on her shoulder. “Tegan, tell us what you’re not telling us. Or I’ll make Deacon force it out of you.”
Tegan closed her eyes. “From what I can gather by the note…Althea only told one person…Elizabeth Bishop. Her Hierophant.”
Everyone gasped.
My heart stopped. Is she saying what I think she’s saying.
“The information we need is in the Hierophant’s locket,” Tegan said in a soft voice. A defeated voice. “Bentley was our only hope for finding our way into Seelie. He has the Hierophant’s locket…”
Questions fired at her from every single direction.
“STOP,” Tegan shouted. “I can’t…I can’t think straight right now. I need a minute—”
Her voice broke. She backed away from her mother and Tennessee and shoved her hands into her hair…but they were shaking.
My stomach turned. Everyone else’s faces paled. Tennessee’s expression looked damn near panic. A disheveled and shaken Tegan was not something any of us knew how to handle. It wasn’t something we’d ever seen before. Tegan was always the face of strength and confidence on the outside so if she was this rattled— no, stop. He’s fine. They’re fine. We’ll figure this out.
Savannah cleared her throat and raised her hand. “Okay, so ask a Hierophant?”
“They’re all dead,” Cooper growled and glared at the ground. “Except for Bentley.”
Savannah rolled her big blue eyes. “No shit, Sherlock. But Saffie spoke to Elizabeth Bishop once…maybe she should just summon her again?”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Savannah
The look Tegan Bishop gave me literally made my heart stop.
Saffie gasped.
Everyone else’s jaws dropped.
Cooper cursed. “Can she?”
Tegan blinked slowly and then frowned. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Tennessee wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “No one is doubting your brilliance right now. You’re emotionally distracted—”
“I can do it.”
We all turned toward Saffie.
She nodded. “I can do it. I can summon Elizabeth. After all, we were friends back then. She was like family.”
Tegan chewed on her thumb and leaned into Tenn. “Do it.”
“Here, give me Olli.” Chutney reached over and pulled him out of Saffie’s lap. “Just in case you need to move.”
Saffie pet his head and then placed her palms flat on the grass. She sucked in a deep breath and held it.
I sat down beside her and crossed my legs under me while chewing on my fingernails.
Saffie exhaled and her breath rustled the blades of grass in front of her. Pink and purple flowers sprouted from the grass, forming a perfect circle in front of her. Golden glitter erupted from under her hands and shot into the circle. Her magic swirled until it formed a pentagram with the flowery circle around it.
Those fairyflies of hers flew up into the air and whirled around like a tornado inside of the pentacle she’d made.
“Elizabeth Bishop. Come to me.”
Blue light pierced through the grass and dirt and shined into the sky like a spotlight. The blue light began to swirl around and it reminded me of the fog back home in the Smoky Mountains. It moved and morphed until it took the shape of a person. A woman. She wore a long peasant-style dress similar to the one Saffie put herself in for her soulmate ceremony. She had kind eyes and a soft, feminine face that reminded me of Emersyn. I couldn’t tell what color her hair or eyes were, or even her dress, because everything was a translucent blue color…and she seemed to be glowing from within.
Saffie jumped to her feet. “Elizabeth Bishop.”
Elizabeth looked up and gasped. “SAFFIE!”
They stared at each other for a second and then Elizabeth tackled Saffie in a hug. My jaw dropped. She was touching a ghost like it was a real person, like she was solid shaped and not an apparition. They held each other for a long, long minute before Elizabeth finally pulled back. Saffie’s eyes glistened with tears and even though Elizabeth was dead, I saw them in her eyes too.
“Oh, my dearest, Saffie. You’re free!” She cupped Saffie’s face in her ghostly blue hands. “Have you seen your mother yet?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Saffie said with a sniffle.
“And your uncle?”
“Him too.”
Elizabeth sighed and dropped her hands. “Just look at you…and Marked! I’m so sorry I frightened you back in Salem, but you were blocking me and I—”
“No, no. It’s okay. I’m glad you did.”
Tegan stumbled forward until she stood just beside me. “Elizabeth…”
She turned and smiled, then cupped Tegan’s cheek. “Tegan. I am so proud of you.”
“We couldn’t have done it without you.”
She grinned her ghostly grin. “You found my notes?”
Tegan nodded. “Thank you.”
I had no idea what they were talking about but I was