The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter #1)(37)

A concealment spell is very difficult magic. It calls for a strong enchantment on not just one object, but two: the thing being concealed as well as the thing that links the concealed object to its illusion. Most wizards don’t have the ability to execute a spell like that. If Nicholas is cursed—dying, even—and can still manage it…

I’m suddenly wishing for those weapons again.

“I’ll let her know we’re here,” Nicholas says. “Stay here until I call for you.”

He walks to the narrow wooden front door and scratches a soft knock. After a moment the door opens and Nicholas disappears inside. Minutes pass. I’m starting to get fidgety when Nicholas finally comes back out. He crooks his finger, beckoning us to come inside.





THE HOUSE IS DIMLY LIT as we enter. A small sitting room, sparsely furnished. A table in one corner with a couple of stools, a single bench, a few lit candles scattered on the surface. On the other side of the room is a fireplace. There’s wood inside, only it’s not lit. I wrap my arms tightly around myself.

“The ritual requires the house to be as cold as possible.” Nicholas gestures to the dark fireplace. “We’ll light it again after. Come. Meet Veda. You three, wait here.”

He beckons me toward the only other door in the cottage. It’s open slightly, revealing yet another dimly lit room. Fifer hops onto the table; George settles on the bench and pulls out a deck of cards. I glance at John, still standing beside me. He nods and gives an encouraging smile.

Nicholas and I walk into the room, and a woman approaches us.

“Avis, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is Avis. Veda’s mother.”

Veda’s mother? I take another look at her. She’s got brown hair tied back in a knot, no gray in it at all. She gives me a bland smile—no wrinkles around her eyes, either. She’s twenty-five, if that.

“And this is Veda,” Nicholas says. I look around but don’t see her. “Look down,” he tells me, and I do. Before me stands a tiny little girl. She looks to be around five years old. My eyes go round with surprise.

I crouch down to take a better look at her. Long brown hair, huge brown eyes. She smiles at me, and I notice she’s missing her two bottom teeth.

“Hello,” she pipes. “I know you already. I saw you in my head! I’m glad they finally found you. They kept looking for some ugly, old lady. But you’re not ugly at all!”

“Well… thank you,” I say, and Nicholas laughs.

“Veda, now that Elizabeth is here, we need you to tell us what she’s supposed to do.” It’s a careful choice of words. Nothing at all about needing me to find something for him. “Can you do that?”

Veda nods.

There’s a single wide bed pushed into the corner of the room, and next to it is a small table covered with a clean white cloth. On top is a scrying mirror, surrounded by six flickering candles. The elaborate silver frame is dull and choked with tarnish, but the glass is clear: deep, black, infinite.

Nicholas takes out five round, flat objects from his cloak and places one at each corner of the table, the last one in front of the mirror. Each stone is inscribed with a different symbol, runes by the looks of it. Finally, he sets down a small hourglass.

“Are you ready?” Nicholas asks Veda.

“Yes,” she crows, hopping into a chair.

“Elizabeth.” Nicholas turns to me. “Please stand back. Veda shouldn’t be able to see any shadows inside the mirror.”

I move to the far wall of the bedroom, by the window. Nicholas settles into a chair beside Veda, and Avis hands him a sheaf of parchment and a pen.

“We’re going to need absolute silence,” he tells me. “No matter what you hear, you’ve got to remain silent. Do you understand?”

My stomach gives a little tug of unease. “Yes.”

Nicholas clears his throat and begins speaking, reciting some sort of poem. He repeats it, over and over in a low monotone. Despite the cold in the room, I feel myself grow warm and relaxed. It has the same effect on Veda. Her little head droops forward, nearly touching the table. She sits like this for a moment, and I wonder vaguely if she’s fallen asleep. Then she jerks her head up. Her eyes are wide open as she stares into the mirror.

“What is your name?” Nicholas asks her.

“Veda,” she intones.

“How old are you?”

“Five.”

“What did you tell me, last time I was here?”

“Look beyond what you see, to one made blind.

The thing you seek only she can find.

Betrayed, sent to a place of no return,

Elizabeth Grey, forsaken to burn.”



At those words, I give a little gasp. But Nicholas turns to me, his finger on his lips. Then he tips the hourglass over. I watch the tiny grains of sand trickle to the other side.

“What is she supposed to find?”

Silence.

“Can you tell me where it is?”

Silence.

“How much time do we have?” Nicholas presses. His pen hovers over the paper, but he hasn’t written a thing. The sand is a quarter way through the hourglass now. I’m about to dismiss this entire scene as a joke when she finally speaks.

“Upon this stone are etched meters of death.

From you it will draw your very last breath.