Page 54 of Wicked Witch of the Wolf

She was gone. On the counter lay a silver chain with a matching coin-sized charm.

Witch charms were distinctive, personalized to the witch. Mine were made with spelled herbs between pressed glass. Margaux’s were thin metal circles she imbued with power.

I threw on the necklace and had started to run to the backroom, when a vision appeared in front of me. It wasn’t like Princess Leia beamed from R2D2 asking Obi Wan for help; it was more like a minimized screen on a computer monitor. I could see in front of me, but the picture was down at the bottom right of my vision, and if I focused on it for a few seconds, it went “full screen mode” and blocked my sight completely.

“Margaux?”

“Good. You put on the charm. I felt it link. I can’t see or hear you, but you can see through my eyes and hear me. Pay attention. I have a feeling I might only have one shot at this, and even that might fail.”

“Are you in my car?” I asked, forgetting that she couldn’t hear me.

“Sorry to steal your Mini, but desperate times and all that.” The turn signal clicked, and I watched her turn left. I knew where she was going, had known it the moment she locked me in the office.

“Desmond has the answers we need, I’m certain of it. I’m going to confront him and try to get him talking. He’s going to hurt me. Do not interfere, Betty. This is necessary.”

“Godsdamn it, Margaux. We could’ve worked out a better plan.” My voice echoed in the empty store. Even to my own ears, it sounded sad.

“I might not have the chance to tell you this later, so I’m going to do it now.” The steering wheel spun under her hands as she made another left.

“Your mother caused her own death. Nothing I said or did could’ve stopped her, and Betty, you had better believe I tried. I begged. I bargained. I offered to leave the coven and lend her my own power for the spell, but she could not be reasoned with.”

Tears pricked my eyes.

“Lila was obsessed with worry about your safety. She was unconvinced your grandfather was enough to protect you from what was coming—especially after he’d been expelled from the otherworlds for a century. She believed there was only one way to do it.”

Why hadn’t she told me this before? I had so many questions.

“The demon who appeared the night you made the deal for Alpha Pallás’s book. You didn’t summon him, and it wasn’t an accident that he showed up. He was looking for her—no, he was hunting her.” She sniffed, and her voice quavered. “He must’ve realized she was gone and decided you were the next best thing.”

Belial. “He said he killed her,” I whispered.

“Imagine my horror when that damn lying monster appeared. I recognized him from Lila’s description. He didn’t even attempt to hide his true form, prideful wretch.” Margaux’s voice hardened. “He didn’t kill her, of course. That was a lie. The spell killed her.”

“Why was he hunting her?” I asked, knowing she couldn’t hear.

“Lila died because she put every last drop of power into a spell that would ensure your safety and the safety of future Lennox generations. And she did it because she felt guilty for what she’d brought into the family line. She felt guilty for falling in love. She felt guilty for what that love had done to you.”

Done to me?

The click of the turn signal and a squeal of brakes brought my full awareness back to Margaux’s drive. She was in Desmond’s neighborhood. I recognized the houses.

“There’s more. There are a couple dozen or so hex bags buried on your property. Leave them in place for now. They’re there to protect you.”

“No can do, Margaux,” I muttered, “That ship has sailed.”

“However, the only way to bring back your saguaro guardians is to dig the bags up and destroy them. It sounds like I’m contradicting myself.” She slowed and pulled over a few houses down from Desmond’s, close to where I’d parked two nights ago. “I’m not. When you’re at full strength, you have to expel and destroy the hex bags then anchor the roots of the largest saguaro to your own lifeforce. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but you have to do it to connect with the soil. That’s what Lila told me.”

She let out an exasperated breath. “There’s not enough time to tell you the rest. I should’ve made you listen before, when there was more.”

Yes, she should have. Then again, would I have listened? I’d been so damn angry.

“Go to your grandfather. He doesn’t know everything, but he certainly knows more about her enemies than I do. And you need to know who and what your father was.”

She was still in the car, staring straight at Desmond’s house.

“She loved you, Betty. And she knew you loved her. She knew that if she’d even hinted she needed your help, you’d have come running. That’s why she did it the way that she did. So none of us could help her.” She cleared her throat and let out a long breath. “She was my best friend. You have a best friend. If Ida put herself in the same predicament, wouldn’t you have moved heaven and hell to save her?”

Of course I would have. And though I’d spent three long years hating her guts, I believed Margaux had tried to stop Mom. There was no reason for her to lie about it now.

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