I step into the circle. The colorfully-dressed women all gather and join hands around the circle, close their eyes, and begin to chant. Almost immediately, the offerings in the circle begin to burn. I pick up the lemon and watch as its yellow surface goes from red to black, disintegrating into ash.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
MINNIE
The sharp smellof peppermint pulls me from the darkness. When I open my eyes, everything is a blurry mess of brushstrokes. Despite the world being muddy, I make out the shape of a man with blond hair. My heart thumps once like a gong, and I sit up, gasping for air.
“Minnie–” Amber’s voice is in my ear, and I shut my eyes, wondering if this is a nightmare. “Lay back down. You're going to hurt yourself.”
Instead of listening to her, I open up my eyes again, blinking ‘til everything is clear. Lance is sitting on the edge of the bed, his thick eyebrows close together, his lips turned down in a frown. Amber rubs my shoulder, and I remember what happened. Glancing down, I confirm the handle of the knife is no longer sticking out of my shoulder.
“Girl, seriously,” Amber pleads. “Those stitches weren’t easy.”
I settle back into the bed, Amber and Lance now looming over me, both of their faces plastered with concern. “Do you remember anything?” Lance asks.
I remember everything; the le Fays, the devils, the whole getting stabbed in the neck thing. Well, not quite the neck, but close enough. Hurts bad enough, though. Lying here, my shoulder feels tight, like I’ve pulled every muscle in my right side.
“Do you have any eucalyptus?” I ask.
Amber’s expression softens, and she walks away, returning with several long dark green leaves. She presses them to my shoulder, and I can better feel the stitches. I listen to her incantation; it’s familiar to me, but I can’t for the life of me recite the words. The pain starts to fade, and I sit up again.
“Lance…” He perks up up when I say his name. “Did your Mom used to check in on me? When I was a kid?”
Again, his brows and lips fall. “No? No, I don't think so. She told me everything growing up. I meaneverything,and she never mentioned you. I didn’t even think she knew about you.”
“She’s a powerful diviner.”
“The sight is easy to ignore if you want to. I ignored it for the last decade.”
Amber cuts in. “You talked to his Mom? You spoke with the le Fays?”
“I did.” I glare at Lance. “If your mom wasn’t checking up on me, how did they find out I summoned a devil?”
“I don’t know–I mean, I know she checks up on me despite us being no contact for a decade...”
I blink, thinking about every time Lance and I have crossed paths this last year. He showed up at my house, caught me crying outside Lucky Witch, and then came to my apartment, where I told him who Rosier was. We stare at each other, but Lance doesn’t seem to get it.
“You visited my house six months ago,” I remind him. “Youtold me who my Father was.”
His hand covers his mouth, the revelation finally hitting him. It would be cruel to say he’s completely at fault but ignorant to say this wouldn’t have happened without him being so sentimental over an idea, over the little girl his Father abandoned.
Amber, intentionally or otherwise, cuts us off. “Which one stabbed you?”
“I could tell you,” Lance grumbles. “But since Minnie’s awake, why don’t you do the honors?”
“It was Guine, the Mom.” Lance shakes his head like I’ve just poured cold water on him, but I continue, “But Arthur was the one going after me. He pulled something from his pocket, but he never got a chance to use it. Then he chased me, along with all the other le Fays. We only escaped because–”
If I tell them, it’s going to be a fight. I don’t remember what happened to the devil I summoned, only that it followed Rosier’s command. Rosier’s never shown much interest in violence or harming innocent people, but I’m not sure it’s that simple.
“Minnie,” Amber has her mom-voice going. She places her hand over mine. “If you summoned a devil out of self-defense… maybe this can all work out.”
“Of course, I summoned it for self-defense.”
Lance mutters, “Looks like it didn’t get the memo.”
I call him out. “We don’t need to act shy. Did the devil kill Guine? Did it kill the le Fays?”
Amber shifts her body so she’s blocking Lance from view. “Is that what you told it to do?”
