“Unsurprisingly, yes. I don’t know how actively, though.I have no way to contact him and…” An anxious thought occurs to me. “We don’t need him present for the spell, do we?”
“I don’t think so.”
Good. I wring my hands together, lowering my voice even more. “When can we do this?”
Matthias matches my volume. “I’m down for tonight, if you are.”
I agree. “Let’s bring him back.”
kit
. . .
One Day Ago
The street cornerwhere I stood was dimly lit. I shoved my hands in my pockets as I waited for Hallet in the quiet night.
I couldn’t stay away from Lacy, as hard as I tried. It wasn’t like I was standing outside her apartment all day and night watching, despite my desire to—I wasn’t trying to stalk her. She would not be cool with that. But I had to ensure her safety, make sure Balores hadn’t escaped. He may not have been able to possess her, but he could still harm her, so I visited her at work.
I didn’t approach her, but I heard her talking to Matthias. They didn’t realize I was there, otherwise they would not have advertised so loudly their plan to bring me back to life. I told her that spell she found wouldn’t work, but…but maybe it could. If she tried and it didn’t work, that would be okay. I told myself that over and over so I would believe it. Her failing may be the only thing to force both of us to give up on this outlandish, idealized plan. If anyone could do this for me, it would be her.
The one ingredient they were missing was the amber blood, their search so far coming up dry. That explained what they were doing at the Market. Once I saw Matthias, I assumed he had brought her along while he was looking for something for himself.
I felt such an extreme amount of hope and belief in Lacy that I knew I had to give it to her.
Hallet appeared before me on the street corner. With a simple nod of acknowledgement toward me, he handed over the item I requested—a mason jar of amber blood. “Your former host asked me for this as well. What is it for?”
I turned over the jar in my hands. “I can’t tell you that. I apologize.”
He accepted that answer with a shrug. Before he departed, he noted, “Garficious has been collecting this lately, so it was hard to come by.”
“I cannot even begin to express to you how much I do not want to know the specificities of what Garficious is up to.” I paid him with a cursed crystal.
I put the mason jar in an envelope I swiped from the store, picked the lock on Lacy’s mailbox, and shoved the package in there. I would have delivered it in person, but I needed to respect her wish not to see me.
As I closed the mailbox, I muttered, “This better work, baby.”
thirty-seven
. . .
Present Day
It’s nearing midnight,and I’m standing alone in a graveyard with my arms wrapped tightly around myself, shivering so hard I’m getting an ab workout. Matthias ran back to his car to grab a knife. We need my blood to make this work, which is creepy but whatever. I’ve never been a huge fan of blood—I hate getting my blood drawn. It’s not the worst thing, I guess. No sacrifices, human or bug.
Okay, I’m lying. I fuckinghateall of this, but I am willing to do whatever it takes for Kit. Once he’d said he would do anything for me. Well, I would do anything for him.
Matthias jogs back to me, waving the knife in the air like a maniac with a huge grin on his face. God, if anyone were to see us… Doesn’t matter. What we’re doing means I could get Kit, the Kit he is supposed to be andwantsto be, back. Tonight. For real.
I let Matthias get to work, let him take control since heknows what he’s doing and I very much do not. With his bare hand, he paints a circle of amber blood in the grass, layering a line of salt and sage over it, then draws a swirled symbol in the middle. He sets up black candles around the circle, and I take out my dad’s lighter to light them. Matthias sits outside of the circle and points inside.
“Lacy, get in the circle.”
I do as I’m told.
“Now, give me your hand.”
I crouch down to extend my hand. He holds the knife to my palm before I snatch it back, holding my hand protectively to my chest. “Do notcut my palm like they do on TV. Come on, do a spot that won’t hurt like a bitch for the next week.”
