Page 76 of Death Card

Gazannol’s smile slips away, quickly replaced with a mask of indifference.

My body trembles as my mind struggles to reconcile Gazannol’s sudden revelation. I was wrong. The Hightowers aren’t responsible.

“Don’t show fear,” Aria mutters under her breath. “We need to wait it out until it loses interest in us.”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, girl,” Gazannol growls, then turns back to me. “I’ll have my hands on you soon.” Its sneer is suddenly replaced with a smile. “Your brother and your beloved will have to satisfy me for now.”

“What? No!” I rip my arm from Aria’s grasp and stagger toward the demon. “What have you done with them?” Somehowthe demon has Orion and Joelle. They both could be dead already.

No!

I would feel Orion’s death. I know I would. The invisible thread tethering us together would snap, leaving me bereft in his absence. At the least, that thought is the only thing keeping me from losing my sanity completely.

Gazannol creeps to the edge of the circle. “You seem sad, witch. Open this circle and I can cure everything that ails you.”

Over my dead body. Rage flares in my gut. “That’s not going to work on me,” I shout. “Who summoned you and why are you helping them?”

It grins. “Certainly not out of the kindness of my heart.”

“If you even have a heart,” I retort. “What’s in it for you?”

I’m not even sure what a mortal would have to offer.

Gazannol bends over in an exaggerated bow. “I am but a simple creature who desires the same as everyone else.” It ticks off a list on its spindly fingers. “Joy. Power.Life.”

Through gritted teeth, I demand, “Where is my brother?”

With a tilt of its head, it reaches out a hand to the circle and comes up against an invisible wall. It’s only a temporary setback. It shakes its head as a gleam appears in its pupilless eyes. “I wonder, girl, if you truly want to know the answer to that question,” Gazannol muses. “If finding your brother would cost you your very own life, would you still search for him?”

I don’t need to think about the answer to that question. “Yes,” I say. I would climb mountains to find Orion. I’d search every inch of land and sea on Earth to save him. We may bicker andget under each other’s skin, but he’s my brother. I know without a doubt he’d do the same for me.

And if I find Orion, I’ll find Joelle. She doesn’t deserve to die. Losing her only daughter would break her mother, and I would never forgive myself. Despite everything, I’ll go to her—on the one night I should stay far, far away.

The demon shifts its gaze to Aria. “Write down these coordinates. I won’t repeat them.”

Her phone is already in her hand. She types out the string of numbers that Gazannol lists into her Notes app.

When it finishes, it turns its back on us. “You’ve written the ending to your story. Hold fast; your destiny awaits.” With that, another flash of light blinds me. When I open my eyes, the circle is empty and Gazannol is gone.

34

My knees buckleas the weight of Gazannol’s words hit me. Aria’s there to catch me, despite everything I’ve put her through tonight.

“I—I thought you were behind it all,” I stammer. “I was so sure.”

I took a psychology elective in school and read about a phenomenon called confirmation bias in my textbook. People have a tendency at times to interpret information in a way that supports their existing theory. All the Elders were so sure that the Hightowers were nothing but trouble, so I searched for clues that would confirm their suspicions.

When all along, mortals were the ones who’d declared war on our coven.

Aria hoists me to my feet. “You didn’t know.” For the first time, there’s a warmth in her eyes. “But the people responsible are still out there.”

And they have Orion and Joelle.

I grab my phone and dial Orion’s number. It rings and rings. When I call Joelle, the line goes straight to voicemail. I text them both, but I already know they won’t—or can’t—respond.

“I don’t even know who it could be…” I trail off as Mike Dupree’s lapel pin comes roaring to the forefront of my mind.

“Aria, does your family’s crest look like this?” I pull up the photo of my drawing and describe what I saw in my scrying mirror.