Witch and fae magic. Two things that normally weren’t combined. Not because it couldn’t be done, but because itjust wasn’t—mainly because fae used to believe that mixing the magics would taint fae power. But the Bennet women were literally a combination of both, and they’d more than proven that it was fine.
“Here it is,” Lydia said, holding the book open and reading over the spell. She looked at me. “It takes fae magic to work, and because you’re the one who has probably come into contact with the killer, it will require your power and intention to direct the spell.”
She grabbed a couple of bottles and ingredients and started mixing them in a miniature cauldron.
“Can you get me the crushed siren pearls from the potion cabinet?” she asked me.
“Sure.” Crushed siren pearls. How hard could that be to locate? I stepped up to the cabinet and stared at the ingredients. Even though they were labeled, it was in a scrawled cursive that was difficult to read. I picked up a few and then set them back.
“Everything okay?” Lydia asked as she ground a leafy ingredient inside a bowl.
“Yeah,” I said. Was this similar to the situation of men asking for directions? Either way, I was determined to find the right one. At last, I saw a small jar that said crushed something, so I grabbed it and walked it over to her.
She didn’t even have to squint as she read the label. “This isn’t it. This is crushed dragon scales. A super rare ingredient, only for one potion really, and it’s only for emergencies. A removal potion.”
I took the jar and returned to the cabinet, resolved to find the correct ingredient. “What does that do?”
“It can transport a person to a new location. But it only works on witches, and the ingredients are so rare we’ve never actually brewed it, but rumor has it you can buy it on the magical black market for a lot of money.”
Despite being fae, it was sometimes wild to me what witch magic accomplished. I discovered what seemed to be the jar and carried it to Lydia. She smiled. “Perfect.”
In her stocking feet, she moved with precision, her sleeves pushed up as she added three small pinches of the crushed siren’s pearls and a spoonful of black salt. She put in a glowing greenish liquid and stirred, setting the cauldron on the Bunsen burner to heat it.
When the potion simmered and a soft lavender steam drifted up from it, she faced me. “Okay, when you put your magic into the cauldron, think about the death and how badly you want to find the killer. We have to put your fae magic into it in three timed spurts. And then on the third time, you shouldhear a whisper in your ear that will tell you the race of the killer.”
“Just like that?”
“If it doesn’t work, you won’t hear anything. So yeah, just like that.”
“What if the killer is mixed race? Or a fae that has also been turned into a vampire?”
“The spell is sensitive enough to pick out those nuances. If it’s a fae-vampire or, like me, half-fae, half-witch, it should tell us.” She faced the potion. “We have to time it right, and you have to be focused.”
I cricked my neck, entering the headspace that I did before a music concert. “I’m focused.”
“Okay, ready? Now.”
I released my fae magic into the cauldron, a steady stream of dark blue. I concentrated on the dead body on my doorstep and how badly I wanted to find the killer for both me and Lydia’s sake. And for the victim, Albert Jones, who didn’t deserve to be killed. The potion latched onto my power, pulling more and more. My hands shook, and my legs became unsteady.
“And stop,” Lydia said, watching her phone, using it as a timer.
I cut off my magic and gripped the counter that the cauldron sat on. “That takes a lot out of me.” Unlike fae, who could rest up and their energy would be restored, as a vampire the faster my magic was used up, the more desperately I needed blood. I wasn’t expecting to spend so much energy in a single sitting. “I’m guessing that there aren’t any rare steaks on hand?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay.” I blinked in an attempt to clear my muddled thoughts. “Let’s do it again.”
She hesitated, looking worried. “Are you sure?”
“We must keep going or the potion won’t work, right?”
She frowned down at the spellbook but nodded.
I flashed her one of my charming smiles. “Then I can take it.”
“All right, ready?”
“Yes.” I gathered my determination. I would make it through this.
