Page 18 of Commanding Chaos

“Can you see what magic was used?” Miles asked, not taking his gaze off Ginger. He heaved in a breath, and his shoulders slumped.

“Sure can.” I gave Shade the stink eye before stepping back into the room’s entrance. I stretched my neck and wiggled my fingers, preparing myself for whatever goddess-awful magic I was about to uncover. “Confess, expose, my magic sleuth. I call on you to reveal your truth.”

I sent my intention into the room, and it bounced back like a rubber band, slapping me in the face and shoving me against the wall. My head smacked the sheetrock, and my vision swam.

Chaos ran to my side, taking my cheeks in his hands, his concerned gaze traveling over my face. “Are you injured?” His palms were warm against my skin, and, once again, his touch gave me confidence and calmness.

“Whoever did this doesn’t want us to know the method. I’ll have to remove the cloak before I can reveal the magic.” I grabbed a premade potion from my bag.

“Here.” He slipped his hand into mine. “I’ll help.”

“No!” Alarm filled Ember’s eyes, and she raced toward me. “I’ve got this. C’mon, Ash. We’ll do it together.”

She took the bottle and gripped my free hand, giving me a don’t do anything stupid look. I suppose harnessing the power of a Prince of Hell in front of the coven warriors wasn’t the best idea. Especially since, in their eyes, he was a prime suspect. I would’ve loved to feel his power running through me again, but I was a good girl, and I slid my hand from his grasp.

Ember threw the powdered potion into the air, and her energy built, flowing through me as mine flowed into her. My insides burned with magic, and I nodded at my sister before we said in unison, “Magic cloak, we now revoke.”

Our spell shot outward, shoving against the cloaking hex the killer had put on the room. Pressure built. The hex fought back. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I pushed another wave of magic against the spell.

A loud pop reverberated in the space, vibrating against my skin before the hex dissolved. We cast the revealing spell together, and golden sparkles coated nearly everything. Ginger had practiced light magic a lot in this house, but the remnants of dark spells also hung in the atmosphere.

“The fire was definitely magical.” Chrys stared at Ginger’s charred face, where our incantation revealed the remnants of magical flames. “Can you tell if it was a fire witch or a spell?”

“Magical fire is magical fire, whether it comes from within or from a spell, so there’s no way to know.” I moved closer, kneeling by my friend’s body, and Miles rose to his feet, backing away.

Ember kneeled next to me. “Why would someone do this?” she whispered.

My chest ached at the sight. If Chaos’s theory about the Boston witches knowing what we did was true, I had an idea of who. A sob bubbled from my chest to my throat, but I swallowed it and rose to my feet. Could Ginger’s death be related to the library incident? Good goddess, I hoped not.

“Do you see the red threads running from the points of the pentagram to her wrists, ankles, and neck?” I traced my finger around the scene to indicate the magic.

“She was bound.” Chaos’s deep voice sounded right behind my shoulder, and I jumped.

“Jeez. I didn’t know you were standing there.” I took a step away from him.

“Bound and tortured.” Miles wiped a tear from his cheek. “There are cuts all over her.”

“Someone was looking for information,” Shade said.

My stomach turned. Information about who destroyed their library, perhaps?

“Or something nasty came through the veil.” Ember looked at me. “Would a demon do something like this?”

I glanced at Chaos, who nodded. “If she wouldn’t pay a debt she owed, maybe. If she summoned something—”

“She didn’t summon a demon.” Miles wrung his hands. “She wouldn’t.”

“How do you know that?” Shade crossed his arms. “There are dark magic remnants all over the place. She was obviously up to something.”

She certainly was…

Holy Mother of Magic. Chaos’s demonic nature must’ve been rubbing off on me because I had a diabolical thought. I felt absolutely mortified that it popped into my head, but we could use Ginger’s death to our advantage.

We could blame the veil’s weakening on Ginger summoning a demon.

No. No, that was terrible. Ginger was my friend, and she didn’t deserve to die like this.

“Are you okay?” Ember’s brows drew downward. “You look like you’re either going to puke or you’re severely constipated.”

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