Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“So…right now.” I close my eyes in a long blink. “Okay. The Order figured out her mother was Eudora Bellamy, a witch from a notable magical bloodline. They assumed her daughter would be powerful too.”
“That makes sense,” Leo says. “And that definitely sounds like something the Order would do.”
“Yeah,” Antonio and I say at the same time. I rest the phone on my thigh, and the car falls silent while we all take that in.
“The Bellamy family…” I start, closing my eyes and pressing a hand against my forehead. “They fought demons just like my family did?”
“Yes,” Marie tells us. “Though I think the Blackwoods and Bellamys had some sort of falling-out in more recent years. But I do know for a fact that your families worked together. The Blackwoods and Bellamys created the spells used to make the supernatural prisons used to contain powerful demons.”
“So what you’re really saying,” Leo says slowly, “is that there could still be demons trapped inside Bellamy prisons the same way they’re trapped inside Blackwood prisons, needing the blood of the family who locked them up.”
“Yes.”
The single word lands heavily between us.
“And if someone knew Claire was a Bellamy…” Leo continues.
“They might want her blood to open one,” I finish. “She could be a key.”
“Possibly,” Marie says. “She may not have known who her family was until recently, since she’s trying to get home to them.”
“Then why was she in a group home?” Antonio asks. “If the Order knew who she was, why leave her there?”
“It could’ve been an easy way to keep an eye on her,” Marie suggests. “Or maybe the Order doesn’t understand how magic manifests in someone with only one magical parent. If they tested her when she was younger and she showed little or no power, they may have assumed they were wrong about her potential.” She pauses. “You said most of the names in that notebook were crossed out, right?”
“Yeah. Most of them.” I nervously twist my massive engagement ring around my finger. “I just feel like we’re missing something.” I let out a breath. “I mean, obviously we are. But this is one of those gut-feeling things. There’s something here that I can’t ignore.”
“Let me do some more digging,” Marie says. “I’m going to the Covenstead library now, but I might not be able to get the answers I need until later tonight when everyone leaves. Asking too many questions about two of the founding families is going to start raising suspicions.” She’s right.
And if she’s trying not to draw attention for my sake, then maybe I need to put my pride aside and eventually let my family know what one of their descendants did. Maybe they’ll be so happy to find out I’m alive that everything else will be easily forgiven.
“The last report from the group home said Claire started hearing voices,” I tell Marie. “She has no documented history of mental illness.”
“That could mean a number of things,” she says. “She could be able to hear spirits now. She could be tapping into a power she doesn’t know how to control.” Marie hesitates. “Or it could be something demonic.”
My stomach drops.
“We need to find her.”
“I have a vial of her blood,” I say. “I could cast a locator spell.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Marie replies. But I hear the hesitation in her voice. “I agree with you that we’re missing something important here. If you’re going to cast any kind of spell using her blood, I think you should do it here at the Covenstead, where you’ll be protected.”
“Okay,” I immediately agree. Both of my brothers give me skeptical looks. They don’t have to say anything. I know exactly what they’re thinking. Marie could just be using this as an excuse to lure me back to the Covenstead. They still don’t trust her. And maybe I’m being naive. But I don’t have many other options.
And more than anything, I really, really want to trust her.
“I’m about to go through the Covenstead door,” Marie says. “I’ll lose service once I’m inside. Text me if you find anything else. I’ll step outside periodically to check, and I’ll let you know as soon as I learn something.”
“Thanks.” I end the call. For a moment, the three of us sit in stunned silence. Then Antonio puts the G-Wagon into drive.
“I need you to get into that group home’s computer system as soon as we get back,” he tells Leo. Leo raises an eyebrow. Antonio looks toward me.
“Something about this doesn’t add up. If the Order decided Claire wasn’t useful, then why is her blood sitting in a vial dated only a few weeks ago?”
“I don’t know. I found the blood in the bag while Vivian and Marco were trying to free Vaelric. Maybe it was a total assumption thinking everything in that bag had to do with freeing the demon. I mean, they knew Blackwood blood was needed. They knew it needed to be fresh.”