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Elaine bit her lip nervously. “It used to freak me out too, Jade. It’s best to just let Sara and Genevieve do their thing and not ask questions. It’s not like we’re doing anything unnatural like necromancy. Though some covens will use dark magick in nefarious ways, giving us all a bad rap.”
The list of possible ways dark magick could go wrong fled my mind as Sara dusted off her chalky hands.
“Alright, let’s do this thing,” she announced, before passing around bottles of honey mead.
I took a sip from the bottle, my face puckering at the sweetness, before the delicate flavors of cinnamon, yeast, and a sultry honey that reminded me of my favorite chocolate honeycomb candy settled on my palette.
“Good?” Sara asked with an expectant grin.
I have her a thumbs up and took a heftier gulp to their answering cheers.
We passed around the bottle as Sara finished up preparing for the spell. The conversation focused on Coven drama and amusing anecdotes from tourists visiting the city, and as midnight came and went, we were pleasantly tipsy.
Sara flipped through her Book of Shadows until she came to the correct page and started reading aloud. “Tonight, we pray to Nyx. A badass Goddess who took no shit from asshole men and blasted the world with her eternal power.”
Elaine and I shared a look and lifted our respective bottles in the air. “Here, here!”
Genevieve opened the velvet pouch and revealed several antique items I remembered from Twisted Broomsticks. “We’ll use personal items from witches who have tragically died to focus the spell and hope someone wants to visit us.”
“Jade, you pick as our guest of honor.”
Slightly drunk, I stared at the items of clothing and jewelry with a frown. When I reached to touch a hand-knitted shawl, the amulet bounced against my chest. The idea came to me as a half-drunk epiphany, and unsteadily, I reached into my top and pulled the onyx stone loose. “What about this?”
Genevieve gasped, her wide-eyes revealing that she felt the dark magick within. “Can I—?”
With my intuition urging me to trust the air witch, I unclasped the chain and handed over the Bled talisman. She weighed it in her palms, lifting the stone for closer study, but there was no recognition in her bright eyes. From her expression, she knew it was a talisman, but there was no flicker of unease from holding one of the cursed objects her mother sought after.
“Will it work?” I asked, and Genevieve woke from her trance.
She plopped it into the center of the circle. “It should. If the spirit of the original owner hasn’t moved to the Beyond, they’ll feel the call. Worth a try.”
Sara and Elaine watched the two of us with confusion, but Sara was not about to let Genevieve steal her thunder as she cleared her throat dramatically, lifting the grimoire into the candlelight.
“Alright, let’s get started,” she intoned, as Elaine failed to conceal a snort. “Just let your power do its thing, and remember, don’t fight the pull. Your earth magick seeks balance and draws from the natural world, while your spirit magick seeks to lift the veil and uncover their secrets.”
Grinning madly under the effects of the honey mead, Genevieve leaned over and whispered, “Whatever you do, don’t flee from the circle if you get spooked or we risk letting the spirit loose.”
Elaine shuddered. “I still have nightmares about that time a Revolutionary War soldier chased me around the cemetery.”
“Got it,” I answered with mock-seriousness, hiding my laughter. “Go with the flow and don’t break the circle. Easy enough.”
Though the atmosphere was light, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when the spell incorporated the Amulet of Davorina. Would one of the witches who died under Alistair’s hand show up in this grimy basement in Salem, or was this another dead end to discover its secrets?
As Sara started the spell, the amulet flared to life. Frozen, we watched the candlelight flickering over the circle, picking up intangible flecks of magick pulsating from the gem. The chalk seemed to absorb into the cement, leaving a spectral glow of death and rebirth.
The amulet levitated off the ground as Elaine and Genevieve joined in the spell.
Entranced by the magick at play, I took a deep breath and whispered the spell in the darkness. The flames licked shadows across my face, and when I shut my eyes, I envisioned my spirit magick awakening within me.I pulled on it, tugging it to the fore, but it snapped back, refusing to leave its encased shell within my chest.
My breath panted out, and I feared I would faint under the strain of this dark magick.Imagining another happy memory with my family, I renewed my efforts to grasp onto the spirit tie and force it to do my bidding.
“That’s it,” Genevieve’s voice reached me through the fog in my mind. “You’re doing it, Jade.”
The amulet sizzled audibly from the circle.
I gasped as my eyes burst open, watching the onyx stone glowing an unnatural, eternal dark, almost as pervasive as I imagined Nyx’s power to be.
The brush of a soul nearby answered the spell’s call from a distance.
