Maggie sneezed. Her fingers casually brushed the powder from her hair. “That was bracing.”
Totally unfazed, the witch grabbed the kettle and stalked across the room to place it on a stand in the open fire. She stoked the flames with a poker, her wings tucked in behind her. She seemed completely at ease.
Faced with the failure of our plan, the ground beneath me felt like it was shifting—a sheet of ice weeping and cracking—and I found myself frozen. What the rutting hell did we do now? My instincts reared, and I sought the thread linking me to Frazer. Except there was nothing. An emptiness swooped in, hitching my breath.
Auntie was there, saying, Don’t panic. Her wards are putting a dampener on your connection. That’s all.
That’s all? Was she serious?
The total lack of him caused a lurching sensation around my midriff. Like I’d missed a step and stumbled down a flight of stairs.
“Serena, go,” Adrianna growled, moving in front of me.
I almost did.
Maggie straightened and brandished the poker at us, saying, “You have nothing to fear from me. And neither do your friends waiting outside. It might be best if you invited them in out of the fog. The swamp isn’t the best place for them to be after the sun sets.” She placed the fire iron aside and patted her long navy robes down, showering more dust over the floor. And I just stared. How? Had her gift really warned her of our arrival? I supposed that was the only thing it could be.
My back prickled.
Maggie’s brows slashed together as she glanced behind me. “I’d open that door if I were you.”
“Serena!” A distant call. It was Frazer, panicking.
Now Liora. “Serena? Adi?”
Adrianna moved toward the door, but I got there first.
I pulled on the handle and only just managed to move aside as Frazer burst in, his breathing frantic, his eyes wild. They fixed on me and he stilled. I sensed a mighty surge of relief and then a glittering rage on the other end of the thread, now that it had re-awakened. His quivering body promised destruction and violence as his focus shifted to Maggie.
Liora rushed through the entrance next and rambled, “Are you both okay? Frazer said he couldn’t sense you.”
I nodded numbly.
“We’re fine,” Adrianna said.
Cai was the last in. He slammed the door behind him and said in mock cheer, “Sorry, did we interrupt? You must be Maggie.” He gave her a cocky smile. “I’m Cai. That’s Liora,” he waved toward his sister, “and the fae growling at you is called Frazer.”
“Nice to meet you,” Maggie said. All calm and a tad amused. “And there really is no need for the hostilities. I’d just finished suggesting that they invited you in, too, when Frazer obviously noticed his kin bond with Serena had been smothered by my warding.”
“How do you know she’s my kin?” Frazer asked menacingly.
Maggie pointed to her silver eye, clearly irritated. “This isn’t for show.”
Frazer didn’t seem inclined to relax, so I went to squeeze the top of his arm. Just a touch to calm him. Haunted eyes flitted to me. I couldn’t feel you … I reached out. There was nothing there.
Those words wrapped a fist around my heart and squeezed.
That’s the second time this week. His eyes shuttered; he couldn’t even finish his thought. It was obvious what he’d meant. He’d thought my life had been at risk again.
I’m sorry …
As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters. Frazer sniffed the air. “You used the powder?”
A not-so-subtle change in subject.
“It didn’t work,” Cai said. It wasn’t a question; his attention had locked onto Maggie’s robes and the shimmering remnants of the ruby-gold dust that clung there.
Adrianna lifted an eyebrow. “You could say that.”
Liora was the one to ask the one-eyed witch, “D’you know why we’re here?”
Maggie regarded her for a moment before looking to Adrianna. “I don’t need my sight for that. Your mother—makena—has told me you’re training at Kasi.”
“What else did she tell you?” Adrianna retorted. That stress in her voice spoke volumes.
“Why is it so difficult for you to forgive her flaws, little Ana?” Maggie sighed.
Adrianna stood a little taller. A steel blade, rigid and unapologetic. “Because I find some flaws more difficult to accept than others.”
Maggie just stared. “Am I right to assume you’re in the middle of a trial?”
Adrianna gave her a little nod.
“What is it you want from me?”
Adrianna reminded me of a tower of ice. “A lock of your hair.”
Maggie didn’t look surprised. “I see. Well, you may have it, but only if you do something for me in return.”
Adrianna folded her arms and dropped a hip as if that could defuse the tension. “Can’t you consider it a favor to my mother?”
Maggie didn’t blink. She looked to the whistling kettle, dismissing Adrianna entirely. My mouth turned to sand as the witch puttered around. I watched, nerves firing adrenaline, as she used a towel to cover her hand and grab the pot handle. No one moved as she went to set it on the table in the center of the room along with six mugs, a caddy, a teapot, and a strainer.
As she was preparing and pouring, she finally gave an answer. “A lock of my hair in the wrong hands could do untold damage. I won’t give it lightly—not for just any favor. But, what I propose for payment is simple.” She stemmed the flow of tea into the last cup with a flourish. “I want to read the cards and the bones for you in return.”
Adrianna’s shoulders tightened. “Why in the seven seas would you want to read my fortune?”
A haughty eyebrow rose in challenge. “Who said anything about reading yours?” Maggie’s silver eye settled on me.
My stomach churned. Adrianna looked back at me startled and asked, “Why Serena’s?”
Maggie’s reply was to fix Cai, Liora, and Frazer with hard stares and say, “First, you three need to take your weapons and put them outside my door. That’s the rule in this house. Then, we’re all going to sit and help ourselves to some tea.”
Liora was the only one to obey immediately. Cai and Frazer shared a dark look, speaking of their shared alarm before following her outside.
Maggie sat at the head of the table, clasping her hands together, waiting. Once the others had returned and hung up their cloaks and bags, she gestured to the chairs and said, “Sit. I won’t bite.”
Adrianna inched toward the table. “No, but you might’ve poisoned the tea.”
Maggie took a very deliberate sip from her cup. She grimaced—the tea must’ve been scalding. “I’ve no reason to harm you.”
I chose the chair opposite the witch. Frazer and Cai slipped in on my left, while Adrianna planted herself on Maggie’s left and Liora joined her side.
Adrianna and Frazer bent over and sniffed delicately at the fumes rising from the cups, presumably checking for poison. The witch pursed her lips but said nothing.
I didn’t touch the tea. I was more interested in getting some answers. “So, why would you trade reading my future for your hair?”
Now both of the witch’s eyes fixed on me. I resisted the temptation to flinch, to show fear. I crossed my arms and braced them on the table. Leaning into her.
That got her saying, “Because eighteen years ago, I saw us meeting. Usually, my visions are fragmented, but this one came in as clear as glass. I saw Adrianna trying to dose me with the powder, and then heard myself offering you a reading in exchange for my hair.” She blew on her tea, thoughtful. And took a little sip. “I tried to see more—to riddle it out—but nothing worked …” She clucked her tongue and set her cup down to glare at us. “I really haven’t poisoned that tea, you know. It’s just rude not to drink it.”
Stunned and flustered, I raised the cup to my lips and breathed in chamomile. Frazer caught me drinking and scowled. But when I didn’t keel over, he consented to take a tiny sip of his own drink. The others did the same, probably just to be polite.