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And the lesson I’d been taught thus far was that witches could not be trusted.

“Would you be willing to test a theory out?” I asked, hatching a plan.

Excitement flashed in her eyes. “Does it require blood?” I nodded, and her grin widened as she removed a slim dagger she’d hidden under her skirts. Sometimes I forgot that her sin aligned with wrath and that bloodshed made her soul sing. “Who am I making an offering to?”

“The goddess of fury.”

Bless her willingness to help, Fauna didn’t hesitate, she pricked her finger and squeezed a few drops of blood over a candle, the sacrifice steaming in the flickering flame. “I bid the goddess of fury to come forth.”

We sat there silently, both tensed as I waited to feel any indication that magic was at hand. Any magical tug or pull to heed someone’s call. Fauna’s brow creased as she looked me over. “Anything?”

I closed my eyes for a second and tried to manifestsomething. “No.”

She added another drop of blood and repeated her prayer. I closed my eyes, concentrating hard for another minute. Then two. There was still no inner urge to go to her, to do her bidding. I felt as I always did. Just as I’d suspected. I thought of my mother, the Crone, being summoned by any creature or being who spilled blood and commanded her to their side. It was laughable. Blood was used to summon a demon, but only in conjunction with several other items. Most of which were specific to each demon prince along with a specific spell.

“Maybe it’s because you’re not fully restored.” Fauna sounded unsure. “Or maybe the sacrifice wasn’t large enough.”

I shook my head. “Before you start sacrificing anything larger, I’d like to test it out on my sister. She is fully restored and should heed the call if the magic of a blood sacrifice does, indeed, work for a goddess.”

Fauna’s brows raised nearly to her hairline. “If his majesty finds out—”

“I’ll take full responsibility. Please,” I added when she hesitated, “try.”

“I hope we both don’t live to regret this.” She inhaled deeply and pressed her blade into another fingertip. “I pray to the goddess of death to come forth.”

Tension crept into the chamber, making the air feel suddenly colder. The shadows cast by the candles and lanterns even seemed to flicker more menacingly. Death could be lurking, but it could simply be my imagination willing it. We both waited, breath held, for something to happen. A strained moment passed, followed by another. There was no Vittoria. And thankfully no Wrath coming to break up our goddess-summoning test.

I exhaled. “I’ll try with my blood.”

With my own dagger, I pricked my finger. Instead of allowing a drop to fall into the flames, I stood and held my hand over the skull. “I bid the goddess of death to come forth.”

Part of me believed the wind gusted outside a bit harder, that the elements reacted in some monumental way to the magical request, but I knew deep down nothing had changed. Even with my half-goddess blood, it wasn’t enough to summon a full deity. Which meant the witches either knew that and had purposely misled their enemies, or they’d been misled themselves.

“I need to get to the Shadow Realm.” I turned back to where Fauna still perched on the edge of her stool. “I’m going to ask my sister what she knows about spells cast with blood.”

And then I’d find a way to cast another truth spell on her and see what other secrets she’d been keeping. Mainly, if she happened to know where a certain commander had gone.

It took more time than I’d like to have spent searching through grimoires—and Fauna even managed to persuade me to take a break to visit the Pit to see one of the fights—but eventually we came across an incantation to summon a werewolf. We gathered all the ingredients, then Fauna watched quietly as I set it up and began the summoning.

Within the salt circle, I sprinkled wolfsbane on the north, south, east, and west points before whispering the spell. Unlike when I’d summoned Wrath, the results of this circle were nearly instant.

Domenico appeared in a snarling blast of magic that almost knocked me backward. He whipped around, eyes blazing as he took in the tower chamber. The salt circle. My demon friend who gave him a taunting finger wave. And then he turned to me. His claws shot out.

“You’re going to regret this, Shadow Witch.”

“If I received a coin every time I heard that, Greed would have cause for alarm.”

“He already has plenty of cause to fearme.”

My cold gaze traveled over the shifter, similar to the way he’d looked me over earlier last night. It was hard to believe only a few short hours had passed since I’d last seen him. His shirt was missing, and his trousers were half-untied. Fine hair trailed into his pants, between sculpted abdominal muscles. Some scars that looked like claw marks marred otherwise unblemished olive-toned skin. His dark hair was rumpled either from sleep or some other bedtime activity he’d been engaged in. The idea of ruining his tryst gave me far too much petty enjoyment.

“I wish to speak with Vittoria.”

Domenico opened his mouth—likely to argue—then abruptly snapped it shut. He didn’t want to say yes, but he couldn’t refuse. Vittoria had clearly stated she wanted me to call on her.

“Fine.” His attention cut to Fauna. “She stays here.”

That suited me well enough. Fauna and I had already decided that she’d stand guard over my body while my spirit traveled to the Shadow Realm. I lifted a shoulder and dropped it, as if I’d considered his request. “Very well. Are you ready?”