Holding the book at reading height, he rifled through it, a scholarly air about him. “I can break a familiar bond as easy as snapping your neck. You, though, will have to do it the hard way; I’m not going to waste a stored curse on you. And since I’ll not have you knowing how to break familiar bonds, we will add a little something…. Here it is. Lilac wine. It starts with lilac wine.” His eyes met mine over the book. “For you.”

A flash of cold went through me as he beckoned me out of the circle, a small, smoky purple bottle appearing behind his long fingers.

I took a quick breath. “You’ll break the bonds and leave?” I said. “Nothing extra?”

“Rachel Mariana Morgan,” he admonished. “Do you think so little of me?”

I glanced at Ceri, and she nodded for me to go. Trusting her, not Al, I stepped forward. She broke the circle as I did, setting it in place immediately behind me.

He uncorked the bottle, pouring out a glimmering drop of amethyst into a tiny cut crystal cup the size of my thumb. Putting a gloved finger to his thin lips, he extending it. Grimacing, I took it. My heart pounded. I had no choice.

Coming close with an eagerness I didn’t trust, he showed me the open book. It was in Latin, and he pointed at a handwritten set of instructions. “See this word?” he said.

I took a breath. “Umb—”

“Not yet!” Al shouted, making me start, heart pounding. “Not until the wine coats your tongue, stupid. My god, you think you’d never twisted a curse before!”

“I’m not a ley line witch!” I exclaimed, my voice harsher than it probably should be.

Al’s eyebrows rose. “You could be.” His eyes went to the glass in my grip. “Drink it.”

I glanced at Ceri. At her encouragement, I let the tiny amount pass my lips. It was sweet, making my tongue tingle. I could feel it seeping into me, relaxing my muscles. Al tapped the book, and I looked down. “Umbra,” I said, holding the drop on my tongue.

The wild sweetness went sour. “Auck,” I said, leaning forward to spit it out.

“Swallow…” Al warned softly, and I started when he clamped a hand under my chin and tilted my head back so I couldn’t open my mouth.

Eyes tearing, I swallowed. My pounding heart echoed in my ears. Al leaned closer, his eyes going black as he loosened his grip on me and my head drooped. My muscles went loose and watery, and when he let go of me, I fell to the floor.