“You know who I am.”
“I do.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the woman who can give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
I laugh, because this is absurdity. She smiles.
“You don’t believe me,” she says.
“I do not.”
“You ought to. The Darkness awaits your return, and he is not patient.”
My laughter dies. My mind goes still.
“Who are you?” I repeat.
“My name is Veronica Meyers. I am a member of the Kildare Coven.”
“That name means nothing to me. You are nothing to me.”
“Not yet. But hear me out. The Kildares came to Sedgwick Cove after your time, but it is your legacy that we have striven to come into.”
“My legacy.” The words sound so strange, spoken from living lips. I was a pariah in life, and in death perhaps even more so. It is inconceivable that this woman speaks the truth. “What do you know of my legacy?”
“I know you were the first pentamaleficus to walk this stretch of shore,” the woman says. “I know that, together with the Darkness, you sought to harness the great and terrible power of this place.” She looks behind her, at the cave’s entrance.
She knows, I realize. She knows what this place is. How can she know?
“And now I know he seeks another in your place. Another, more powerful witch to help him fulfill his destiny.”
“She is not more powerful!” The words explode from me. “It is only because… because I cannot… I no longer?—”
“You no longer have a body through which to channel your power,” the woman replies. “But what if you did?”
All I can do is stare. She looks calmly back at me.
“I do not understand,” I finally say.
“You need a body. We need to unlock the mystery of the Source. Let us do so together.”
She appears so calm, so assured. All I can do is laugh.
“I fail to see the humor,” the woman says.
“There is much you fail to see,” I reply. “I cannot possess you indefinitely, and I am not interested in a temporary body that will deteriorate with every moment I spend inside it. You will lose your mind before you can grasp even a fraction of what the Source can do, and then your body will be useless to me. What foolish bargain is this you seek to make?”
But the woman still smiles. “I am not proposing you use my body. Another will be provided.”
“Foolish woman. It must be a witch, or I cannot inhabit it. The body will rot.”
“And a witch it shall be. Our coven is willing to sacrifice one of our own for this cause.”
“You lie.”
“I promise you, I do not. If you can prove to us that you can unlock the mystery of the Source, we will give you the body you require to rejoin your master fully. And to prove it, I will Bind the promise in blood to seal it.” She lowers a hand, and brushes it against her jacket, revealing the glint of a knife holstered at her hip.
