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Meaning his confirmation as the O’Connor pack alpha, no doubt.
“She’s rebuilding the nightclub using magic,” I said. “It’s possible the sorcerer behind this summoning is, in fact, her former lover who might be here for a little revenge.”
“Might?”
I shrugged. “Maelle’s currently uncertain as to her purpose here.”
Aiden snorted. “More likely, currently unwilling to help usascertainher purpose here.” He turned to face the pentagram. “Is it safe to step past the circles?”
“Should be, given the sorcerer would have broken them for the basilisk to leave, but let me check the pentagram.”
“There’s no life in it,” Monty said, as he followed me across. “And the candles are snuffed out.”
“Still best to check, especially given the tendency evil has to leave nasty little surprise packages for us.”
I cautiously stepped over the two ash rings and approached the pentagram. It was larger than usual, as were what was left of the candles. But then, it was a basilisk being summoned, and apparently a big one at that. I sure as hell would have made sure there was plenty of protection between me and it. I went right while Monty went left, and we met at the top—or spirit—point. There was no magic or life in the pentagram’s remnants.
I glanced at Aiden. “It’s safe.”
He and Monty entered, but I stayed where I was. Right now, my stomach was behaving itself, but I wasn’t about to push it by getting any closer to that sheep.
Monty stopped abruptly a few meters shy of the center point and the carcass. “Is it my imagination, or is there blood soaking the ground here?”
Aiden walked over and studied the ground for several seconds, his nostrils flaring a little wider. “There’s definitely blood, and quite a bit of it.”
“Is it from the sheep?”
“I wouldn’t think so—it seems to be concentrated in one area rather than being an arterial spray.” He bent and examined the ground. “There’re a couple of faint footprints in the center of the stain, and small bits of flesh and fiber threads as well.”
“Flesh? Why would there be flesh here?”
Aiden glanced up, amusement evident. “You tell me. You’re the expert on magic.”
“Regular magic, not dark.” Monty bent and examined the ground. “If that print was made by our sorcerer, it suggests she was barefoot, and that’s unusual.”
“Why?” Aiden asked.
“Because it’s generally only white witches—witches who raise magic via the earth—who perform ceremonies barefoot.”
“Not just barefoot,” I said, “but naked. But it’s also sometimes associated with darker rituals.”
Mainly because it was easier to wash blood and gore from your body than it was your clothes.
Monty glanced back at me. “Which could be what happened here, but why would she stand inside the circle? Why put yourself in the path of possible harm like that?”
“I have no idea.” I hesitated. “Are we sure it was our sorceress standing there? Could it have been another sacrifice?”
“Possible, I guess, given the strength needed to summon a basilisk.”
Aiden pushed to his feet. “If it wasn’t the sorceress standing here, where is she likely to have stood?”
“Outside the pentagram, at one of the cardinal points. Hang on.” I turned, stepped over the two salt circles, and studied the ground past the outer one. After a second, I spotted a partial print. “She stood here.”
Aiden walked over and stopped beside me. Once again, I found myself resisting the urge to lean into him.
“They look more like a kid’s footprints than an adult’s.”
“If Maelle is right and this is her lover, then that makes sense. She apparently only looks fifteen or sixteen years old.”
