Page 40 of Shadows of the Soul

“The roses are the result of a gathering of power.”

“Is it connected?” Hudson asked.

“It would be foolish to think otherwise.”

“Miss Roberts, I must insist on speaking with you,” Harry said, standing in the middle of the coffee table. I ignored him as best as I could.

Rebecca tapped her fingernail against the edge of the china cup. “The roses are bleeding your blood, Cora.”

“I stepped on them when going to see Hudson this morning.”

“Bloody bootie call?” Sebastian snarked.

“So your blood powered the roses to grow from a small mess on the lawn, to covering the entire house and tripling the size of the flowers?” Dave asked.

“They’d already expanded last night. My blood added gasoline to the fire.”

Dave’s gaze bored into my skull. He was analyzing what I’d said and probably finding crater-sized plot holes. When under the gaze of Dangerous Dave, deflect onto something more significant than that which you are trying to hide. Or at least make out it’s more significant.

“There’s a boy,” I said. “Blood magic needs a catalyst. It’s violent, and almost always involves the sacrifice of innocence. In some cultures, they believe we are born with a certain amount of power, whether it be for luck, fertility, health, or monetary gain. As we live our life, that power wanes because we use it up. Therefore, people who use blood magic often use children as the trigger. The more powerful the initial catalyst, the quicker the spell will gain traction to achieve the wielder’s will.”

“And you think the boy is the spirit of the victim they sacrificed?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes.”

“How can you be sure?” Hudson added.

I swallowed the lump of fear. “It’s the manner of his sacrifice. His throat was slit, but the blood spilled in the reverse direction, falling over his face.”

Rebecca frowned, and Maggie gasped while slapping a hand over her mouth.

“They hung him upside down first,” Hudson figured out.

“No blood wastage, and it avoids tracking down the victim’s front, which may be seen as tainted.”

Maggie ran out of the room, her hand still over her mouth. I couldn’t coddle her. Living with me wasn’t always a walk in the park. Hudson’s offer to move to pack lands would be safer for her.

“How can you see him?” Dayna asked.

I glanced at Hudson. He came to my rescue. “We both saw him last night. The magic is powerful enough to breach the barrier between the spirit and the living.”

“Crap, that’s not good,” Dayna said.

Rebecca glanced at me. “So you think Lucifer lured you to Dayna’s and followed you home, but his voodoo priest knew exactly where to place his sacrifice in order to gather the power? But this started before your trip to Dayna’s.”

My mouth opened, then snapped closed. “That disproves your theory,” Dave stated.

I ran a hand through my hair and pressed my lips together. “Then what the hell is Lucifer playing at?”

“I don’t know,” Dayna said. “When was the last time you boosted your wards?”

“A month, maybe six weeks.”

She stood and ran her hands down her dress. “Until we figure this out, we need to protect you and that starts with wards. I’ll go see to them now.”

“Thank you,” I muttered, staring at the floor. I thought I had this figured out.

“Miss Roberts, if you are quite finished, I need you to follow me to your rooms immediately,” Harry shouted.

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