Page 55 of Shadow Seeking

I call to you, Goddess of Magic.

I call to you, Mother of Moonlight.

Banish this spell. Banish this cord.

Banish this hex. Banish this curse.

With all the powers of three times three,

Banish this leech, so mote it be.”

Penn put down the wand, then raised her hands and clapped them over the top of Lazenti’s head. Instead of a simple clap, a large thunderclap echoed through the room, shaking the walls. The next moment, there was a whooshing sound and the purple web disintegrated and vanished. The air felt lighter the moment it disappeared.

“Give me one more moment,” Penn said. She began to wave her hands around Lazenti’s head again. A gold and red web appeared instead of purple. She examined it, then stood back. “You can open your eyes. We’re done.”

She put away her wand and the vial of powder, then started to sit down. Lazenti immediately offered her the chair next to him.

“Please, sit here,” he said.

She gave him a quick look, then graciously accepted. “Thank you. All right, I have information for you.”

“What did you find?” I asked.

“Well, first, Lazenti, you were cursed. Or rather, hexed. There’s a difference. The hex wasn’t directly focused—meaning that anybody who disturbed it would have been hit by it. You happened to be the one. There are some hexes that are set to trigger when someone gets too close to finding out secrets that are supposed to be kept quiet. If you were pressuring Letty to find out information, then someone had to have planted the hex in her aura. This is a complex spell that would require a high level witch to create.”

“So, you think that Brim Fire is to blame? Lazenti was trying to gain information about her involvement with them,” Orik asked.

Penn shook her head. “I think they might be. The energy behind that curse is demonic.” She shivered, rubbing her arms. “I’ve never felt anything quite so powerful. But that’s not the extent of it. I’ve got some bad news.”

Lazenti glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that hex has been tracking you. It was more than a hex. Whoever cast it has been following your movements since it was triggered. I don’t know why, but think of it like a magical GPS being implanted into your energy field.”

Lazenti paled, his cocky arrogance vanishing. “Oh, crap. To what extent? Do you think it only followed my movements—” He stopped abruptly.

Penn shook her head. “We can speak clearly now that it’s gone. Ever since you talked to Letty, the hex has been listening in on you. Magical surveillance. I don’t know how far it could reach, but I’m pretty sure it could listen in on your conversations.”

“Which means it heard you when we talked last night,” I said, paling. “Were they also listening in on Letty?”

“Right on all counts,” Penn said. “Whoever is behind it, they know where you live, they know what you’ve been doing, and what you’ve said.”

Lazenti looked like he was going to throw up, although as far as I knew, vampires didn’t vomit. Nor did they get sick with any typical illnesses. They could be hurt, but they healed fast.

“I can’t go home,” he said. “Do they know that the hex is gone?”

Penn nodded. “Yeah, they do. The moment I broke it, they knew. I was able to hide myself as I worked on you, but it took a tremendous amount of force.” She looked at me. “Do you have any protein and sugar? I expended a great deal of energy working that spell.”

“Of course,” I said, starting to stand, but Carson was already on his feet.

“I’ll get it for you,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said, shooting him a smile.

“So, what now? You said there might be demonic energy behind this?”

Penn nodded. “Iknowso. I know demon energy when I feel it. And whoever is behind this, it incredibly powerful. It almost overwhelmed my own magic. It was bad, Kyann. Whoever it was…I dread to think of how much power they have. And why would they put that curse on Letty?”

“I think that they may have suspected her. They probably put a tracking spell on her, and when they found out she was an imposter, they sent a demon after her.” I asked. “Lazenti, what did you find out about them while you were trying to infiltrate them?”

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