“I thought you did well,” Amethyst said kindly.
“Oh please,” I gave her a dismissive wave of my hand. “I made all that crap up. Don’t put any stock in what I said. I’m a total hack.”
Amethyst giggled, and from the corner of my eye, I caught Joseph, a quiet guy in our year, glance over and wink at her. She noticed too, and her cheeks grew red.
I arched an eyebrow and leaned over the table. “Did Joseph wink at you?”
She grabbed the crystal ball and began repositioning it, her cheeks darkening as she did so.
“Girl . . .” My voice dropped low. “Do you have a crush on Joseph?”
Amethyst pressed her lips together. “Maybe.”
A giggle rang out of my throat. “You go! He is one hot hunk of a witch.”
My partner’s face broke out in an embarrassed smile as she looked up to catch my eye. “I know, right? I had a thing for him last year, but he never noticed me. And to be honest, I was struggling in a lot of classes, so I tried to push it aside. But this year, it’s—different.”
Amethyst had been struggling? I wouldn’t have guessed that. Although the part about this year being different made sense. She’d clearly been practicing over the summer break. And having a new course like Divination and Tarot come easy must have boosted her confidence too.
“Well, he was totally checking you out.” I wagged my eyebrows.
“If you two are quite done gossiping . . .” Professor Videns came up behind me once again, and my heart rate spiked. How did he expect anyone to “tap into the other side” when he kept sneaking up on us like that? The man barely made a sound when he moved. “I think you should proceed with your readings. Amethyst?”
Amethyst nodded and stared into the crystal ball. Her hands began sweeping over it, like I’d seen old fortune tellers do in the movies, and her eyes softened. She mumbled a couple incantations to enhance clairvoyance, and then closed her eyes.
Appeased that we were doing what we were supposed to, the professor finally moved on.
The pit in my stomach deepened as I watched Amethyst, dreading what she might predict, and partially in awe over how relaxed she looked behind the crystal ball. I was always squinting and blinking too hard in hopes that something would appear.
The minutes passed, and I’d started to wonder if Amethyst had fallen asleep with her eyes open when her hands flung upward to grasp her throat. Her eyes grew round and wide, and her breathing became ragged, labored, as if her windpipe was obstructed.
“Amethyst! What’s going on? Are you okay?” I shot up and pivoted to get help, but my friend grabbed my wrist.
“Do not move or speak, or else the girl dies.”
My throat constricted, and my eyes dropped to my ankle, where the demon-touched mark was branded into my skin. Shockingly, it didn’t burn or even tingle, but that didn’t matter. I would recognize that voice anywhere. Ishtar was speaking through—no,possessing—Amethyst.
“Yes, you have identified me correctly, mortal,” the queen of Hell said, pleasure at being recognized obvious in her tone.
“How did you get here?” I squeaked. “Why can’t I feel you?”
The second I said it, I realized that I did feelsomething. It was malevolent and cold, but very muted. Nothing like the powerful energy that had rolled off Ishtar the night I met her in New York.
“Did I say you could speak?” Amethyst growled, and her eyes began to glow red around her brown irises.
I didn’t answer or move, terrified that either would cause Ishtar to harm my friend.
“That’s better. Now, promise not to mention that I’m here, and I won’t injure the spirit talker. We’re going to have a little chat, queen to queen.”
Queen to queen? My lips parted in shock. What did that even mean?
“Promise!” Amethyst hissed in Ishtar’s cruel voice.
The sensation of coldness intensified inside me.
Unable to repress it, I shuddered. “I promise.”
“Good witch. I’d have hated to destroy the soul who volunteered for this job. Not that he is much of a keeper. No one in Hell is, but still.” Amethyst’s mouth split in a sinister smile. “They’remysouls, and I like to keep them around.”
