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But as I took in the building, I knew something was off. “It’s not the one from my vision, but…” There was a funny feel in the air. Almost a compulsion to run away. It reminded me of the wards on the compound, although it wasn’t nearly as strong. “Does anyone else feel that?”
“Yes.” Claudia rubbed her arms. “It’s warded.”
At least I wasn’t imagining it.
“I don’t want to go in there. Not even a little bit,” Shane said.
“It’s just a little magic,” Raphael said. “Maybe the local coven uses this spot. If you guys want to stay here, I’ll check it out.” He hopped out of the car before anyone could stop him.
I shared a look with Dastien. Should we follow him?
Better not let him go alone, Dastien said. Claudia was already on his heels anyway.
Guess we’re going too, then. I grabbed my messenger bag of potions and followed after them. I still didn’t feel right about this, but we had to at least check it out.
Raphael was almost to the door when the clouds shifted. For a second, the sun flashed and a blinding beam of light reflected off something on the front stoop.
I squinted at the spot. Faint and barely visible, a silver line arced out from under the doorway, embedded in the floorboards. I would never have noticed it if not for the change in light.
But why would there be a silver arc in the floor?
My chest tightened. He couldn’t touch it.
“Wait!” I raced to Raphael, yanking him back just before his foot stepped over the line. “Wait.”
“What?” Raphael pulled free from my grip. “We have to check inside.”
“It’s a trap. Look at the silver line. If that’s part of a circle and we cross it, who knows what could happen.”
“Where?” Claudia asked.
“Just tilt your head.” I pointed to the spot.
“You’re right.” Claudia’s eyes widened and she gripped Raphael’s shoulder.
The Weres had caught up to us, but still stood back.
“What does that mean?” Meredith asked. “Is this the right church or not?”
“This isn’t where she opens the gate to hell, but there’s something else here.” I stared at the door. Doing a spell to make it open wouldn’t have been that hard, but I was worried any magic would set off the wards. “We need to go in. There’s something about this place…” The wind shifted, and I lost my train of thought for a second. “Do you smell that?”
“Sulfur?” Claudia asked.
“That.” Chris leaned in a little closer and then shook his head. “And death. There are bodie
s in there.”
“I knew those wards felt familiar. They’re Luciana’s.” Claudia tugged on the end of her braid.
“Do you think she’s still here?” Meredith asked.
“No,” Claudia said. “I don’t think she’d stick around after killing again.”
Shit. Now we really needed to go inside. But crossing the wards would signal Luciana we were here, and if we broke the circle, we could release a demon or anything else she might’ve left to surprise us. A total double whammy of a trap, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Luciana at this point. “Any suggestions how to do this?”
Light flashed and a few of us jumped as Cosette and Van appeared. They held hands, but Cosette pulled away as soon as the light was gone. Van didn’t exactly scowl, but he didn’t look happy about it either.
“Good morning, friends.” Cosette smiled, too coy for her own good. She wore skinny jeans and a flowy white top that hung off her shoulder. Her hair shone in clean, glossy curls. I wrinkled my nose at her. She actually smelled like jasmine. How unfair was that?
