Page 43 of A Bond with the Dark

“Just mostly about her life up until this point. She’s been through a lot. Also, I went to Never again earlier and talked to a shaman. He found something about phoenixes in an old grimoire—I guess the last known one happened to be around the witch trial era. He mentioned a coven in Vegas that may know more about the warlocks and grimspawn, so I’m thinking of going there soon.” I’m intentionally alluding to my severe attraction to this woman.

“And what of her powers did you discover?” Even over the phone, my mom is hard as stone.

“Nothing yet. I’m the one who brought up that she’s a witch. She was almost embarrassed about it. But then I could tell her guard came down, and she opened up more.”

“So essentially, she’s a new witch.” My mom’s tone skates on the edge of boredom, telling me she is unenthused.

“Yes. Learning her power. Her main teacher just died, and her aunts aren’t local, so she’s having to teach herself.”

“And you think the prophecy has something to do with her powers?”

“I do.”

“What if I send you that bracelet, Dominic?” Scarlet asks, which is surprising because usually Scarlet would be all about the murder.

“What bracelet?”

“You know, the moonstone one Mom gave me when I came into my power? It will enhance Sayah’s powers.”

“Yeah, that may work. But how will you get it to me?”

“You brought your mirror with you, right?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll send it through the mirror.”

“And once she has the bracelet and has had a chance to harness her power, what then?”

“I gave you two weeks to figure this out, Dominic,” my mom chides. “If it isn’t resolved in that time, we’ll take matters into our own hands.”

“I’m going to need more time.”

“Dominic,” mom starts.

“Mom, just give me ’til the end of the month. It will take some time for me to help her with her powers and go to Vegas to talk to that coven.”

“What is that going to do, Dominic? What do you think the coven in Vegas will really help with?”

“I don’t know, Mom, maybe coming up with another way to get to the bottom of the grimspawn problem or help us find the warlocks or learn the meaning behind this phoenix prophecy without killing an innocent woman.” I can’t help the heat in my voice.

“Ooh, sounds like Domie has a crush!”

“Scarlet,” I say, exasperation coating her name like honey.

“You and your hopeless heart for humans is going to get you in trouble one day, Dom,” Mom says, though her tempered intonation tells her own hopeless heart is to blame for many things as well.

“Whatever, just. . . can I have the time?”

“You have a month, Dominic,” Mom says, and the tempered tone is again jagged. “If you don’t figure it out by then, we will come to kill her.”

Arriving back at the house I’m now renting in Windsor—where I fabricated that I lived because it was between the town she lives in and Denver—I park my Mercedes in the garage and close the door.

I was lucky enough to find an Air B&B with what I needed for the time I’ll be here—and the area I picked is very upscale and suave, costing me a cool $500 a night to rent this fully furnished home.

I also picked this place because it is on a lake, and while I don’t know how long I’ll be here, I want it to feel as close to home as possible.

Pulling my brown leather suitcase onto the large Cal-king bed, I’m rifling through my things to find the mirror when a large maple leaf with colors of bright orange and yellow and burnt sienna falls right from the ceiling and lands on the bed. As I pick it up, it morphs into a scroll made of papyrus, with a hand-written note in elegant script on the page.

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