Page 59 of Death Card

It’s the oldest photo I’ve ever seen of Gran. The younger version of her stares back at me with a steady grin. Her hair fans out around her head like a crown. The younger Aunt Roberta doesn’t stare at the camera. Instead, she’s looking straight at her older sister.

“What brings you over, cher?” Aunt Roberta asks. “It’s always lovely to see you, but I doubt you’re here to hang out with your old aunt.”

“Maybe another time, Auntie.” I nibble on my bottom lip as I open my bag and remove the compendium. She sucks in a breath as soon as she gets a glimpse of the pentagram on the cover. “I stole this from the Hightowers’ store, but I haven’t told Gramps or the Council about it. I didn’t even bring it up in front of Gloria because I knew she’d demand it back. I’m guessing they haven’t noticed it’s missing yet.”

Aunt Roberta slides the book closer to her and flips through the pages. The furrow between her eyebrows deepens with the turn of each page. “This is the darkest sort of magic. In fact, I don’t even want to call it that. Demons are the foulest creatures you can ever encounter.”

“Is there a way to banish them once they’ve been summoned?” I ask, leaning forward on my elbows. “Gramps seems hell-bent on going to war with the Hightowers, but we need to have a plan. Otherwise, they could just sic the demon on us and be done.”

“There is, child, but I couldn’t tell you how to do it.” She shutsthe book and purses her lips. “I’ve only known one witch with an interest in demons, and she’s been gone for ages.”

“ ‘Gone’ as in dead?”

“Banished.”

My confusion is clear in my expression because she continues.

“Your cousin Sabine Andry moved here to teach at Tulane when you were a little girl. Demons were her specialty, academically and personally.” Her jaw clenches. “None of us liked it, but your gran especially. She told Sabine not to bring that mess into the coven, and Sabine obeyed—at first.”

“What happened?” I ask.

“She was caught in her backyard drawing a circle of salt. She’d doused her body in holy water, claimed she wanted to summon a lesser demon just to see if she could.”

From the way the Elders talk about demons, I can tell that couldn’t have gone over well with them.

“So, Gran banished her from the coven?”

“Exactly.”

My shoulders drop. That’s it, then. Another person who could’ve helped me is out of my reach.

Aunt Roberta sits in silence for a moment before standing. “I’ll be right back.” She slips from the room.

I take a sip of lemonade to wash away the bitter taste of disappointment. There’s a brick wall every way I turn. I may end up being the worst Witch Queen in history if I can’t find a way to save my coven from this evil.

Footsteps drag me from my spiral. Aunt Robert returns with an envelope. She hands it to me from across the table.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a letter Sabine sent me after I told her about your grandmother’s diagnosis.”

I jerk my head up. “I thought you said Gran banished her.”

“I did.”

“Then why did you—”

“She loved your gran something fierce. They’d been close before the whole mess with the demon went down.” My aunt crosses her arms. “She deserved to know that Adelaide was sick.”

I clutch the envelope before removing the letter inside. It’s shorter than I expected. Sabine’s looping script is neat and easy to read.

Thank you, Roberta. I’m sorry to hear that. I know she doesn’t want to hear from me, so I’ll save my words. I’ll see her again someday.

Sabine

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“In the Afterlife,” Aunt Roberta murmurs. “When she joins the ancestors.”