“Why would Odessa do that?” Milburn asked. Great question.
“For Lex’s blood.” Simon’s voice was threaded with anger. “They’re going to soak their cord in boundary-witch blood before they lay it down. Lex is powerful as shit, so it won’t just make a strong circle . . .”
“Oh crap,” I muttered, realizing where he was going with this. I knew what happened when I bled in front of remnants. I looked at Milburn. “They’re going to call even more ghosts.”
Lily was shaking her head. “Yeah, but it’s a little worse than that.”
I sighed. “Of course it is. How?”
“You said this clan is good with wards, right?”
“Yeah . . .”
Lily glanced briefly at her brother, who looked a little pale. He said, “We might not be able to break their circle without killing you.”
Chapter 39
“A cord witch who’s really skilled with wards could theoretically make it so anyone outside the coven who cuts the cord suffers,” Simon explained. “In this case, it could rebound onto you.”
“You lost me.”
Simon looked at the ceiling for a moment, trying to think through his explanation. “You said Beau destroyed the mandragora here, right? So she took your blood as a substitute for the mandragora—an ingredient for boundary magic.”
“Okay . . .”
“But if she soaks the cord in your blood and uses it to seal the circle . . . your blood may also represent you. Cutting the rope gets . . . unpredictable.”
“It’s like how most crystals won’t work with witch magic,” Lily added. “Mixing up . . . magical signals, or however you want to look at that.”
“More like mixing up intent,” Simon broke in. “But intent is important.”
I sighed. The only time I really worked with circles was when I laid ghosts, and that wasn’t particularly sophisticated. I made a circle with my blood, and when I was done using magic, I scuffed through the line. “What about when Odessa herself breaks the circle?” I asked. “Will that hurt me?”
Simon shook his head, paused, and shrugged. “If she succeeds in making the spirit bottle, then the magic energy is done, used up. If she doesn’t succeed, and she takes a scissors to the circle instead of dismantling it . . . maybe?”
Wonderful. Just great. “So we have to stop her, but then keep her from actually cutting the rope or cord or whatever.”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure we’ll even be able to get inside her circle?” I asked.
Lily was chewing on a fingernail, but Simon answered for her. “We should. By design, all circles are one-way. The border of your circle either keeps everything out, a protective circle, or keeps everything in, an inclusive circle. This coven wants to contain the Unsettled, so we should be able to go in, but we won’t be able to come out until we dismantle it, or convince one of the coven members to dismantle it.”
We’d be trapped in there. Great.
But it wasn’t like we had a whole lot of options here. Odessa needed to be stopped, tonight, and at the moment Beau was distracted. We weren’t going to get a better shot.
I looked at Milburn. “Are you able to lie to Beau?”
“Um . . .”
“Physiologically, I mean,” I said. “Is it possible?”
He gave me a tight nod. “Good,” I replied. “Then I want you to stall him.”
“Excuse me?”
I made a face. “I saw you earlier, when I said Beau shouldn’t help us hunt down Odessa. You agree with me.”
“Still—”
“She wants him dead, Milburn,” I interrupted. “She wants that more than anything, which means she’s got a plan. You know how smart she is. Stall him.”
Milburn stiffened, but gave me a nod. “I’ll do my best.”
I looked at Simon and Lily. “Let’s go.”
Outside, Tobias was just pulling up in the Pellars’ rental car. “Did you find everything?” I asked as he hopped out.
“Yep!” He pulled a face. “There are a lot of weird stores around here.”
“It’s the South.” I looked at Simon and Lily. “Let’s gear up.”
“I’m gonna run in and pee before we go,” Tobias said, and dashed toward the front door.
I thought Lily would make a joke, but instead her face smushed up for a second, and she said, “Actually . . . I am too.”
Then it was just Simon and me, in the near-dark driveway. His hands were shoved in his pockets. “Lex? I don’t think you’re well enough to—” he began, but I cut him off.
“Don’t tell me how I’m feeling, Simon. You have sisters; you should know