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"No." His expression softened, but there was nothing pitying in it. "It may prove to be one of the worst decisions you've ever made, and considering your history, the competition is impressive."

"Asshole."

The word came out automatically, but some of the pressure behind my ribs loosened when his mouth twitched. He let the silence settle before he went on.

"There's a difference between making a mistake and being maneuvered into one, Hazel. You've spent most of your life surrounded by people who confuse loving you with deciding for you, and I have very little patience for that distinction." Whatever humor had been in his face was gone now. "I've spent four hundred years watching people be handled for their own good. Kings. Priests. Fathers. Husbands. Councils. Different century, different excuse, same arrogance. Someone decides they know what another person needs better than they do, and eventually they convince themselves that taking away the choice is an act of love." His eyes stayed on mine, old in a way River rarely allowed himself to look. "I've never seen it end well for the person being loved."

There was something behind those words that had nothing to do with me, and for one dangerous second I almost asked him about it.

Then my phone rang.

The sound tore through the moment and both of us looked toward my back pocket. I knew who it was before I saw the screen. There was exactly one person who called instead of texting at four minutes past eleven on a day important for me, and she had been doing it since we were four years old.

"Sissily," I answered as a greeting.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Her voice exploded through the phone hard enough that I jerked it away from my ear, stared at the screen for a second, and put it back.

"Good morning to you, too."

"Hazel, I swear to Hecate… where are you?"

"At the laundromat."

The silence on the other end was almost impressive. "A what?"

"Clark Avenue. The dryers actually get hot. I'm considering leaving the place something in my will."

"Will you please be serious for thirty seconds?"

The panic beneath her anger wiped the smile off my face. I straightened against the washing machine. "I'm listening."

"They called your name three times, Hazel. Out loud, in front of everybody." Her words were coming too fast, her breathing uneven between them. "Danika stood there and let them do it. She didn't argue, didn't interrupt, didn't even look at anyone. Then the little one from Portugal asked whether the summons had been properly served, and your grandmother said yes."

My eyes closed.

Of course she had. Danika could manipulate a room full of people without raising her voice, but she would never lie about something as simple as whether I'd been summoned when she had done it personally. Her pride wouldn't allow it. Not when twelve High Priests were watching. It was the worst thing my grandmother could have done to me and the only honest thing available to her. Both were true, and neither made the other hurt less.

"What happened after that?"

Sissily hesitated, and dread pooled low in my stomach.

"They voted. You weren't there, so there was nothing to assess. No testimony, no defense. They voted on the only thing they had left, which was what to do about a witch who can't control her magic and refused a formal summons."

My fingers tightened around the phone until the edges pressed painfully into my palm. "And what did they decide?"

Another silence.

"Just tell me, little jerk. It's okay." It came out as a whisper but I knew she heard it.

"You're sanctioned."

For a few seconds the words didn't mean anything. They simply hung there between the industrial hum of the machines and the music drifting out of the radio.

Then they hit me like a basketball in the face.

Formally sanctioned. That word doesn't mean wanted or hunted. It means permitted. The supernatural world had just been handed permission to do whatever the hell it wanted with me.

Sissily rushed into my silence. "By name, Hazel. This isn't like a bounty, it's worse. Any coven in any territory can act against you without answering for it afterward. The notice went out over the network seven minutes ago."