Distorted Affliction

Chapter Thirty Three

I didn't hear the call to Lazarus, and I was curious what story Demidicus was spinning to convince his brother to come search for us here, but I had other things I needed to focus on. I was sprinkling the herb mixture atop the candle when I saw Sin pull into the driveway again, and a feeling of relief washed over me before I returned my attention back to my work.

"Divinorum spirituum," I called, feeling the magic inside of me stir in response. "Da cereum vitam, potestatem decipere inimicos."

While a vast majority of witches tended to stick with the spells from our ancestors grimours, my incantations were a little more personal. The Bishop witches had often documented their spells when they were successful, and while it was true that the spirits chose when to grant us our requests, my family had always been in their favor. We didn't need a book of fancy words to get things done, though making our requests in Latin, as absurd as it sounded, was usually the defining factor.

I repeated my invocation two more times, feeling the way the magic shifted in the air around me as the spirits responded. When I brought a lit match to the wick of the candle, the flame grew nearly four times its height as it caught before returning to its original size. Just as quickly as they had come, I felt the spirits depart, though the magic in the candle was still radiating from the flame.

As I stepped out into the fading light of the afternoon, Demidicus joined me in greeting the Priestesses, though they didn't seem entirely thrilled with seeing either of us. I didn't begrudge them their reactions, because I understood everything was being put at risk here, and it was essentially my fault.

"All set," Demidicus announced, his voice cheerful regardless of the personal admission he had given me before. He was putting on a front to help boost morale, though it didn't entirely seem to be working.

"The candle is burning inside," I added, though my tone couldn't match his by a long shot. The nerves were kicking in, because there would be no turning back at this point. "When Seline does her spell, everything will point them here."

"Did Lazarus happen to say how long it would take him to get down here?" Sin asked, his brows drawn together in thought.

"Nothing of the sort," Demidicus confirmed our thoughts. "And I didn't dare ask to draw suspicion. He already doesn't trust me, and the fault may be mine for that." The grin he wore gave everyone a view of his fangs, and I couldn't help but think of just how attractive he was.

Before me stood two men, dead as they were, who seemed to hold two very different pieces of my heart. I was desperately hoping things went according to plan, because the image of raising Silas in that little cabin set in the mountains with both of my Mouri was starting to sound awfully nice compared to the shabby little trailer we stood outside of.

"Then we better get our barriers started," Kettelie spoke, bringing me back to the present. "We have no way of knowing when he'll be here, and the last thing we need is to be caught off guard."

As she shifted the other Priestesses into action, I glanced between the two Mouri and Vanessa, who was chewing on her thumb nail watching Kettelie work her magic. This was essentially our waiting period, which felt absolutely awful. The anticipation put everyone on edge, and even after we had gone to our respective areas to prepare ourselves, the anxiety seemed to amp up even more.

"This is the worst part," Vanessa spoke, and I reached out to take her hand to stop some of her nervous nail biting that had reached the point of near self mutilation. "We have no way of knowing how long it might take Lazarus to get here, and we're just supposed to sit here until he arrives?"

"We should be able to feel when he penetrates the outer barriers," I said, trying to ease her mind, though it was obvious my words did little to help. The Priestesses had set several layers of protection in place, the first of which was a circle around the perimeter of the property that would essentially send a wave of magic rippling inward that could only be felt by witches. Each layer, once penetrated, would keep the Mouri from escaping. Even Sin and Demidicus would be trapped until the bonds were broken, which left both of them at the mercy of the Priestesses.