Page 16 of Vampire So Vengeful

“Who is this woman?” Eve interrupted. “Why are we performing for her?”

“An interested party, dear,” Amelia replied, though it was obvious Eve had been addressing Zara. “We are all sister witches in the pursuit ofWiccan arts, yes?”

“A coven is a trusted, intimate gathering,” Eve replied, her tone sharper than Cally usually heard from her.

Cally knew Eve’s defensiveness was because she was protecting her, but Amelia might be able to offer knowledge and insights that Zara certainly wouldn’t have. If she was going to learn more of her magic, she’d need all the help she could get. “I think sharing a small spell would be all right,” she suggested delicately.

Zara glanced at Cally in surprise, as if not expecting support from her. Eve pressed her lips together, then begrudgingly nodded. Lily looked cynical; Priya, puzzled.

“Good. Then pins, please, ladies?” Zara prompted again. “And I think we should go with the obsidian.”

Cally hadn’t brought a pin. She’d been expecting to talk tonight, to tell the coven the truth of her magic and her vampire bond, but that went out the window with the arrival of their new guest. She cast a helpless look toward Eve, but her friend was already passing over a spare needle.

They rummaged in their bags for their stones and pricked their fingers dutifully, and Cally wiped a trace of her blood on the smooth hunk of obsidian that Eve had produced for her. Had they ever made obsidian glow? Cally couldn’t remember. She had always thought she was the only one who noticed the stones lighting up, for no one else had ever mentioned it, but clearly Zara had seen it too.

“We can’t just make them glow,” Eve muttered. “We need something on which to focus.”

“How about a chant?” Zara suggested. “Lily, you wrote one, right?”

Cally didn’t know what that was, but she dutifully held her obsidian toward the center of the circle, where it clinked against Priya’s on her left, and Lily’s on her right.

“Yes, I think I can remember it. Um…” Lily closed her eyes, and the coven all followed suit. Before Cally’s eyes shut, she caught a glimpse of Amelia watching with a bored expression.

“Clear my mind, focused and bright,” Lily recited. “Free of clutter, sharp as light. Now I center, calm and still; focus steady, strong of will.”

It was a simple enough refrain, and as Lily repeated it, the others joined in.

Cally concentrated on the feel of the cool obsidian she held, listening to the voices of the coven around her, and feeling the mild ache where she’d pricked her finger. Amelia wouldn’t be nearly as forthcoming if they couldn’t make the obsidian glow, and Cally knew that was all on her. She pushed her single-minded purpose into the stone she held as she chanted Lily’s rhyme, and it certainly felt like her mind was clear and focused.

Until a loud gasp from Amelia broke her concentration.

Cally opened her eyes, shooting her a look in surprise, and caught the obsidian’s glow fading away. The stones had never shone so brightly.

Amelia had her phone out, apparently taking photos, then she tapped a rapid message. “Very interesting. I’ll have that cup of tea now, dear,” she told Zara.

“I didn’t know we could make the crystals glow,” Priya said, her voice quiet.

“Neither did I,” Lily murmured in awe. She narrowed her eyes at Zara. “How long have you known?”

“Oh, a while,” Zara said airily as she rose in pursuit of tea for Amelia. “The occult forces have always been strong around me.”

“Which one of you had the vision?” Amelia asked, leaning forward. Her bored expression had shifted to a sharp intensity that Cally found unsettling.

“I did,” she replied quietly.

Amelia’s appraising gaze snapped to her. “And when did the stones first glow?”

Zara answered from the kitchen. “They’ve been glowing for a few weeks now.”

“They have?” Lily muttered.

“What else has happened?” Amelia pressed.

“Cally made the planchette move on the Ouija board without touching it,” Priya added with enthusiasm.

“We cast a revenge spell on my ex and he broke his leg,” Lily said, not to be outdone. She looked smugly satisfied.

“Did you now?” Amelia’s lips twitched. “When was that?”