“That makes sense given that they’re a seer. They clearly know a lot of what’s to come, and that would affect the signs they’re giving now,” Cris corroborated.
“Well, should we believe them?” Turner asked. “I mean, it certainly makes it a hell of a lot easier if we don’t have to find our own Occidens witch.”
“Yes, but why would they want to help us? What do they have to gain? We don’t know if it’s a trap set by Occidens for us somehow,” Ty asked, clearly not ready to let go of suspicion. But his concerns were valid.
“What do Ena and I have to gain?” Cris asked. “Nothing really, except that we feel like what was done was wrong. Maybe they feel the same way.”
Ty barely spared Cris a look, but didn’t argue.
“Maybe we should ask them that, and if their answer is satisfactory, then we can allow them to join us,” Ena asked, looking at Ty. She knew he was the deciding factor in all this. It was he who had orchestrated all this from the beginning, and he who would be the daemon they performed the spell on. He had to trust those involved with his life—with all daemons’ lives.
“Alright,” Ty agreed, nodding at her plan. “We’ll try that, but let me know if your Knowing picks up on anything suspicious.”
Ena nodded in confirmation, and the four of them headed back over to the campsite where Mel was sitting by the fire with their eyes closed, unresponsive. Their hands had gone slack in their lap, and the stick they’d been carrying had dropped to the ground.
“Mel?” Ena asked as she approached. “Are you alright?”
The witch didn’t respond.
Ena reached down to jostle their shoulder, when suddenly their eyes snapped open. They looked around, seeming confused for a second and taking in their surroundings, before their eyes landed on Ena.
“Oh, I’m back in the now,” they said, relaxing the tension in their body somewhat.
“Were you having a vision?” Ena asked gently.
Mel nodded, waving her off with their hand. “Yes, but before you ask me what it was, I have no fucking idea yet, so you need to give me time.”
“Oh, okay,” Ena said. She had been curious but hadn’t been planning to pry like that. She knew that a seer witch’s visions were usually reserved for the matriarch’s ears only. And that made her wonder…
“Mel, does Syrelle know you’re here? Is she okay with you helping us?”
Mel sighed. “No, she doesn’t know. I left her a note, so she doesn’t worry. Hopefully she doesn’t worry…” Mel said, seeming distracted by the thought.
Ty cleared his throat, nodding his head at Mel and giving Ena a look. Clearly, he wanted her to start their intended line of questioning now.
“So, Mel,” Ena said, wondering how exactly to begin. “We’re so grateful you’ve come to help us, but we’re wondering…why do youwantto help us? Aside from the fact that you saw that you would?”
“Well,” Mel said matter-of-factly. “If I saw it happen then it has to happen. The future is fixed, so there’s really no way around it.”
“Okay…” Ena replied, her brow furrowing. That wasn’t exactly the answer she was looking for, but she guessed it made sense.
“But, if you want to know, I’ve also seen what will come…after. Parts of it anyway, and I know it’s what Gaia wants in the end. It was never meant to be this way, you know. Her intentions were not sincere.”
“Whose intentions? Gaia’s?” Ena asked.
“No, not Gaia’s. The Auster witch. The one whose idea it was to bind the daemons to Iblis in the first place. She was just angry, and jealous. And just a petty-ass bitch if you ask me.”
Turner burst out laughing from the sidelines, but Ena was still trying to keep up.
“Mel,” Ena sighed, trying to not get frustrated. “I know we don’t know each other very well yet, so no offense, but what in the Underworld are you talking about?”
Mel laughed. The sound was joyful and childlike, and luckily they didn’t seem offended at all. “Sorry, I tend to get ahead of myself, and I forget that not everyone knows what I Know.” They stood up, looking around the campsite. “Could I trouble you forsomething to eat? I’ve been sitting here for a while, and I’m starving. I’d be happy to explain what I can then.”
“Sure,” Ena said, looking at Turner, who went to fetch some provisions from his pack. He came back with some jerky and a hunk of cheese, handing it to Mel, who began to devour it immediately, as if they were afraid it would disappear.
“What I Know,” Mel began, talking around the food in their mouth. “From what Gaia has shown me, is that the Auster witch, the brown-haired one, didn’t trust the female daemon after she seduced the witch’s husband with her Power, or so the Auster witch said. The daemon did have the Power ofcupido,so who’s to say if she actually used it on the man or not, but tensions were already high between witches and daemons, for many reasons, as you know, or maybe you don’t, but that’s a whole other story,” Mel said, waving that idea off. “Anyway, it was the perceived personal slight that pushed the Auster witch to create the spell and convince the other two matriarchs to help her. That I know for sure.”
Ena tried to keep up as Mel was talking, and parts of what they said still confused her, but a lot of it suddenly made sense.
