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I took a seat at the farmhouse table as Phaedra gathered the ingredients.
“How are you getting on with the farm? It seems like a lot of work.”
She groaned. “You have no idea. There aren’t enough spells in the world to help me tackle the never-ending to-do list.”
A thought occurred to me. “Would you consider hiring help?”
She poured tequila into a measuring glass. “I’d think you have enough manual labor waiting for you at the Castle. Would you be happy working on a farm?”
“Oh, not me. I’m thinking of Ashley Pratt.”
Phaedra started to choke. “You’re suggesting that the girl who almost died at the farm at the hands of my family now come to work here? Are you trying to torture her?”
“It might be cathartic for her. She’s had a hard time ever since her parents died. Maybe working outside, and alongside someone like you who has her shit together, would be a good experience for her.”
Phaedra dumped the contents of the measuring glass into the pot. “I probably owe it to her to give it a try, and I could really use the help.”
“You don’t owe her anything, Phaedra. You weren’t responsible for what happened to her. That being said, it might be a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
The witch nodded. “Okay. I’ll reach out to her. See what she says.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. Now I have a question about my ward.”
She stirred the contents of the winter brew. “Why? Is it malfunctioning?”
“I’m not sure. I have different reactions, depending on the visitor.”
Relief rippled across her features. “Right. That’s normal. I used one of your hairs to infuse the ward with some of your essence. It helps with detecting threat levels. Say your cousin Jerry shows up unexpected and you can’t stand Jerry. Your body will let you know this is an unwelcome arrival.”
I thought of the warm, pleasant sensation I’d experienced when Kane activated the ward. Damn. I did not want to feel that good when the demon visited.
“What if I adore Jerry, so the response is initially nice, but then the relationship goes south? Will the ward know when to change its alert system?”
“Automatically. It’s designed to be in alignment with you.”
“What if I don’t know whether the visitor is a threat?”
“Then your response will reflect the uncertainty.”
I mulled over her answers. “This is more sophisticated than I realized. I don’t think you charged me enough.”
She smiled. “I know I didn’t.”
“One more ward-related question.” I drew a deep breath and took the plunge. “I had an unexpected visitor recently. Well, a piece of one. He only sent his hand, so the ward didn’t register his presence.”
She stopped stirring. “His hand,” she repeated.
“Yes, Claude is a revenant.”
“An actual revenant.” She blinked. “I thought revenants died out centuries ago.”
“They’re ancient but not extinct.”
She grimaced. “Good to know. Maybe I should update my own ward to include them.”
“My question is—is there a way to include revenants but exclude ghosts?”
She squinted at me. “Why would you want that?”
