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I blinked. That hadn’t been what I was expecting. It probably should have been, though. People didn’t come to Spook Society because they were throwing an engagement party.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
She waved away my condolences. A gold bracelet, shaped like a snake biting its own tail, glinted under the fluorescent lights. “She went peacefully. That is all any of us can hope for.”
I had absolutely no idea what to say to that, so I kept my mouth shut. I mean, she wasn’t wrong, but it was her grandma we were talking about.
Ms. Erepto gestured again with her hand. “The trouble is this; Magda was the head of the family. A new head for the clan must be appointed. However, the idol that has been in our family for countless generations, has gone missing. It is a mark of leadership among us. Without it, the new clan head would never fully have control, and could be challenged at any time.”
She fixed me with an unblinking stare. Her eyes were as green as her dress. “Without it, no one can rule. And having a clan of uncontrolled Graeaes running around, would not be in Haven Hollow’s best interests,” she added silkily.
I was pretty sure that was a threat, if ever I’d heard one. I swallowed hard, not liking where this conversation was going.
“How can I help?” I asked with a gulp.
“I wish for you to summon Magda’s spirit. Ask her where she has hidden the idol. Once I have retrieved it, I will be able to take control of the family once more. Order will prevail.” Ms. Erepto gave me a quick once over. “Your employer tells me this will not be a problem for you.”
The last sentence really sounded like it should have had an ‘or else’ attached to it. I wasn’t going to let it get under my skin, though.
Channel Wanda, I thought to myself, ‘cause that was the ticket. That witch could make someone cringe at forty paces with just one raised eyebrow. No one was going to make Darla feel like a dumb Dora in her own office.
This is a bad idea,Cain muttered at the back of my head.I don’t trust her.
Well, thanks for the update, mister.
But it didn’t matter if we trusted her or not. What mattered was that this was my job and I was going to do it.
And I was going to take the idea that Blaise Howard thought I could pull this off at face value, and not that he was setting me up to fail.
“Of course, Ms. Erepto,” I said through a confident smile I may not have felt down to my toes. “No problem at all.”
***
I set the thick white candle down on the ritual table and tried to shrug off the déjà vu. I’d done almost the exact same ritual back when Taliyah had asked me to bring Cain back from the beyond, though that had been a little different. I didn’t have any intentions of keeping Magda around for longer than it took to ask her about the idol. I just hoped she wasn’t too confused in the process. Some folks got a bit bamboozled after they died and it was even more confusing to be in dead-person land and then get suddenly yanked right back to the land of the living by some nosy medium. Some of them spooks could get downright irritated about it.
The candles were set at the corners of the room, each of them carefully anointed with ‘Piercing the Veil’oil that Poppy had whipped up special for me. I’d also taken the time to set some ‘Enchanted Spirit Oil’around the windows and door frame, to make sure I got only the spirit I wanted to talk to. Ms. Erepto didn’t look like the kind of woman who’d take kindly to a bunch of ghostly gate-crashers showing up.
With the table arranged, and the lights dimmed, everything was pretty Jake. All that we needed was to have a seat, so we could get this thing shaking.
Cain was restless in the back of my head. I could feel his energy kind of churning, like he was pacing inside my body. I turned my back to fuss with something, so Ms. Erepto couldn’t see my expression. I might work for Spook Society, but I didn’t need her thinking I was cracking up.
What’s wrong?I thought the words to him.
Cain was quiet for a moment.I don’t know. It just… feels odd. I’ve never seen a summoning before. Not from this side, at least.
I winced. Cain didn’t exactly have good memories from his own summoning. I didn’t know if it was because he was my first, or because of how he died and how bad it was, but it hadn’t exactly been berries for him.
Are you going to be okay?
All I got back was a gruff,I’m fine. And then he retreated to the edge of my awareness.
Men.
Well, nothing to do then but push through.
“Ms. Erepto? If you could just take a seat at the table, we can get started.”
She took her chair like a Queen sitting on a throne. I tried not to kick my own chair out from under me.
