to it was the only way I could live with it. This man had killed women and children. I had let him live while he tried to kill me.
“Kaliya—”
“I’m not talking about how I’m a terrible person,” I snapped.
He leaned back, his expression hurt. I turned away, and we waited on the witches in silence.
Monica and Piper came in first, shaking both of our hands. The seats around us slowly filled while we watched. By the time the last witch came in, half of them were full.
“Now that we have everyone, there are some things I need to clarify with you, Executioner Sahni.” Monica gestured for me to rise, so I did. “We might not be able to fix anything today. As you can see, we’re not running at full capacity for this sort of spell. It took a lot of power to track Levi through his storm, and more people were drained to try to heal you. What we can do today is identify the problem and give you a glimpse of what lies beyond whatever block someone put on him. We can do more digging at a later date when things have settled. Because of this, I’m dropping the price back down to three million. You can send it now if you agree to the terms.”
“And what about information that may be found in his mind? What about the matter of secrecy?”
“I will be the only witch of the coven privy to what is learned in his mind. You can have full confidence, anything found will stay with me unless you give me leave to mention it or use it for another purpose. I don’t toy with blackmail, Kaliya, and I don’t need to make an enemy of a sanctioned killer.”
I believed her.
I reached for my phone and didn’t find it. Raphael cleared his throat and held it out to me. I quickly punched in the right bank information and sent three million from one of my offshore accounts to another account that belonged to the coven. While I was on my phone, I noticed a missed call and text from Hasan. Promising myself I would get back to him soon, I continued with the task at hand.
“Done,” I said, shoving the phone into my pocket.
“Take a seat here. Raphael, please wait—”
“What are we doing?” he asked, directing it at me.
“I’m getting in position to ride in Nakul’s memories. You need to get out of—”
“Let me go,” he said sharply, a little desperate. “Let me…ride his memories, too. It might show us who did this to him, right? Who did the magic or who that healer is, yeah?”
“Yeah?”
“Let me ride his memories. Kaliya, I’m…I really think I should get a chance to see. I’ve seen people who work for…” He gave me a look, telling me everything without exposing it to the coven around us.
“Fine, if it’s okay with Monica.” I turned to her, not needing to ask. She could hear the entire conversation.
“Make another seat for him,” she ordered someone in the background. A cushion was run out from a side room and placed near mine. “You’ll both join hands with me around Nakul. He’ll be kept asleep. This will just be a dream for him, and if I can’t remove the block placed in his mind, he won’t remember any of it. We’ll be silent observers to his memories, but there is a risk to him. He could lose his memory completely. Removing the block could leave him brain dead. A variety of things can go wrong, so you will ride silently without trying to fight it or force it. If you need to get out, open your hands, and you’ll be disconnected. You’ll still be aware of the real world. And please, don’t get lost in your own memories. You can take us all for a ride down different roads and expose Nakul to them.”
Nakul was lowered to sit in a chair, and the table was rolled out of the room.
Taking our seats, we joined hands, forming a triangle around the sleeping naga.
It happened quickly. Once my eyes were closed, Monica began to chant softly, her voice the only audible thing in the room. Power flew through the room like a strong wind, threatening to take the air from my lungs.
Then I was standing in the prison, but for the first time, I was inside the cell—white stone walls and a metal door with a small viewing window. A guard walked by without looking in.