Did you just read my mind?

Your face, witchling. I choose not to speak to you this way because I know you loathe any intimacy between us.

I swallowed. He was right. It was intimate.

Good. Keep it that way.

I turned my back on him, ignoring his low laugh, and narrowed my eyes as Gloria walked in.

Samael’s hand stroked along my lower back as he walked past, and I attempted to ignore what his possessive touch did to my stomach.

“I heard you have need of a spell,” she said, smiling at the boys.

Gloria had to be in her seventies or eighties, but she walked with a spring in her step. Her gray, curly hair was braided back from her face, and she wore a gray pantsuit and sensible heels. Gloria was a black witch, and her power crawled through the room, raising the hair on the back of my neck.

I hadn’t liked her when I found out Samael had allowed her near my unconscious body— I hadn’t much liked him either— and I still didn’t like her. Unlike Hannah— another black witch who’d helped me in the past— there was something about Gloria that rubbed me the wrong way. While Hannah made no secret of the fact that she was a black witch, Gloria had the innocent old lady act down.

She smiled at me and I bared my teeth. If she hurt the kids, scared them in any way, she was dead. My power felt like an ocean of lava as it lapped against my shields, and Samael sent me a warning look.

I walked over to the sofa and sat next to Zip. He grinned at me, shooting Gloria a suspicious look. Cil eyed her with interest.

“Which one of you boys is the bravest?” she asked, and I scowled at her. I opened my mouth, but Evie was on it.

“They’re both brave. They stayed silent while someone was attacking their dad because they knew he wanted them to be safe.”

Gloria ignored Evie, her gaze on the kids. I turned to them and attempted an encouraging smile.

“Did Evie explain how the spell works?”

They both nodded. “Okay, great. You don’t have to do this, and no one will be disappointed if you choose not to.”

“Will it help you find out who hurt our dad?” Zip asked.

“It might. But he wouldn’t want you to do anything that makes you scared, and we have plenty of other ways we can investigate, okay?”

“I’ll do it,” Cil said. “I’m not afraid.”