Irina’s aunt—a witch—was one of those three sacrifices.
She was trying towarnus.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Father says, holding the finished lupine gas grenade out to me. “But I am sure of one thing. History repeats itself. So whatever happens, it’s going to be on the night of the Unity Dance.”
The six of us show up early to Heightened Senses. We have thirty minutes before class begins, so we’d better make this quick. Edith and I tell them everything. Turns out she already told Isaac and Tala about Emilía’s death, but they didn’t realize Idris’s death was also connected, or that one of them could be next.
“Wait,” Isaac interrupts. “Don’t tell me you thought it wasme?”
Edith winces. “Maybe for a while.”
“Sorry, Isaac.” Tala rubs her forehead. “I knew it would upset you, and you already felt so guilty about Emilía, so I never told you.”
“Damn,” Isaac says, shaking his head. “I wouldneverhave hurt Emilía.”
Edith is quick to jump in. “I know. I realized that during our primal therapy.”
“Primal therapy?” Val pauses cleaning under her fingernails with her knife.
“It’s a berserkr thing,” Tala says quickly.
“Hmm.” Val studies Tala for a moment before she returns to cleaning underneath her nails. “Sounds fun.”
I clear my throat. “Anyway, like I was saying.”
We finish filling them in on everything.
Once I’m done, Val is first to speak. “I still think there could be other seers we don’t know about.” She shrugs. “I’m not convinced Irina is the killer. But whoever it is, they’ll be at the Unity Dance. Everyone will be.”
“I agree with Valerie,” Tala says, twisting her dark hair. “We need a backup plan in case Irina isn’t the killer. All our families are going to be there. We can’t take any chances.”
Not Val,I think. Her family won’t be here.
If Val is upset, she doesn’t show it. Instead, she gently works the tip of her dagger under each nail, concentrating on her task. “Tala actually agreeing with me for once?” Val says, but her lips curl. “Consider me shocked. But the Unity Danceisour best bet to figure out who the killer is, once and for all.”
“I want in,” Isaac says. “I need to know who did that to Emilía.”
Kris is quick to respond. “I’ll help too.”
Edith blows out a long breath. “How do we identify them? We have no idea who else could be a seer.”
“Wait,” Kris says. “You said they need Egill’s pelt, right? One of us might be able to smell it on whoever stole the pelt, even after they removed it.”
I nod. “Edith and I haven’t had any luck so far.”
“No offense to Edith,” Isaac cuts in, “but she hasn’t even transformed yet. Her sense of smell isn’t as heightened as ours, and neither is yours, for that matter. Tala, Kris, or I would be able to recognize it.”
“It could be worth a try,” I admit.
Tala frowns. “There’s only one problem. We aren’t familiar with the pelt’s scent.”
“I can take you to where Egill’s pelt was kept before it was stolen,” Val says, glancing up from her knife. “That should be enough for you to scent it, right? Because your senses aresomuch better than ours?”
Tala smirks. “Of course.”
Val’s eyes spark with challenge. “Then I guess we’ll have to work together,” she says slowly, but it doesn’t sound like she hates the idea of teaming up with Tala one bit. “If the killer is someone else, we can capture them at the dance before they hurt anyone.”
“The dance is tomorrow night,” I tell them. “We need to be prepared for anything.”
