the west, to the north.
As she spoke, the air stirred; the candles flamed higher.
And she felt the stir, felt the flame, inside her.
She went to the altar to perform the simple spell Marg had chosen for her, one to bestow clarity.
She added the herbs, the crystals to the cauldron on the altar, poured the water from the cup over them. Tapping her wand three times on the cauldron, she lit a fire beneath it before anointing her third eye with oil.
“Rise, smoke, rise and bring the vision to my eyes. To my heart grant the sight; to my mind bring the light. Through the mists let me see. As you will, so mote it be.”
The smoke spiraled up, thin and white.
Through it, she heard an echo, dull at first, as if the fog smothered sound. As it cleared, she knew the crash of sea against rocks. And as it cleared, she saw the cliffs, the stony island, the rubble of black stones above that crashing sea.
She saw the ritual on those cliffs. The circle—painfully different from what she’d cast. A ring of black candles with bloodred flames, the ring of demons inside it. In the center stood a slab of altar, gleaming black.
Bound to it, the boy fought. His screams pierced the smoke, tore through Breen as the figure in a black cape and hood stepped to the altar.
Chanting, garbled and thick in a language she didn’t know, pounded like drumbeats.
The hooded figure lifted one hand to the sky, and it began to boil. With the other he lifted a long, curved knife. When he drew it across the boy’s throat, lightning exploded, bombs of violent light. Thunder rolled, rolled as he caught a stream of blood in a gold chalice.
She saw the face of her grandfather as he lifted the chalice high, as lightning struck it. As, bathed in its light, he drank deep.
With the vision faded, mercifully faded, Breen dropped to her knees. Only then did Marg come to her.
“You must finish. You must offer your thanks, and close the circle. I’ll help you, but you must finish. Then I’ll give you a potion—you’re so pale—and you’ll tell me.”
“It was him. It was Odran.”
“Aye, so I thought it might be.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Because it was closer, Marg sat Breen down in front of the fire in her workshop. She added a potion to wine, and found herself grateful she’d done so for both of them as Breen finished her tale.
“Lightning struck the chalice, and the flash . . . It was dark, but it still illuminated. Then Odran drank, he drank—Oh, that poor boy, Nan. He couldn’t have been more than twelve. After he drank, the demons, they . . . they devoured him. They just fell on his body and—”
She shuddered, drank more wine.
“It was horrible, beyond horrible. It had to be from years ago because Odran looked so young.”
“He is any age he wishes, at any time. I can’t tell you when, only that he would have a purpose for blood sacrifice. There is no greater crime, no greater sin.”
As she spoke, Marg paced, unable, as yet, to find her own calm.
“For this, so it is written, the gods cast him out of their realm. You said the black castle was in ruin.”
“Yes, yes, that’s right. So it had to be after he took me.”
“After, aye.” Marg sat again, then took Breen’s hand as she studied her face. “Your color’s better. I’m proud of you, Breen, for finishing after so brutal a vision. This was not the spell we wrote.”
“I know. I don’t know where it came from.”
“From you. You asked for vision, asked to see. There’s a purpose in this as well. It may not be clear, but there’s a purpose. I’ll ask Sedric to tell Keegan you won’t be training today.”
“No. Believe me, I’d rather have a root canal, but if I skip today, he’ll just make it twice as hard on me tomorrow.”
With a smile, Marg squeezed her hand. “There. You’ve come to know him, so that’s some clarity as well. But he’d take my word you’re unwell.”
“I can still see . . .” She breathed it out. “Getting knocked down will give me something else to think about. I’d rather get it over with than worry about what he’d pile on me tomorrow. He brought out swords yesterday. They won’t draw blood, but they sure as hell bruise. I’ll go.”
She rose. “I don’t suppose we could do a spell so I have the skill