Page 16 of Echoes of War

Hurt crossed over her face, but instead of flinging her pain back at me, she offered me some humor, the way she had consistently done over the last few weeks. “I’m sure someone else I know would love the blood aspect too,” she teased.

“Hmm.” I grumbled, ready to move on. “Anyway, I suppose all you care about, Sloan, is what we need to accomplish for a test. Send your lackeys to get the ingredients since your dear cousin isn’t here to take my requests.” I tilted my head, a sliver of joy going through me at the knowledge that she had no choice but to follow my command.

Elliot motioned for one of the Tinkerers who’d moseyed through my notebook. The woman flipped to an empty page in her notepad. Her green eyes met mine, genuine curiosity staring back at me as she awaited my list.

“I’ll need a vial of blood for each person partaking in the spell. A white candle, rosemary, sea salt, black tourmaline or a small piece of hematite, whichever you can find. Doesn’t matter which one. And a pen and piece of parchment paper. Specifically parchment, nothing else.”

Her head moved absentmindedly as she mouthed over the list, she glanced at me for confirmation, then at Sloan who said nothing before dismissing her.

“What’s the prep?” Amaia asked.

“Just need a quiet place to focus, no interruptions.” I said, eyes trailing pointedly at Sloan, “and to center myself. Other than that, it’s about testing it out to see if it works. I know the spell, if the ritual goes off without a hitch, we’ll be fine. Dark magic or not, spell-casting is simple. The only requirements are intention, focus, and belief. Intuition is everything, but again, I have to warn, magic of this sort comes at a cost.”

It was a damn good thing Reina wasn’t here, or she’d see right through my bullshit confidence. Truly, I was terrified that I would fuck this up and hurt someone. Or worse, be wrong and end up being the reason our mission would fail. Why the alliance would fail.

The reason this war would be lost.

Unfortunately for me, my visions were of no use. The spell required dark magic, that meant we had to go at this blind. The universe would ensure there would always be balance.

“We know, we know,” Sloan said, as if my warnings were minor inconveniences in the plan. “There’s a chance they can’t gain control, but I have full faith you and cousin dearest can use Alexiares’ rings, maybe a quick peek into Finley’s past to figure out the rest.”

“Whatever.”

Amaia moved near my side, her fingers grazing my notebook, trying to see what I saw. If anyone here would understand the complexities of this ritual, it was her. “Let’s run through the spell and the ritual.”

“I’ll begin with casting a protective barrier for the duration of the spell, then we’ll move forward with the blood binder. The blood needs to drop onto the parchment paper, then the rosemary, sea salt and black tourmaline or hematite go next. I’ll touch each item, their energies becoming one in mind—it’ll form a shield of defense around whoever I cast on. I’ll then say the spell, seal it, then close the circle. Ritual complete.”

“What could go wrong?” Sloan mumbled sarcastically.

Amaia’s eyes light up with joy, “You brilliant-ass bitch, I knew you would do it.”

Our eyes met briefly, Amaia’s excitement over the realization of how I’d blended a mix of cultures for the ritual gave me a sense of pride. Full disclosure, also a sense of connection. These were the kind of discoveries and conversations that had formed our friendship. It was nice to have an intelligent conversation withsomeone who wasn’t a prick. The other Scholars at The Compound could be so … ivy league.

I missed my sister damn more than I was willing to admit. Things weren’t the same between Reina and I either, but it was weird. Reina’s betrayal wasn’t toward me, and it wasn’t meant to hurt her brother, either. She handled the situation poorly, but it was as best as you could have expected for a twenty-one-year-old in the midst of chaos.

If you keep a lie for one year, it only makes sense to carry it to the grave. Reina had confided in me what had possessed her to keep her secret of what had truly happened the day her family fell apart. The same fateful day she’d lost her uncle, her mother, her brother, and as far as she knew, her father.

Seth would have left if he knew there was hope—he would never stop searching for both his father and their brother. That would become his life goal, to go after them because Reina would not be able to confirm definitively that they were dead. She had lied to keep Seth safe. I hadn’t lied, I had omitted, and it was to keep Amaia and Reina focused. To keepeveryonesafe.

Amaia had lied and gotten countless people killed. Her lie had been selfish. It had stripped thousands of people from their choice. So, as much as I missed my sister, I could go another week or two without pleasantly co-existing in the same space.

“I’m not done … that’s only the first part,” I added. “The last part, um, the first go round, I sort of drank the blood after the spell was complete. Like I said, in ancient times, protection spells were sealed with food or drink. The only way to know if that small change in the ritual had aided in the spell or not is to do it again.”

The room went silent, everyone looking around, knowing what would come next. Not ready to volunteer themselves as my sacrificial lamb.

“Lovely, I guess I have until Saturday to convince myself drinking blood doesn’t gross me the fuck out,” Amaia stated, her mind made up.

It was cute she thought she had a say in this, but two could play at her game. I didn’t have a choice, and now, neither would she. “Hell no.”

“Moe …” she tried to reason.

Sloan huffed in the background.Yeah, yeah. She doesn’t have time for this. Busiest woman of the year.

“Amaia,” I challenged, “doesn’t matter, Reina would never let it happen and neither will Alexiares.”

“I somehow doubt Reina gives a shit about what happens to me at this moment, and I’m not in the habit of caring about what Alexiares thinks. If you haven’t noticed, his opinion weighs little.”

The pain in her voice struck a nerve—she truly believed that. That Reina didn’t care. It wasn’t true, she still did. We both did; we were just hurt. Amaia had apologized, but only her actions could show us that she respected anything about our friendship, our family.

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