I stopped short as soon as I walked in the door. Had I entered the wrong house? The stairs had righted themselves, a banister now hung securely along the side, and the wal s were freshly painted. But the low chanting coming from upstairs assured me that I was in the right place. I hurried up to the second floor and found the witches preparing for the spel .
Lady Alice, clad in a silvery robe, glided down the stairs.
“Stefan, are you ready?”
“I am,” I breathed. Her gardenia-and-jasmine scent assaulted my nostrils, but I didn’t feel the same need to feed as I had two nights before. The only blood I wanted was Samuel’s. My father had been right about something was Samuel’s. My father had been right about something else, too: War had awakened the vampire—the angry, destructive force—within me. I was ready for battle.
A blazing fire burned in the circle at the center of the room. Next to the fire sat a bench, surrounded by dozens of tal , tapered candles. It looked almost like an altar. On top of it lay Mary Jane, her dark hair loose around her head and topped with a wreath made of intertwined lilac and foxglove. Mary Jane’s friends weren’t here, which was for the best. Better for them to be elsewhere, just in case our plan didn’t go smoothly.
Lavinia hobbled over to me. She was the only other witch from the coven in attendance, and she wore a silver robe like Lady Alice’s. “Come here, vampire. Sit down,” she said, escorting me to the corner of the room. “Only witches can take part in this.”
I wordlessly took my seat as the witches crowded closer to Mary Jane, holding hands to form a ring around her.
From them came one low, plaintive note.
The tuneless chant continued until the entire room reverberated. And then the noise abruptly stopped. Lavinia and Lady Alice stepped up to the altar and knelt down, bending their heads so low their foreheads touched the ground.
I glanced around uncomfortably, unsure of whether I too was supposed to bow. But I stayed seated, afraid that even a tiny move would disrupt the energy flowing through the room.
On the bench, Mary Jane’s eyes were open, but she didn’t blink. I wondered if she was in a trance as Lavinia didn’t blink. I wondered if she was in a trance as Lavinia opened her mouth and began chanting actual words, rather than sounds.
“Munimentum, vampiro, eternal…”
The phrase sounded like it was in Latin, a language I’d studied in school, but she was speaking far too quickly for me to understand. As the spel continued, I could see Mary Jane’s skin begin to glow as her veins pulsed. I held my breath, trying to send my own Power to the work being done in the middle of the room.
The col ection of candles flickered brighter, and the smoke rising from the flames formed a faint blue ring that hovered around the witches.
“Eterna quite,” Lavinia said, then clapped three times.
The room plunged into darkness as al the candles blew out, as though hit by an enormous gust of wind. And then, just as quickly, the candles relit as if by their own accord.
Mary Jane sat up and blinked her eyes.
“Thank you.” She turned toward me and smiled. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but her skin seemed brighter and her eyes more luminous than ever. But would that be enough protection against Samuel, a monster who seemed to suck light away?
The witches parted, and Mary Jane daintily stepped off the makeshift altar.
“I’m ready,” she said in a clear voice, gazing straight at me.
“Good.” I nodded. “Now we wait. When Samuel comes, everyone stays here except Mary Jane. If anything should go wrong, Damon wil be downstairs to protect her.”
“It won’t go wrong. And al Stefan needs to do is kil Seaver. Let us worry about Samuel,” Lavinia said. “Don’t play the hero,” she added, glaring at me sharply.
“I trust Stefan,” Mary Jane said. “And I trust Alice.” She turned toward Lady Alice and embraced her.
“Thank you,” Lady Alice said, and I could see tears shimmering in her eyes as she pul ed away.
“I’l be fine,” Mary Jane assured her. “I feel strong, ready.
That’s why I insist no one come downstairs, even if I scream. No one can deviate from the plan.”
“Are you sure?” Lady Alice fretted. “The praesidium spel can only be used on one member of a coven at a time, so that the recipient is receiving al the energy from the others.
But I can perform an absconditus spel on myself. It would al ow me to hide in plain sight, so I’d be right there with you.
You wouldn’t be alone.”
“No.” Mary Jane shook her head. “You’ve done enough.
And I want to be alone for this. I’m ready and protected. And Jemima wil have al the others in the al ey to attack if everything goes awry.”
“It won’t,” I said. I turned to fol ow her down the stairs when Lady Alice pul ed me back by the crook of my elbow.
“A word?” she asked.
“Yes?”
“Thank you for saving Mary Jane. I didn’t have a chance to say it before. I was too shocked at seeing Mary Jane after al those years, surrounded by vampires. But I know that you’re not the worst.”
Coming from Lady Alice, it was high praise.
“Thank you,” I said, uncomfortably avoiding her gaze. I glanced at the fire, hoping to see an image of the future, but al I could see were dancing orange and red flames. Maybe Lady Alice’s magic saw something I didn’t. Maybe I could be a good man, once Samuel was gone and London was no longer my prison.
The thought fil ed me with hope as I took my place, crouched at the top of the stairs. Mary Jane stood on the landing below, her eyes closed. She rocked back and forth on her heels and seemed as though she were concentrating deeply.