Page 37 of Death Card

His mouth gapes open. “Holy shit. This doesn’t seem real.”

“This is as real as it can get,” Gramps says. “The Hightowers practice a brand of dark magic that most witches won’t touch. But if they’ve progressed to summoning, then we’ve got a serious problem on our hands.”

“I think what we’re dealing withnowis pretty serious,” I retort. I tug on my braids and groan. “I can’t believe you kept this from us!”

Gramps’s eyes harden. “I’m telling you now.”

“Demons can be banished, though, right?” Orion asks. “Can we just use magic to take them out?”

“Magic is useless against a demon, boy. They will devour any-and everything they touch. If they are let loose in the world, they will have free rein to destroy everything we hold dear.” Gramps holds my gaze. “Your grandmother made the decision to keep the younger generation in the dark. She felt it was the best way to keep temptation at bay.”

Even after what I said to Orion about questioning Gran, it still hurts to realize that she really wasn’t perfect. I don’t doubt that she did what she felt she had to, but keeping that knowledge from us feels like a massive mistake. Our coven is woefully unprepared to deal with demons. I don’t know anything about them other than how they’ve been presented in TV and movies.

Should I be searching for pentagrams and upside-down crosses? And if I came face-to-face with one, how would I even banish it if my magic is useless against it?

“What do we do now, Gramps?”

His lips thin. “Find the smoking gun, my girl. Then we attack.”

16

After the demonbombshell dropped at breakfast, I go for a walk to clear my head and get some fresh air. My phone dings with a text message from Joelle.

Joelle:

Is it later yet?

Mikaela:

???

Joelle:

Look how short your memory is ; )

Didn’t we say we would see each other later?

I know this girl isn’t trying to flirt with me. What sort of murderer hits on their victims first? Sadistic ones, that’s who.

Mikaela:

I’m not working tomorrow.

Sorry.

Joelle:

Oh, what a coincidence: I’m not working either.

Do you want to grab lunch?

I pause. As much as I’d rather wallow in my feelings about the massive weight on my shoulders, the clock is ticking. It’s already been a week. The full moon will be here before I know it.

Mikaela:

I know a place. What time are you free?

The address Joellesends me leads to a shotgun house just a few minutes’ drive from Tulane and Audubon Park. It’s a duplex with two identical moss-green doors complete with stained-glass windows.