The good news was, I knew exactly where I was going. I walked around the compound to get to the building in the back. It was slightly bigger than the others, but had no windows. No chimney either. I peeked inside the open doorway, but didn’t see any auras. Nothing white and glowing.

I closed my eyes and rubbed them. Again, nothing.

No. This was wrong. I knew it was in there. I’d seen the aura not fifteen minutes ago. It couldn’t be gone.

I squinted inside, but it was too dark to see much. A mountain of books piled on the floor. I spotted some mixings for potions. But the altar…

Unlit candles crowded its surface. Even though I couldn’t make out the surrounding shapes, I knew something was off about this one. Odd-shaped lumps covered its surface, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what they were. Especially since it smelled like something had died in there.

I held my breath as I focused in on my magic, feeling it ignite within my soul. “Fire hotter than the sun, give me light where there is none.”

The candles flared as my magic filled the room.

Oh God. It smelled like something had died because something had.

Many things.

What I’d hoped was a lumpy blanket was actually the remains of a few guinea pigs. A magic circle was carved into the ground, with a pentagram in the center. The remains of old candles were piled up on top of each other at each point of the star.

I held my hand over my mouth, and tried not to throw up. Whatever these mages were up to, I wanted no part of it, but I couldn’t turn back. No matter how grossed out I was, the thing I needed was here. It had to be.

I quickly warded myself to keep negative energy away, and stepped through the doorway. The slimy sensation was the same as crossing the threshold into Father Valentine’s house. I only had a few moments before the Fathers came to find me.

I ran to the pile of books and scanned the titles. Demon Casting. Spells of Light and Dark. Herbs of Witchery. More than a few of the books sounded helpful, but my little purse wouldn’t hold much of anything. I had to pick one book. Just one.

“God above, give me luck. Help me out so I’m not stuck.”

I reached for a book, and knocked over three more.

Way to backfire, spell.

I knelt down on the floor to pile up the dropped books and a flash of white caught my eye. A glow came from inside a book that had fallen under the bookcase. I never would’ve seen it, but now that I was down here, I knew without doubt that this was the key to finding exactly what I needed.