Page 3 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
That had to be magic. No hair could be that well-behaved. Not even old-lady hair.
“Who?” I asked.
Andie’s face wrinkled further as she smiled. “You’re looking at her, dearie. You’re looking at her.”
“Oh.” I hesitated, unsure. “I don’t know.”
Usemagicto contact my father? That didn’t seem overly wise. The first time I’d been exposed to magic, a rogue Faerie had turned my father into a puff pastry in his very own oven. The second exposure was when the same creature came back for me. Only the intervention ofanothermagical creature saved me.
Since then, my life was even and calm and full of absolutely no magic. Did I really want to jeopardize that tranquility by reaching out to talk with dead people? It seemed like a bad,badidea.
But he might be able to tell me about my mother. Who she was. Where to find her. Or even just her name …
“How do we do it?” I found myself asking. The chance to learn more about my mother outweighed any of the negatives. I would do anything to learn more about her. To talk to her, just once.
Andie nodded like she’d known all along that I would say yes. “Good choice, sweetie, good choice. Come, let’s go.”
“Good choice,” I repeated softly as Andie went to the far wall and swung it open to reveal shelves stocked with various items. “Good choice. Why do I feel like I never had a choice?”
Andie laughed. “Always a choice.”
“Right.”
I fell quiet at a sharp look from the old woman, then stood still while she bustled about, setting items on the floor around me. Some I recognized, such as the clump of lavender, three cloves of garlic, some sort of hoof—though I wasn’t sure what animal it belonged to—and seven candles, six arranged in a hexagon around me. I was instructed to hold the final one in my right hand, palm upward.
There were several objects I didn’t recognize. One was a thick, stinky yellow substance, thankfully kept in a jar. The other was a long, pale yellow-white object that looked kind of like a bone.
My heart leaped. Itwasa bone. But from what?
“Calm,” Andie snapped as she moved back and forth, positioning things just right. “You must remain calm. Still your heart and tame your mind. Take deep breaths.”
“I thought you were the one doing the summoning? Why do I have to stay calm?”
Andie looked at me like a teacher does her worst student.
“Not summoningmyfather, now, are we?” she said. “No, this is for you. Okay, first step is ready.”
“First?”
Andie nodded, taking a line of chalk and drawing a circle around me before stepping back and drawing a line from that circle about three feet away, where she drew another circle. Then a larger circle went all the way around that design and the items she’d arranged.
Moving carefully, she stepped into the other circle, being very careful not to smudge the chalk.
“What now?” I asked, still holding the candle in the palm of my right hand.
Andie muttered a word, and the candle burst into flame, drawing in the light from the rest of the room. I hissed in surprise, starting to step backward.
“Freeze!” the old woman barked in a powerful tone. “Do not step outside the chalk. Not until it’s over. Do you understand?”
I glanced at my back foot, less than an inch away from the chalk. I brought it forward with a gulp, planting my feet firmly. “Don’t move. Got it.”
“Now, we will summon the creature to which we will bind the soul of your father while you interrogate—”
“What?” I yelped. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I just … I …”
Andie’s glare drove me to silence. For a tiny old lady, she really did have quite the steely gaze.
“I will guide you. You simply must take the mind you feel and control it. Make it yours. Now, are you ready? Let’s go.”
