of her—not just her body. Do you understand?”

My eyes widen.

There’s a chance we could bring her back, only for her soul to be left behind? Or her mind?

“Simply going there and coming back with her isn’t going to work,” she says. “Demons leave their souls behind when they travel here—why would a witch’s soul be any different? Anyway. Shall we begin? I have a feeling your wolf is going to track you down one way or another… Let’s give him something to get his blood pumping, hmm?”

“What does that mean?”

She waves her hand at my chest. It’s covered, but she seems to look straight at the silver scar Kian’s wolf left behind.

“The bite. I assume the mating bond has begun, which means you should be able to feel him. All I’m proposing is to use him as the first step in our ritual to save your mother.”

I narrow my eyes. “It won’t kill him, will it? Or stop this…?”

“Interesting.” She appraises me. “You would want to salvage the mate bond? Even knowing what awaits you at the end? I suppose what happened to Cecelia’s coven is answer enough, but I thought you might have changed your mind in the following weeks.”

“To be frank, I have no idea what’s waiting for me. I think I can count on pain and suffering, but I’m getting used to that. Either way, I don’t care. He’s promised to help me for my help in return.”

She scoffs. “Stupid wolves, always hunting for a way to break the curse set on them a hundred years ago. He goes about it in a way that makes me question their morality, don’t you agree?”