Page 51 of Wicked Witch of the Wolf

No. Ronan is missing, and I feel like the walls of my skull are pressing in.

“I’m fine. Call if you hear from him. Please.”

She agreed, and we hung up.

Maya spoke first. “Ronan Pallás is missing, too?”

I dragged my gaze to hers, and she sat up straighter in her seat. Margaux’s eyes went wide. Ida went straight to her feet, walked around the table and bent to speak in my ear.

“Your eyes,” she said. There was no point whispering. As a rat shifter, Maya had excellent hearing. All shifters did, mostly.

“What about them?” I muttered.

“They’re glowing silver.”

“When did they start doing that?” Margaux asked. She kept her voice soft and soothing, as if she were afraid to anger me.

“A few weeks ago.”

“When you started absorbing the soil?” Ida asked.

“Yes.” I sent her athanks for broadcasting that one out into the world, Idalook, and she clapped her hand over her mouth and returned to her chair.

“You mean absorbingmagicfrom the soil,” Margaux said, “not actually drawing it into your body.” She blinked when I shook my head. “You pull the soilinto your body? Literally?”

“It heats up and turns into a sort of steam, and I absorb it. Apparently, my eyes also turn silver, which is the color of my magic.” I glanced at Ida, who still had her hand over her mouth. Her expressive blue eyes were filled with guilt, and that was the last thing I wanted, so I added, “And the color of my bestie’s hair.”

She lowered her hand and smiled a little.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that, and I’ve studied elementals extensively,” Margaux said. “Earth elementals in particular, since Desmond joined the coven.”

“Maybe it would be a good thing to keep under our hats for now,” Ida said, without a trace of irony.

“Sure, sure,” Margaux said, but she barely appeared to be listening. “Under our hats.”

I scooped up the list, folded it, and slid it into my pocket. “One last thing, Maya. I won’t force you to tell me, but I’d really like to know. What’s in the bag?”

“The … bag?” Maya looked confused for a moment. “Oh.” She rose from the table.

The kitchen spilled out into the living room, so we were all able to watch her. There was no hesitation in her, no fear. I’d half expected her to crumple at the request, given her emotional state last night, but her run with Kale and Denzel had changed her. She seemed stronger now.

“I’m not forcing you to show me,” I said. “I want that to be clear. If you absolutely don’t want to, I won’t?—”

“It’s fine. It’s just something Desmond was weirdly protectiveabout. I grabbed it because I wanted to get back at him. You can have it.” She brought the bag into the kitchen and set it on her seat. It hit the chair with a solid thud. She reached inside and pulled out the item. Dropped it on the table.

“He made me polish it with this concoction every day. The cover dries out, apparently.” She took out a small, flat pot and set it on the table beside the item. “I don’t know why, and I’m not sure I even want to know.” She shivered. “That’s what I did, you know. The whole time I was under his spell, he had me cleaning the house, taking care of his creepy magic stuff, and cooking meals for him. He barely spoke to me except to give me instructions and forbid me to shift. Isn’t that strange?”

Margaux, Ida, and I stared at the object on the table.

It was a book.

But not just any book.

It was the godsdamnWeret-hekau Maleficium.

“Floyd toldme it was for a powerful favor. I never imagined it was with a member of the coven,” I said.

Margaux sat in the passenger seat of my Mini, arms folded over her chest, mouth cinched, eyes forward. She hadn’t said a word since Maya brought out theWeret-hekau Maleficium.

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