"I think we're ready, as soon as we get our bit of Raphael," she said. "Come on." Mary gathered up the ingredients and walked into her kitchen, leaving the doorway to the magic room behind her. "We'll start warming the oil."
I watched in surprise as she turned on the gas stove eye. "On the stove?"
She chuckled. "Magic doesn't have to be mysterious and otherworldly. We're going to cook up this spell like we will cook up some gumbo for supper later."
She hummed as she stirred the oil in a pot with a plastic ladle. Just like she would soup. This was a side of magic I'd certainly never seen before. I kind of liked it, though.
"Hello?" Gabe called from the magic room.
"In here," I replied.
He walked in holding a strand of dark hair. "I got this from Raphael's pillow in Heaven."
I grinned. "Let me delve into it."
Gabe handed over the strand, and I focused on it. "No, it's too old. I can't get anything off of it."
Mary nodded. "That's okay. It'll work for the spell."
"I never knew Raphael to take anyone to his bed in Heaven," Michael said. "We were close for a long time. I never even heard a rumor of it. It's likely his hair."
"Well, hand it over. And Lucifer, if you're taking the power, come here."
He walked closer. "The last time I let you handle a spell for me, I nearly died."
She chuckled and patted him on the arm as she continued to stir with her other hand. "This one isn't a brand-new, untested spell. You'll be fine."
"He has no power to charge the spell with," I said. "Can I do it and transfer the power to him as it hits me?"
She furrowed her brow. "I don't see any other way we can do it," she said. "But if you all can link up, just in case it doesn't transfer over to him, that way you can absorb it together and not have one of you dead on my floor from power overload. Raphael may have Lucifer's power, too, and when you take his, you may get your own back in the process."
Luc's eyes lit up. "We can hope."
"Here we go, then." Mary dropped the hair in the skillet. "Lilith, give it some magic and ask it to search for Raphael."
She slapped her cheek. "I forgot the rainwater. Hang on, it rained yesterday." She handed the spoon to Lucifer. "Go ahead with the magic," she said.
I trickled magic into the oil and hair and waited until Mary ran back in with a leaf. A bit of rainwater was collected in the large piece of greenery. She poured it into the pan and the power of the spell took hold. It would've been difficult for me to have broken the connection, though I thought it would've been possible. Just hard.
The drain on my energy began. "Add the mugwort," I whispered.
Mary nodded and added the rest of the ingredients, and the spell took a stronghold.
"Now," she said. "I'll do the incantation, and you repeat it. As the power leaves Raphael and enters you three, you direct it to Lucifer. Lucifer, you must breathe in the smoke from this smudge stick."
He took it and held it close, already breathing it in for good measure.
Mary smiled. "Everyone ready?"
We nodded as one and she began. "Est in potentia moveri. Et quod corrumpere exercitum. Affer mihi magicae, ubi usus agam respectu boni."
Roughly translated, it meant, "The power must move. The host is corrupt. Bring the magic to me here, where I may treat it with respect and use it for good."
I hoped we'd use it for good, anyway.
When we'd repeated the words three times, the hair erupted in flames, and instead of feeling a pull on my magic, it began to flood into me. I directed it toward Luc, but I already knew something was wrong.
It didn't feel like Raphael. It felt feminine.
