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Chapter Sixteen
Jade’s eyes were red and swollen as I entered her room, and I realized Eddie should never be a warden or a prison guard because the room was filled with cookies and tiny cakes and mini sandwiches as though high tea had exploded across it. There were also soft blankets and pillows, and I noted a folded set of pajamas that Jade hadn’t used. All in all, it was a solid prison cell if one could call a high-class hotel suite a prison.
And someone had put in a big screen TV and an Xbox that her “guard” was currently using to save the universe from whatever the universe needed saving from.
Fen sat on the sofa, a controller in his hand and a bottle of soda on the table in front of him. I marveled at the fact that there were still sandwiches left, which made me wonder how many Eddie had made.
“You know she could have knocked you out and run by now.” I felt the need to point out the flaws in my son’s protocols.
He didn’t even look up. “I don’t think so. I’ve got a pretty thick skull. Also, she promised she wouldn’t run.”
“I won’t.” Jade had started crying again. “I don’t…I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
I turned to the young girl who had to be terrified. “You don’t have to go anywhere, Jade. I promise I’m going to figure this out. I was joking about how lackadaisical Fen is being.”
“First, I don’t know what that means, but it’s probably lazy, and I’m not. I can do two things at once,” Fen assured me. He grinned up at Evan. “Hey, babe. Can you hand me those snickerdoodles?”
I merely shook my head and gestured for Jade to sit down at the table with me. “How are you feeling?”
She sniffled. “I feel like this has to be a dream and Relda’s not really dead.”
I could understand that. “I’m sorry, sweetie. She’s dead, and we need to figure out what happened. When was the last time you saw Relda alive? Was she still alive when you found her body?”
Jade’s head shook. “No. She was dead, but I didn’t know that. I tried a couple of spells to help her, but they don’t work on dead people.”
There was a hollowness to her tone that got to me. I needed to move this along and not let her sit too long with her grief. “Walk me through last night.”
“I went to the party for Alvis for about an hour,” she began.
“She did. I saw her there.” Evan slid into the seat next to Jade. “She left around midnight.”
“I told Evan I was meeting up with friends, but I wasn’t. I was in the meditation room at the community center.” She bit her bottom lip. “It’s quiet, and no one will come in. I needed privacy because I’ve been working on a spell.”
“A spell for what?” I shouldn’t be surprised. “Please tell me it wasn’t for something that’s not allowed.”
The rules were clear in the Under. Spellcraft was carefully guarded, and only certain spells were considered permissible since the use of magic could open up the entire group to Myrddin’s influence. Wards and protective magic were fine, but no dark magic was to be worked in the Under.
She frowned. “It’s not dark.”
“Okay, then what is it?”
Tears dripped from her eyes. “It’s a rite. It’s our rite.”
Fuck. There were several longtime witch families who performed rites of passage. They weren’t necessarily dark magic. Witches who specialized in air magic had a ritual first flight performed on the first full moon after the witch’s thirteenth birthday. Water specialists proved their power over the waves. Others had different methods of proving they were ready to join fully with their covens.
Centuries of tradition were behind these rites, and I couldn’t imagine how hard it was to let go of something that should have been a part of her life. She’d had her family stripped from her. Shouldn’t she be able to have this one thing?
I understood that, but I had to know how bad it was. “Jade, what kind of magic do you practice?”
“Earth magic,” she replied quietly.
Evan frowned. “Jade.”
A stubborn expression covered Jade’s face. “Well, it’s mostly earth magic. My mom’s family traditionally practiced earth magic, but my dad came from a line of witches who worked with blood magic. It’s not as scary as it sounds. I know blood magic can be used in violent ways, but so can wind and water.”
“Blood magic can also call demons,” I pointed out.
She paled visibly. “I wasn’t doing that. I wouldn’t do that. Never.”
