Stevie pets the snake, which I didn’t even know you could fucking pet a snake. She tilts Blair’s chin back with her thumb and pours a dark gray substance into her mouth. “Blood replenishing potion,” she tells me as she shuts Blair’s mouth and says something under her breath, causing her to swallow.

“For fuck’s sake, I’ve never seen Blair this weak in my life, now it’s twice in one week. I don’t like this.” Stevie looks flustered as she rubs soothing circles on Blair’s arm.

“I spoke to the witch who owns that shitty shop on Main Street.”

“Martha? What did she say?” Stevie asks, arching an eyebrow.

“She said that Blair’s mother is in hiding and something about how she’s,”—I nod toward Blair—“ strong enough.”

Stevie looks down at Blair’s sleeping body. “Clover said something about someone telling Josie that the sacrifice had to happen, that if they did it, the coven would be stronger.”

“Was the coven getting weaker?”

Stevie nods her head. “It’s actually kind of odd. Blair and I are really the only ones who haven’t noticed any kind of depletion. But in general, yeah, the coven is weaker. That’s why we have the moon rituals. Then slowly throughout the month, the other members of the coven feel weaker.”

“How does Blair feel after the ritual?”

Her brows furrow. “Weakened.”

“They must pull from her power. Is that bitch still in the basement?” I ask her.

“Clover? Yeah, why?”

“Let’s go have a little chat.”

Stevie doesn’t even question it. She looks down at Fez. “Let us know if she wakes up?”

The snake nods its freaky little head and makes me shiver. I give Blair one last concerned glance as I follow the red-headed witch down to the basement. She opens the door and as I go to enter, I’m blocked by an invisible wall, making me growl in frustration.

“Shit. Blair is so much better at wards than I am.”

“Blood?” I ask, just as a guess because that’s how I was allowed in the house.

“We can try,” Stevie says, conjuring a needle and pricking my finger and saying an incantation as the droplet splashes against the floor.

I can feel the wards open and we walk through the door. Clover looks disgusting, mousey, in the same clothes Blair and I took her in. It smells musty and stale in the room. I grimace at her, and she looks at me with wide eyes.

“You!” she shouts, pushing her body to the headboard. I guess Blair knew her wards were strong enough, and she didn’t need to be tied up. “You helped her kidnap me!”

“Actually, you’re an adult. It’s an abduction,” I say, planting my ass on the corner of the bed. “We have some questions for you, Clover.” I glare at her.