Her snowy white hair thickened and darkened to the shade of midnight, lengthening as the springy curls became defined. The skin of her forehead smoothed and the heavy lines by her eyes and bracketing her mouth disappeared. Her cheeks and lips plumped as her jawline became defined. Her body shuddered, her back straightening and her shoulders lifting. The chest of the bright pink shirt lifted and the dark spots along the hand still holding the champagne flute vanished as if someone had taken an eraser to them.

My jaw was still on the floor when she tipped her head back and the lines around her throat faded. She swallowed, lowering her head.

Her eyebrows were the last to change. They thinned and darkened, following the graceful curve of her brow bone, and now I was staring at someone who appeared to be no older than her late twenties or early thirties.

Someone who was stunningly gorgeous.

The Crone placed the empty glass on the table. “Why age gracefully when you can erase the years with a drink and a spell?”

I closed my mouth, having literally nothing to say in response to what I just witnessed.

She smiled, her gaze flicking between the two of us as she rose from the chair with the fluidity of someone who didn’t look like they’d break a hip. “It’s time for me to leave.”

“Okay,” I mumbled.

“I wish you both blessings in the battles to come,” she said.

I found myself standing beside Zayne. Battles? As in plural? Zayne steered me around, his hand on my lower back.

“Trueborn?” she called, and I stopped, looking over my shoulder. “He may not be your Protector, but he is still a source of your strength. Remember that when the snow falls.”

“Well, that was interesting,” Zayne said once we returned to the Impala. “And not at all expected.”

I let out a shaky laugh. “Yeah. Wow. Your feathers are like a...a mommy makeover.”

“I don’t think that was just my feather,” he pointed out, looking over at me. The lines of his face were barely visible in the shadowy interior. “I’m just glad that’s what she used my feather for.”

“Same,” I agreed. “I still can’t believe I just saw that. At first, I thought it was my eyes.”

“You and me both.” He reached over, fixing the twisted hem of my shirt. “I felt like she was telling us something important, but I’m too stupid to figure out what it was.”

“She makes being vague an art form. The battles to come? As in more than one? I really hope that was just for dramatic effect because I really want to take a vacay after we defeat Gabriel.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on.” He tugged lightly on my shirt. “I’m sure there are people and places you want to see.”