I shook my head, finishing the sandwich.“I don’t think so either.Detective Hernández visited me this morning.One of the addresses we located as a possibility for Cal’s lair was a normal house in a suburban neighborhood.Orla, my owl shifter friend, said she felt dark magic there.I gave the address to Hernández to check.It’s owned by Catherine Swan, but her grandchildren Milo and Milena live there.”
“Isn’t Milo Swan the one who poisoned your food?”Faith asked.
“That’s the one,” I replied.
“Does that mean they’re brewing a new curse?”she asked.
“Most likely.”I put my plate down.“Did anyone else hear whimpering in the vision?”
Mom sat forward again, her posture perfect.“This ties into the last part of the vision.I’m working on getting us reinstated into the Wicches’ Council.We need them to know about and censure the Swans.It can’t be us.We’re not the wicche police.”
I snorted a laugh.“We have no credibility when it comes to doing no harm in the craft.”
“Precisely,” Mom responded.“The Wicches’ Council needs to be made aware.You saw the three of us entering a meeting room.That means I’m going to get through to one of the Council members.”She gave a decisive nod.“Good.”
My hearing was better than most wicches, thanks to Dad’s fae DNA, so I heard the car pull into the courtyard out front.I checked the time on my phone.“Oh, you got them scared, Mom.They made it here in twenty-three minutes.”
Mom stood, waving her hand and making the food disappear.“Game faces, children.”She walked to the door and opened it as Uncle Joe raised his hand to knock.
I stepped around the coffee table and motioned for Faith to stand beside me, effectively blocking off the seating area.This wasn’t a social call.We were a wall of disapproval at Mom’s back.
“Joe.Colin.Come in,” she said.
Joe looked wary but didn’t seem to grasp why they’d been summoned.Colin gave me a shitty smirk before he remembered himself and my place on the Council.
“Sybil, what’s going on?”Uncle Joe looked between Mom, Faith, and me.He gestured to Faith.“Why is she here?”
“Shehas a name,” Mom said, her voice cold as ice.“I believe you know your niece’s name.”
“Sure.Faith.”He nodded at her, then turned back to Mom.“What’s going on?You said it was a Council meeting and we had to appear.”
“That’s right.The Council—myself, Arwyn, and Faith—are meeting and your son is the first order of business.”
Brow furrowed, Joe seemed to be having a hard time processing all of that.“Wait.Since when is Faith on the Council?She’s a teenager and she doesn’t have that kind of power.”There it was.His arrogance had battled and subdued his fear.
Mom gave a little headshake that said she was indulging an emotional little brother.“Faith?”
Faith’s hand lifted toward the window.The sky went dark.Sheets of rain began lashing the glass as thunder shook the room.Both men’s eyes went wide.When she dropped her hand, the rain stopped and the dark clouds dissipated, leaving only a wet patio and droplets racing down the glass.
“An elemental?”Joe whispered.“Why weren’t we told we had an elemental?”
“I believe you both remember how my daughter was treated as a child.Right, Colin?”When he didn’t respond, Mom continued.“Elizabeth and Robert decided to do a better job of protecting their children than I did by keeping their gifts quiet.”
“Is Frank an elemental too?”Colin asked.
Faith shook her head but didn’t elaborate.We were remaining silent and allowing Mom to control this summons.
“This is between Colin and the Council,” Mom told her brother.“I invited you here, Joe, as a courtesy.”
He looked like he was thinking about arguing but he waited, still cautious.
Mom pinned Colin with a look that would have had me backing up.“You are a disgrace to the Corey name.You use the gifts the Goddess has blessed you with to cloud women’s minds and rape them.”
Colin shook his head.“I’ve never raped anyone.”
Uncle Joe jolted, like he was going to defend his son, but the petulant, guilty look on Colin’s face stopped him.His eyes closed as he turned away from his son.
“Are you under the impression that if they don’t fight you, it’s not rape?”Mom asked, her words sharp and cold.“But you take care of that, don’t you, Colin?You spell them to go blank, to go along.You use the magic we have been blessed with to assault women.”
