Page 38 of Rites of Passage

Her words failed to reassure them. She sighed and put the canister away.

Abraham was staring at the ice block. “What the hell do we do with this now?”

Mae narrowed her eyes. “We analyze it and Agnes’s blood. Carefully.” She rubbed the back of her neck and grimaced awkwardly. “There’s only one problem. This kind of work should be done in a lab with a microbiological containment facility. Not only that, it needs to be able to operate at sub-zero temperatures.”

Lines creased Nikolai’s brow. “There should also be magic users on site in case it gets out of control again.”

“I agree,” Vlad murmured.

“There’s a suitable place just outside Philadelphia,” Bryony said briskly. “It’s owned by the U.S. government and run by the Immortals. We can assign some high-level sorcerers and witches to be on standby while they work on the samples.”

Abraham bobbed his head. “I’ll make arrangements to take these with us when we leave tomorrow.”

Mae startled. “I thought we weren’t meant to leave until Wednesday.”

“The covenstead meetings officially start on Wednesday,” Bryony said. “There is an opening reception tomorrow night. We’ll be expected to attend it.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “I’m pretty sure I told you about it.”

Mae made a face. “You did?”

The High Priestess sighed. “You weren’t paying attention, were you?”

“In my defense, it was a lot to take in.” Mae’s stomach sank. “Does this mean I’ll be on show, like some kind of freak?”

Violet patted her shoulder. “Pretty much.”

Sympathetic murmurs broke out among the coven witches and sorcerers. They’d gotten used to Mae and were relaxed enough in her presence now to treat her casually. The same could not be said of the rest of the magical community.

Mae’s shoulders drooped.I’m gonna be like one of those performing monkeys in a street circus, aren’t I?

Let’s just do what the incubus suggested last night, Brimstone proposed.Let’s kill them all.

Like I said, you guys can’t just go around writing off everyone who annoys me!

You worry about the details too much,Hellreaver grumbled.

Mae was about to berate him when a sudden thought came to mind. Her eyes rounded. “Oh God!”

Tension thrummed the air. Vlad and Nikolai unleashed their weapons and scanned the area for danger, the others following suit.

“What is it?” Violet’s gaze swept the operating room, body braced for combat. “Are you sensing demons?!”

“It’s worse than that,” Mae mumbled. “I haven’t told my family about Philadelphia.”

Everyone froze before sagging. There was some eye rolling and indistinct muttering. Vlad shook his head and put his swords away. Nikolai sighed and retracted his spear.

“Jeez, Mae, you almost gave me a heart attack!” Violet groused.

“I’m sure they’ll be alright,” Bryony reassured. “Especially now that your mother is aware of your magic.”

“You don’t know the Jins. Holidays are a sacred topic in our household. Our trips are usually organized with military precision.” Mae swallowed. “There are even…colored tabs.”

“It’s a covenstead, not a holiday,” Abraham said sharply. “Besides, they’re not on the guest list. It’s not like they can just invite themselves.”

“Ten bucks says otherwise.”

Abraham took one look at her glum expression and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“How about I serve you a brandy when we get upstairs?” Bryony told the aide gently.

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