Page 65 of Death Trap

So, I guessed the infinitely deep little velvet bag I had gotten from Marla back during our first encounter, when she thought I was working for a mysterious Mr. Johnson, was actually a charm. Not a spell. Showed how much I knew about this witch stuff.

“Then there are hexes and curses and all that, which are a part of a whole other thing,” she went on.

I held up my hands. “I get the point. I’m good with my charms and spells.”

“You’re safer with those anyway.” She laughed. “Both the inner-light spell and the perception charm are pretty complex magic and the charm is a hard one to come by, but lucky for you, I recently swiped a necklace with a pretty heavy-duty perception charm during my last heist in Ireland. The—”

“Wait a minute. Did you say heist? And Ireland?”

She grinned. “I did.”

“You’re a thief?”

“I prefer magical artifacts enthusiast,” she said. I must have made a face unknowingly because she quickly added, “How do you think museums get their exhibits? I’m doing the same thing. And I’m good at it, too. Not to brag.”

She had a reason to brag. I saw the shop’s back room. It wasfullof all kinds of things—dried herbs, sparkling pendants, gold goblets, anything you could think of. So, that’s how Marla got all her magical items to sell and trade. Her niece was her—what did she call it? Magical artifacts enthusiast.

I clapped my hands together. “All right, then. Let’s get this party started. I’ll take whatever I can get.”

Who knew when my “alive” state would switch again, and I’d be a spirit? It was unpredictable.

“Oh wait,” I said as realization hit me. “I don’t have anything for payment… Money doesn’t exactly exist in the afterlife.”

Arianna’s gaze dropped to my sleek, high-tech-looking Styx watch. And for a moment, I thought she would ask for a trade, but then, as if reconsidering, she shook her head.

“No charge,” she said. “You helped my aunt cross over, and she obviously trusts you to give you our code word, so no charge this time.”

Well, that was a relief.

“Give me a minute.” And with that, she pushed past the beaded curtain and disappeared into the back room. I stood there awkwardly, glancing over the objects on the counter. Near the register was what looked like a cat’s skull and a petrified lizard, scales and all. A bit jarring to see, but I guessed that was the point. There was also a little fish bowl filled with business cards. I didn’t remember seeing any of these things when I had first visited the store and met Marla. Must have been more of Arianna’s additions.

As I glanced around again, I realized there was a stark contrast between gaudy tourist shop and darker, more gothic esthetics, like the skulls and taxidermy animals positioned on random shelves. A bat, a vulture, another cat—this one fully intact, fur and all—and even a toad bigger than my head sat on a display with fragrant, fizzy bath soaps and potpourri.

Most of the stuff I recognized from the back room, but it looked like Arianna had moved it to the forefront to integrate herself into the store. But at the same time, she still made sure to keep most of Marla’s things, too.

When Arianna came back out, both hands were full of stuff. She struggled to set everything on the table. A large bowl, a hand mirror, a strip of ribbon, a few jars of God-knows-what, some twigs, a gold goblet that looked like it weighed more than me, a couple of white candles, and a plastic bag of what looked like dried flower petals.

“Wow, we really need all that?” I asked, eyeing all the ingredients on the counter.

Her eyebrow raised.

“Okay, stupid question,” I answered. “Go ahead.”

She started setting everything up. The hand mirror went into the bowl with the ribbon, which I then realized was actually a choker necklace with a shiny pendant dangling on the front, and the jars of liquid were poured over all of it. The entire time, she mumbled words I didn’t understand and could barely hear, her lips moving at a feverish pace. Sticking her finger into the water, she began to move it in a circular motion, and her forehead beaded with sweat. With the other hand, she waved me closer.

I leaned over the bowl until my reflection stared back at me in the mirror. Plain hair, plain eyes, pale skin, and a permanent frown etched into my face—yep, that was me all right. As the water swirled from Arianna’s finger, the reflection distorted before my eyes. Suddenly, it wasn’t me staring back at me; it was a little boy with dark skin and big, sad eyes.

I blinked, somehow recognizing him, feeling like Iknewhim. I just didn’t know how. My now actual beating heart pounded against my rib cage. The image in the mirror changed again, this time to a woman with her long hair wild around her dirty face and her gaze filled with absolute terror.

A second later, another face replaced hers. This one a blonde teen, cheeks red with exhaustion, as if she’d been running for her life. That’s when it clicked. I had seen these people before. When I had passed out after using my power on Xaver. All their lives had flashed across my mind—if they were even real people. There was no way for me to know. But who were they? And why was I seeing them?

“Whatever you see, don’t stop looking in the mirror until I tell you.” Arianna’s commands sounded strained, as if the incantation was giving her a hard time. But I couldn’t look up to see if she needed help or risk ruining the magic.

I kept staring into the bowl, my own forehead slick with perspiration. As more faces showed in the mirror, I recognized every single one of them as the people I had seen and lived through during their last moments alive.

My vision began to blur as other faces appeared and disappeared like rapid fire. Arianna’s words became a crescendo against my eardrums, and the room swayed under my feet. For a moment, I thought I might pass out again. My skin burned as if I were being held over flames, and it was getting harder and harder to take another breath in.

I didn’t have to be a witch to know something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.

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