“‘Are you lost?’” Rowena said.
Braeden’s eyes widened in surprise; for a moment he almost believed her. But then he remembered who he was dealing with and became distrustful and angry again.
“It’s a trick,” he said. “I’ll do another. The second time I saw Serafina, I came upon Mr. Crankshod shaking the living daylights out of her. What did we pretend she was?”
Serafina smiled. This one was easy. “A shoeshine girl.”
“We pretended I was the shoeshine girl,” Rowena said, not just repeating Serafina’s words, but taking on the exact sound of her voice, allowing Serafina’s spirit to speak through her.
Hearing Serafina’s voice, Braeden gazed around the room in shocked amazement.
“Serafina is in this room at this very moment,” Rowena said to him softly in her own voice. “She arranged those letters in the ash. She’s asking you to trust me.”
“But how are you able to do this?” Braeden asked.
“A wise man once said, That which does not destroy us makes us stronger.”
“I don’t understand,” Braeden said.
“After you and the two cats struck me down during the battle for the Twisted Staff, it took time, but I came back, and I was stronger than ever. I’m not just a sorceress now, I’m a necromancer.”
“What is that?”
“I can sometimes speak to the spirits of the dead and the in-between.”
Braeden stared at her in dread, clearly not sure if he should believe her. “I want to do another test,” he said. This time he spoke to the room, like people do when they speak to ghosts at a séance. “Serafina…If you’re here…I once gave you a gift, long and red…”
Serafina thought back.
A gift, long and red…
What had he given her?
“The red dress!” Serafina said excitedly, and Rowena repeated it in her voice.
“This is amazing…” Braeden said, spellbound by the sound of Serafina’s voice. “And when was the first time you wore it?”
“I used it to trap the Man in the Black Cloak,” Serafina said, and Rowena repeated the words with haunting emotion. “The morning I brought the children back home, I was standing at the forest’s edge, with Gidean on one side and my mother in lion form on the other. I saw you up on your horse as you gathered a search party to look for me.”
“And you looked so fierce and beautiful standing there at the edge of the forest in your torn dress…” Braeden remembered.
Hearing her friend’s words, and feeling the ache of his heart in her own, Serafina began to cry.
“Oh, please. You’re not beautiful, you’re a cat!” Rowena snapped. “He likes cats. That’s all it is! Now do get hold of yourself or this whole thing isn’t going to work!”
Serafina wiped her eyes and toughened herself, knowing that Rowena was right.
“Look,” Serafina said to Rowena sharply. “If I ask Braeden to give you the Black Cloak, what are you going to do with it? What is your plan?”
“You may be fast with your claws, but you sure are slow with the rest of it,” Rowena said in a scathing tone. “Have you been following along at all?”
“Braeden, it is truly me,” Serafina said, her voice as steady and serious as she could make it, and Rowena repeated the words in the exact same way.
“But where are you, Serafina?” Braeden asked.
“My body is in the grave where you buried me, but my spirit is here with you. I’ve been with you for these past few nights.”
“I thought I could feel you,” Braeden said, his voice quivering with recognition.
“You were sitting on the bench on the Library Terrace.”
“That’s right!” he said, nodding. “That’s when it started.”
“But I have to tell you, my time is short, a night or two at most, so we have to hurry.”
“A night or two before what?” Braeden asked.
Serafina didn’t want to answer or even think about his question, so she pressed on the best she could. “Uriah is alive and he wants to kill you. That much is true and certain, but Rowena says she’s going to help us.”
“But how?” Braeden asked.
“We need the cloak,” Serafina said.
“But, Serafina…” Braeden begged her. “It’s a horrible thing. It’s too dangerous! We can’t—”
“I know,” Serafina said, remembering not just the cloak’s sinister powers, but the terrifying fragments of darkness that shot from the folds of the torn fabric.
“What is Rowena going to do with the cloak?” Braeden asked.
Serafina shifted her attention back to Rowena.
“Your move, sorceress,” she said. “Before we give you the cloak, tell us what you’re going to do with it.”
“There are no words to describe what I plan to do, and if I tried to explain it, it would only frighten you,” Rowena said.
“Frighten us?” Braeden and Serafina said in alarm at the same time.
“Which of us?” Serafina asked.
“Both,” Rowena said. “I cannot explain it in words. I will show you in person. I give you my word that I will not hurt either of you.” Here she looked at Braeden. “If you wish, the cloak will never be out of your sight or possession. And I will show you what I’m doing for as long as you wish to watch. But I warn you: you’ll not want to watch.”
“You’re speaking in riddles,” Braeden said, staring at her in suspicion and confusion.
“No, I’m speaking as clearly as I can, but the only way for you to understand is to see it.”
As she fixed her eyes on Rowena, Serafina tried to think it through. What was the sorceress up to? If she wanted to attack Braeden, she could have already done it. Serafina wished she had some other path she could follow, but she couldn’t see it.
“We’re going to have to trust her, Braeden,” Serafina said, and Rowena repeated the words in Serafina’s voice.
“So if we do this,” Braeden said, “when are we going to do it?”
“We can’t do it here, not right now,” Serafina said, and Rowena repeated it. “We’ve been in this room too long. Your aunt and uncle are going to be wondering where you are and come looking for you. You need to get back to the ball, at least for a little while.”
Braeden nodded, knowing she was right. “But when will we be back together again?” he asked, clearly alarmed at the idea of separating from her.
“We’ll meet tonight, very soon,” Serafina said. “Did you put the cloak back where it was?”
“No,” Braeden said. “I moved it to a different spot.”
“Good,” she said. “To be safe, don’t tell Rowena or me where it is. After the ball tonight, when the clock chimes half past one, go collect it and bring it to the place where the three friends once stood beside the stone hunter. Do you know the place I mean?”
“I know it,” Braeden said, nodding his head. “Are you sure about this, Serafina?”
“No I am not, but it seems like it’s our only path. Be careful.”
“And you be careful, too,” he said.