Page 64 of Commanding Chaos

“Humor her.” I descended the steps, and we climbed into our respective seats.

Ember glared at me as I buckled my seatbelt, giving me my eight-hundredth warning look since Chaos came into our lives. I ignored her, and she drove to Miles’s house in silence.

“Same plan.” She slid out of the driver’s seat and gently shut the door.

I turned to get out, but Chaos touched my shoulder. “Is he here?”

“I don’t know. I think I need to be closer.” I joined Ember on the porch as she knocked.

Once again, I centered myself and focused my energy on finding Shade. Again, I sensed nothing. Not even Miles. “He’s not here either. It’s time to scry.”

She sighed heavily. “If he tries to pull anything, we might be too weak to…”

“Chaos can help.” I moved down the walk toward him.

“I’m not using demon magic, and I’m sure as hell not letting my baby sister do it.” She brushed past us, the stubborn set of her jaw telling me she’d die on this hill. “You had him in your head long enough. Now you’ve had him in your coochie too, and I won’t risk you being any more corrupted. We’ll do it ourselves.”

“I’ve never met a more stubborn witch,” Chaos grumbled.

“Neither have I.” I pulled a bottle of water and a copper bowl from my bag. “Let’s do it here. No need to go all the way home when Miles’s backyard is free.”

We walked up the driveway and through the chain link fence. A wrought iron table with two chairs stood beneath a maple tree. That was as good a place as any. Dry leaves crunched beneath my boots as I paced toward it, and I set the bowl in the middle of the table before filling it with water.

“Chaos, will you be our lookout?” I shoved the empty bottle into my bag. “We’ll be in a trance while we search.”

“Which is why we always do this inside.” Ember sat in the chair across from me. “This is dangerous.”

“Compared to everything we’ve been through the past few weeks?” I held out my hands, and she placed hers in mine. “Chaos has our backs.”

“Indeed, I do. No harm will come to either of you.”

She arched a brow. “I’ve heard that one before.”

Chaos clamped his mouth shut, his nostrils flaring.

“Ready?” she asked, and I nodded. “Hecate, goddess of magic, we call on you to protect and guide us.”

I stared at the bowl of water, letting my gaze relax and blur. “We search for Shade, in dire need. Take us to him, hear our plea.”

“As we will it, so mote it be,” we said in unison.

The feel of Ember’s warm hands in mine and the coolness of the metal seeping through my sleeves ceased. I floated in nothingness, the water turning black beneath my gaze. The wind no longer rustled in the trees, my magic attuning to nothing but Shade’s energy.

Blackness surrounded him like a void. I searched with all my senses, feeling the vibrations, listening for clues to his location. He gave none.

“What the hell?” Ember’s voice registered in my mind. “Can you see where he is?”

“It’s like a vacuum around him. I can’t sense anything.” I tried again, sending out my magic, draining my vim even more.

“This isn’t working. We need to pull out before we exhaust ourselves.”

A hand gripped my shoulder, and a low vibration flowed through me, filling me with Chaos’s essence. A surge of energy heightened my senses, and an image came into crisp focus in my mind.

Ember broke our connection. I gasped, my physical senses returning in a rush as the scrying session ended. Chaos’s hand still rested on my shoulder.

Ember shot to her feet. “What. The. Actual. Eff?”

I stood and stumbled. Chaos caught me by the arm.

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