Page 71 of Her Dreadful Will
The things he could do to Soleil if he wanted to—spotting and shriveling her skin, rotting her organs, turning her bones porous and brittle—
She stared at herself in the mirror, at her white face with the bruises of weariness under her eyes, at the streaks of mascara across her eyelids. Sighing, she dampened a cotton circle and wiped the excess away. And then she added a fresh coat of mascara. Not because she wanted to look good for Achan, but becauseshewanted to look good. For herself.
Okay, maybe a little bit for Achan.
She groaned in disgust at herself—and added some fresh lipstick. A little powder.
One layer of armor down, and one more to go.
She went to the bureau and opened the ring box on its surface, where her collection of rings nestled between furrows of green velvet. Rings to boost insight, to supplement energy, to increase psychic ability. Right now she needed rings of power and protection, and she had too few of those. She slipped off a couple of the enhancements she wore, including the bog oak and hematite rings, both of which would have to be recharged. She selected a bronze Viking ring featuring the Helm of Awe, Aegishjalmur—it had a latent power of super-strength that lasted no more than ten minutes.
She reached for her other hematite ring. This one’s native ability was calming and grounding the wearer. Its latent ability, when activated, would channel the wearer’s anxiety to an attacker, throwing them off their game.
Chewing her lip, she hesitated, caught in the blood-red glimmer of the only ring she’d never worn—the ring of La Voisin. One of the most notorious and powerful witches to practice in France, or anywhere in the world.
Soleil had promised Tarek she would send the ring to someone at the Institute.
She hadn’t.
The ring called to her—not in a creepy Gollum way, but in the sense that it felt right with her. Like it had found its intended owner.
Okay, maybe itwasa creepy Gollum thing.
Why couldn’t she sense its effects? With any other magic ring, she’d be able to intuit what the ring did, how it worked. When she touched it, she should immediately sense what the ring craved, what was necessary to unlock its latent powers.
She slipped it onto her right thumb.
Nothing.
Who could read such a ring? She needed someone who could intuit the nature and extent of magical powers—
Angelou. Of course. Why hadn’t Soleil thought of her before?
Angelou had wanted to keep in touch anyway. Soleil could text her, maybe arrange a meetup under the guise of deepening their friendship—and then she could ask Angelou to read the ring.
She felt a little guilty about using the young sensitive that way. But Soleil really did like the girl. Wanting to get to know her better wouldn’t be a lie—it would just be a calculated move with a dual purpose.
A rapping at the door made Soleil jump. She yanked off La Voisin’s ring and popped it back into its place, snatching the other hematite ring instead.
From his station in the hall, Carebear growled.
“It’s all right.” Soleil patted him as she passed the door of the guest room. “It’s only Achan. I’ll be back soon. Stay.”
26
Achan stood on the narrow porch with a halo of fireflies around his head and moths forming feathery epaulets across his shoulders. A cricket sat on his finger like a leggy black ring.
Soleil locked the door behind her. “Showoff,” she said as she brushed past him and descended the steps.
“So you’re talking to me now.” He sounded relieved.
“Only as little as possible.” Why the hell was she smiling? Maybe because he’d saved her life, and her gratitude outweighed her disapproval of his cruel treatment of Zillah. She kept her back to him so he wouldn’t see her expression.
“It’s a start. Come on. We’ll take my car.”
“Yeah, because you messed with mine and it’s still at the taco place.”
“I’ll fix it tomorrow,” he promised.
