I shined mine in his face. “‘Pretty sure’? You dragged me back here on a ‘pretty sure’?”
“No, you refused to stay home.”
He had me there. I had insisted on coming, reasoning that two witches were better than one. Truth was, I couldn’t let someone else get hurt because of what I’d done. Natalie was gone. Chase had almost died. No way would I let anything happen to Josh too.
He stood, one hand held to his side. The sweet aroma of apple cider encompassed us as his powers glowed bright red in his hand. He turned slowly, and as he did, the grass around us became matted as if smashed by a heavy object.
“You could help me build the circle instead of obsessing over spirits,” he said.
I placed the pillar candles on the freshly crushed grass. They would act as the perimeter of our circle. Next, I set my flashlight on the ground so that the light stretched upward toward the heavens. We stood facing each other, arms raised above our heads, and closed the circle. When we finished, the candles burned bright blue.
“I still think this is a bad idea.” I really hated to be skeptical, but Josh’s plan didn’t sit right with me. “If we mess with Reed’s family, don’t you think he’s going to mess with mine? The guy doesn’t like to be threatened. He’s made that clear.”
“That’s why we convinced your dad to take Chase to the movies.”
Isaac had placed a bewilderment spell on my father to help sway his decision. Dad would kill me if he ever found out we’d manipulated his thoughts. But the safety of my family wasn’t the only thing that troubled me.
“Brea’s not like her brother,” I said for what had to be the tenth time that day.
Josh’s black hair fell around his eyes when he met my gaze. “She could have kept Reed from getting into your head.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. If Brea had told me her brother had come through the door with her, if she had warned me not to eat anything I didn’t recognize, Reed wouldn’t have gotten the better of me.
“She’s a faerie, Madison. She survives the same way Reed does. Just because she hasn’t fed off your energy doesn’t mean she’s given the other humans she’s come in contact with the same respect.”
“I still don’t get the whole essence thing. Brea said faeries do favors for humans in exchange for their company. Even if ‘company’ was code for ‘suck on your aura,’ how could Reed feed off mine? He didn’t do anything for me.”
“You’ve eaten their food. That changes your physical makeup and the rules.”
“Yeah…well…with all the mystical guidelines governing supernatural creatures, you’d think tricking your prey into submission would be forbidden,” I griped. Seriously, if saying,
We laid a ring of meadowsweet in the middle of our circle. Josh touched the sprigs with his fingertips, willing magic into them and creating a faerie prison of sorts. He set the ceramic bowl we’d brought inside the ring, placing in it three acorns. Next, he held a wilted red rose by its stem. A moment later it perked up, looking as if it had just been cut from the bush. He plucked off three petals and added them to the bowl, which he used his magic to fill with spring water. More shadows had gathered, but none crossed the invisible barrier of our circle.
“You with me?” Josh asked, peering at me through his hair, which had fallen in front of his eyes again.
I pulled my attention away from the creepy spirit floating near the crypt behind him. “Just promise me you won’t hurt Brea.”
Josh frowned. “She’ll be fine if Reed plays nice.”
“That wasn’t a promise.”
“Would you rather owe Caden more than you already do?” Josh asked with a hint of frustration in his voice.
Worrying about what more a demon would demand from a witch was definitely second on my list of crappy situations I’d gotten myself into. It was the “no questions asked” part of my existing deal that concerned me. It meant that regardless of my morals, I’d have to do as I was told. I may as well have lost my soul.
I wrapped my arms over my stomach. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Josh pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket, picked up his flashlight, and aimed the light on the spell. “From here to there and neverwhere. Through time and space and ethereal. I call to thee Sanctus majestic, Rhoswen Brea Reedsnap, and beckon thee, come forth and grant us sight.”
Brea appeared, wearing her long thick sweater and furry boots. Her iridescent violet eyes found me before following the ring of meadowsweet to Josh. She reached in front of her, palm flat on the magical wall that would hold her prisoner.
“I suppose I should have seen this coming. What do you want?” she asked, still taking in her surroundings.
“You and your brother gone,” Josh replied icily.
“And you plan to accomplish that by trapping me in the final resting place of your people?” She turned to face me. “I thought we were friends.”
I cringed under her disapproving glare. “When I told you my friend was missing, did you know then that Reed had kidnapped her, or did you find out after you returned home to get warmer clothes?”
“I suspected that was Dellis’s doing when you told me she was gone. My brother can be a bit entitled.” She shrugged and trailed her fingers around the barrier as if looking for a weak spot. “Spoiled prince syndrome.”
“What about me? Did you know I’m next?” I hoped she’d say no.
Her violet gaze locked on mine. “For eleven long months, Dellis vowed to find a way to make Isaac pay for interfering in his business with that mortal. Every blasted free moment was spent plotting his way back to your realm. He needn’t have wasted his time, because just as he was about to give up, you summoned us to your home using Isaac’s spell book. Yes, I knew my brother would plan on taking you to replace the human he’d lost.”
“You could have warned me!” Anger burned in me for being so foolish as to trust a faerie. Isaac and Josh were right: they were all the same.
“For all I knew, you were another vindictive witch taking advantage of your powers just like the last one.”
I threw my hands in the air. “And once you got to know me, you couldn’t say, ‘Hey, by the way, my brother is here too, and he’s taken an unhealthy interest in you’?”
Brea lowered her gaze.
“I assume you have a way to contact your brother,” Josh said, interrupting our exchange.
Her expression turned steely. “Dellis’s previous behavior will seem like child’s play compared to what he’ll do when he finds out you’ve trapped me. This is his season. His time to be strong.”
“We’ll take our chances,” Josh replied, his tone unwavering.
Brea cocked her head to the side. “You’re not looking well.” She pulled a clear vial the size of her thumb from her pocket. Shimmering fuchsia liquid sloshed inside as she held it out to me. “I was saving this for an emergency, but it appears you need it more than I do.”
I licked my lips, simultaneously taking a large step away from her.
“Suit yourself.” Brea brought her shoulders up to her ears and returned the vial to her pocket. “I can smell the Fae coming from your pores. My turn to ask a question: Will you be able to resist Dellis when he arrives?”
Josh cursed and spat a string of words under his breath that included
I caught mine as best as I could. “Josh, I’m good. Really.” I held a hand out. “Look, no shakes.” Only, my hand did tremble slightly. I quickly lowered it to my side.
Josh growled at Brea, “Call your brother.”
“As you wish.” She inclined her head.
I knew the moment Reed arrived. A hole in my stomach ripped open, making me feel as if I hadn’t eaten in days.
“He’s here,” I whispered, positive that Josh’s plan wasn’t a good one.
The sound of grass and leaves being crushed beneath graceful steps circled us. I could feel Reed’s eyes on me, disapproving and furious.
