She accepted the glass and sniffed the contents before pretending to gag. “Tequila? No, thank you.”
“It’s just one.” I held up my glass in a toast. “To the biggest flame you’ve ever conjured.”
“And the grease fire that almost burned the house down.” She clinked her glass to mine and dumped the contents into the sink.
The back of my throat heated with my slow exhale. That was the last of Mom’s potion. I’d have to mix a new batch and find some other way to get Ash to ingest it, and I didn’t have time for that.
I tossed back my shot and shuddered as the warm, sharp liquid opened my sinuses. It was fine. Mom had cast the spell on her the day before she and Dad summoned their demon. Ash would be good for another month, and I would be home well before then.
She ducked into the library and came back with a thick, red book. “Don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t about to let you do two shots and drive away to Hecate knows where. Come sit. I need to look over the protection sigil to make sure I get it right.”
I sat in a chair and laid my arm on the table. Ash’s eyes darted back and forth as she absorbed the information on the page. My little sister was the smartest person I knew and the most skilled spell-caster I had ever encountered. If she had more self-confidence, she could be the most powerful witch in our coven, even with her fire magic bound. I told her that constantly, but she refused to believe it.
“Got it.” She laid the open book next to my arm. “I’ll keep it here for reference, though, just in case.”
“Dad would be proud to see how well you’ve done without him to guide you.” I laid my hand on hers. “He will be proud when I bring him home.”
“It’s been five months. What makes you so sure they’re still alive?” She dipped the needle into the ink and turned on the machine.
I wasn’t. Not in the slightest. Even with the veil as thin as it was in Salem, we rarely dealt with demons. And light witches never summoned them…until now.
I had followed our parents into the clearing when they’d taken the grimoire to the demon they’d conjured. I’d hidden behind a tree to witness the trade that was supposed to have happened.
The grimoire and their souls in exchange for a meeting with one of the demons who had cursed us.
But demons were the vilest, most untrustworthy creatures on either side of the veil. If I found the one who tricked our parents, I would come home with his head on a stake. And the three who helped Isabel curse us? As soon as they undid the horror they’d committed on my bloodline, I would send them straight back to the dark prison where they could rot for all of eternity.
“I just am,” I finally said.
“That’s about as convincing as a vampire saying he’s gone vegan.” Ash pressed the needle against my skin, the sharp pain jerking me from my thoughts.
“I was there when they were taken, remember?” I winced as she dragged the needle down my arm and looped it upward toward the bend in my elbow. “If the people who took them had wanted them dead, they’d have killed them on the spot.”
Ash finished the speed sigil and rested her hand on the table. “I’m not a little kid anymore. If you’re making all this up to spare my feelings, don’t.”
“I’m not making it up. I swear I was there. They were alive when they were taken.” Whether or not they still were was debatable. I had no idea what happened to a witch when they crossed the veil, but demons could come to our side unscathed. Logic said it worked both ways.
“Where are you going?” She drew the strength sigil on the other side of my forearm quickly. It was one she’d mastered years ago.
“The less you and Ember know, the better.”
“This is utter bullshit, you know? They’re our parents too.” She tapped my shoulder, and I turned, giving her access to my upper arm.
“I know, but as High Priestess I have to?—”
“Maintain certain secrets. I get it.” She dipped the needle into the ink and began the protection sigil. “It’s still bullshit.”
“I’ll be back before you know it.”
“You better be.” She finished the protection and resistance to venom sigils and took a lighter from her pocket.
“I’ll activate them later.” I tugged my sleeve down and rose to my feet. With my vim still recovering from the mega-cloaking spell I’d just performed, it would draw out all the protection Ash had given me before I made it to my destination.
“Don’t forget.” She returned it to her pocket. “They don’t work unless they’re lit.”
I grabbed my car keys from my bag. “I won’t. Tell Ember I love you both.”
She gave me a pointed look. “You can tell her when you get home.”
