Mymouth dropped open as I ran my hand over my flat belly. “What? It’s too earlyto tell,” I told her, but I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. Holy shit.Excitement mixed with fear bubbled up inside of me.
Gretchenraised one eyebrow. “Not for me. I always know.”
Sylviacame over and gave me a hug. “Good for you, dear.”
Myhand still rested on my flat belly. Suddenly, my wolf felt very protective. Wow.It was happening. I needed to get rid of Layla and Prudence fast, so I couldfocus on becoming a mother and starting a family with Kai.
Ilooked at Gretchen. “I have an open mind. What’s your idea?”
Gretchennodded. “You’re a powerful seer. That means not only can you see the future,but you can see beyond the veil. We put you in a trance and you contact thedead spirit of Gloria so she can give you Prudence’s full name.”
Genius!But Sylvia looked worried, shaking her head no. The other witches were tossingsalt and praying and acting all kinds of scared.
“Gloriadied a gruesome death, she was betrayed. I don’t think contacting her spiritwill be a good idea,” Sylvia told the room and a few witches agreed with her.
“No,it’s a good idea. I’ll be fine,” I told them all sternly. I knew my eyes wereyellow. I needed the upper hand with Prudence and this was the only way to getit.
Sylvialooked to the other coven members, unsaid words passed between them. They allnodded. “Fine, but invite your shaman. He can help protect the open portal tothe spirit world,” Sylvia told me with once flick of her slender hand.
Nahuel.I nodded and walked outside. Reaching into my shirt, I produced the protectivepouch that Nahuel had given me. I buried the arrowhead into the earth andwaited. A little while later, Nahuel walked out of the woods. He never ceasedto amaze me and I wondered if there were limits to his power. So far, I hadseen him stop time, change into a panther, and materialize out of nowhere. Whatmore was there, I wondered.
“Thismountain has seen a lot of death lately. It needs to be cleansed,” he saidcryptically. His smooth, graceful walk reminded me of his panther form. Hair ina long, thick braid, jewelry littering his fingers, Nahuel looked his usualshaman self.
Ismiled. “Hey, it’s good to see you.”
Henodded and peered at me with kind eyes. “I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”
Ishrugged. “Sorry. I need your help now, though. The witches and I want tocontact a spirit.” I chewed my nail nervously, not sure what he would think ofmy statement.
Nahuelnodded calmly as if this were a normal request. He pulled out a dried sagebundle and touched his palm to it, igniting it with flames. Oh yeah, addmaterialize fire out of nowhere to his list of amazing acts. After blowing onit, he fanned me with smoke.
Thenhe scanned my face seriously. “You seem different.”
Igrinned. “I think I’m pregnant.”
Hiscalm façade broke and he lit up with a smile and brushed ash across myforehead. “That’s wonderful but that’s not what I meant. Your eyes are greennot blue, the black chunk in your hair. I think you’re letting the Devi takecontrol.”
Hiswords sent fear rippling through me. I touched my cheeks with a shaky hand. My eyeswere green? I had forgotten about the chunk of black hair. Oh, shit. “Maybethat’s a good thing?” I offered. Maybe the Devi needed to take control so Icould kill Layla once and for all. Yeah.
Nahuelshrugged. “Maybe.” He didn’t sound so sure.
Idecided to focus on the spirit séance and ignore this new revelation, so Iturned and led him into the barn without another word.
Sittingin a meditative pose, I took a deep breath and stared at Nahuel sitting acrossfrom me. We were in a circle surrounded by the witches. My eyes were half-liddedas I deeply breathed in and out. The witches chanted around me and mist leakedfrom the walls and saturated all of us.
“GloriaSinclair! We call thee from beyond,” Sylvia shouted as the temperature in thebarn dropped and mist crawled along the floor and up the walls.
Nahuellooked behind my left shoulder. “Her spirit his heavy,” he said calmly.
Shit,how often was Nahuel chatting with dead people? This didn’t look like his firstrodeo. I tried not to freak out but having someone look over your shoulder at a‘heavy’ spirit was a frightening feeling.
Islowly turned to see a wispy, white ghost glide towards me. Her hair was longand flowing, her face looked haunted. “How could she!” she screamed at me andwhooshed in front of my face, bringing the freezing cold with her and sendinggoose bumps up my arms. My breath caught in my throat.
Nahuelclapped hard and Gloria jerked back, looking at him. “Don’t touch her,” Nahueltold the spirit.
Gloriasobbed. “I can’t believe she killed me. My own student!”
Ilooked at Sylvia and the other witches, but it didn’t seem like they could seeher. Just me, Nahuel, and one other witch, Bonnie, a seer. Bonnie met my eyesand nodded. Here goes nothing.
