“I’m respecting her wishes,” I said, a defensive tone to my voice.
“That’s a first.”
I remembered snooping around in Graciela’s things, which was how I’d found out more than I should have about my father. “I was just a child, after all.”
“A nosy child.”
“You’re right,” I said with a laugh. “A nosy child. I guess I still am, in lots of ways. I seem to stick my nose in all sorts of things around these parts—that’s certain.”
I looked up from the Tupperware container I wasclosing to see Graciela—clad in a silver bugle-beaded jacket much too large for her—standing and gazing at the map behind the register, where the red thread now displayed Deliverance Corydon’s entire sigil.
“So you and the coven deliberately made Deliverance Corydon’s sign?” I asked as I joined her.
She let out a sigh, and nodded. “Yes, we cast at each point to rally her strength for you—you needed it. You now have two guiding spirits,m’ija. And they are at war. It will not be easy.”
“I don’t understand. Two spirits? That sounds bad.”
“It is not all bad. There is great strength in the negative, as you know. You are on track to become very powerful now,m’ija. More than before, much more. But you must fight to maintain control. Otherwise, one spirit will win out over the other.”
“Is that why the Ashen Witch didn’t come to me the last time I brewed?”
“She didn’t?” Graciela looked surprised, and it scared me to see worry in her eyes. But then she chuckled ruefully and patted me on the shoulder. “I guess we’ll have to work on that. She hasn’t abandoned you. Don’t worry. But she might need to be invited back.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“I know you will,m’ija. You have always been brave. To the point of foolishness.”
“So you’ve told me.”
“You must take precautions. But there is no denying what you are, so you must deal with it, embrace it, learn to best use it while maintaining balance and control. That’s the way life is. You must work on your training; you cannot keep running away from that. But we are here now,m’ija. We will help you figure this out.”
“Thank the heavens for that,” I said. “So, does this have to do with the prophecy?”
“What prophecy?”
“Aidan told me there was a prophecy about me, that my father knew about it. And... a demon knew about it, too.”
Now in addition to the worry in her eyes, I saw pain. She turned away.
“Graciela? Is it true?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I know there’s a prophecy, but it had to do with your father, not you specifically.”
“But through him, me, right?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Graciela, you aren’t making any sense. Please don’t talk in riddles.”
“I was going to wait to tell you this, but I guess there’s no point. The truth is, the prophecy referred to your father’s child.”
“Right. But I’m an only child.”
Graciela held my gaze for a long moment.
