Page 22 of Sigils & Spells

One step at a time, Evie, I tell myself.

Because I’m determined to find a way out of this hellhole, no matter how many people Ivan Cambridge has watching me.

“I’ll be keeping an eye on your friend here,” Ivan tells me, gesturing at Angel. “Make one wrong move and he dies.”

The shiver down my back tells me that his threat is absolutely real. He would follow through on it without a moment’s hesitation.

I nod and follow Jake out the door.

* * *

I sitin the back seat of a black SUV, my arms crossed over my chest as I stare out the window. I’ve given Jake directions to the market on 35thStreet, the one that looks like a health food store but houses an entire stock of witches’ supplies in the back room.

Dr. Fitton keeps trying to engage me in conversation, but I’m not interested in talking to him. He’s apparently fine with the fact that Ivan Cambridge is conducting experiments on humans—the kinds of experiments that lead to the test subjects’ deaths.

Or malformed, like Jake.

When we get to the market, Jake pulls a hoodie on, using it to obscure his features.

Because even in his fully human form, there’s still obviously something wrong with him. I can’t believe he doesn’t want to take down Cambridge himself. But he seems completely loyal to his monstrous boss.

“Evie!” Lucy, the market owner, calls out as I walk into the shop. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.” She frowns as she examines my face. “Are you okay?”

I force a smile. “Fine, thanks. I’m just stopping by to pick up some mandrake root. Preferably harvested with silver under a full moon.”

Lucy nods. “I’ve got some in the back. Wait here.”

She disappears for a moment and returns carrying a clear glass jar with the root inside.

“This one’s pretty potent,” she warns me. “I wouldn’t handle it without gloves.”

Peering at it through the glass, I examine the root carefully, sending a tiny spark of magic running through it to test its purity.

I’m shocked by the results. Since my night with Angel, my powers seem to have grown almost exponentially. That single spark gives me a wealth of information.

“This is exactly what I need,” I tell her.

I don’t know if the root will completely stabilize the potion, but it should at least enable the subjects to shift. As I consider the options, it occurs to me that I might be able to develop a second potion, this one purely magic, thatwillstabilize them, keep Ivan’s shifters from going mad.

It’s definitely going to have to be a two-step process, though.

Jake pulls out a corporate credit card to pay, and Lucy raises her eyebrows as she reads the company name. Her gaze flicks up at me, and I want more than anything to tell her to call the police, but even as I’m thinking it, Jake looms behind me, his mere presence an implicit threat.

So in the end, I simply say, “Thanks,” then take my purchase and follow Jake back to the SUV.

By the time we get back to the warehouse, my stomach is roiling. Angel is still in the cage and Ivan is pacing as he waits for my return.

As I begin preparing the mandrake, I explain to Fitton and Cambridge about my idea for a two-step process. “So this potion,” I say, gesturing at the vial of pink liquid, “will induce the change. And the next one will stabilize the shifters. Once I’m done with it, no one should have to ever die again from one of your tests.”

Ivan clasps his hands together under his chin and nods. “Excellent. I’ll be in my office. Let me know when this first potion is finished.”

Lucy was right—the mandrake requires careful handling, both magically and to keep its poison from soaking in through my pores.

But two hours later, an updated version of the potion is complete. Like the last one, this potion can be created in small batches and then replicated.

Dr. Fitton calls Ivan back in.

My boss—now also my captor—examines the vial Dr. Fitton hands him. “It doesn’t look any different from the last batch,” he notes.

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