“Let’s go.” I’m already on my way out, passing beneath the enormous blue-and-silver banner hanging above the doors.

A convoluted Hannunvaakuna embroidered in black thread adorns the center of it. I doubt the old symbol for luck and good fortune has any chance of protecting us from chaos magic. And the sigils on my windows certainly won’t do much if the threat’s already inside my own home.

13

Contrary to what many of the less magically inclined believe, summonings don’t require a Ouija board, incense, or candles of any specific color. All it takes is someone willing to channel a ton of energy and then use that energy to form a bridge between the worlds. It’s that magical bridge that whatever you’re summoning will temporarily use to cross over. Emphasis on temporarily. Sounds simple enough—and it is, but being simple doesn’t mean being safe.

Trying to pull anything permanently across the veil disrupts the natural order of things. Same as trying to bring someone dead back to life. That’s chaos magic.

What we’re doing is absolutely not chaos magic. Not even close. Not even if a liekkiö is technically a ghost.

Sure about that? The little voice pipes up as I lead the way through the forest.

Aysha illuminates our path, humming the sparks from Ekaterina’s fingers into glowing orbs above our heads. The light is enough to navigate by, but hopefully not bright enough to draw any unwanted attention. At this time of night, no one should be hanging out in the woods anyway. I shudder, remembering the scream I heard the other afternoon. I take a surreptitious step closer to Morgan.

Musti, Rekku, and Kamu flit between the branches, croaking in disapproval.

Ekaterina plays with the pendant dangling around her neck. The metal glints in the flickering light above our heads, the emblem of her thunder-god ancestor Perun barely visible. It’s as much a symbol of protection as it is a declaration of her genetics.

“Are the crows really necessary?” she asks and drops her hand when she catches me staring. “They creep me out.”

“You have your pendant, I have the crows.” It’s not like I can do anything about the birds anyway.

“They’re spelled by their mom,” Sini adds.

“Your mom?” Morgan asks.

“You know how some people have familiars,” Sini answers before I can. “In Finland, the tietäjät have apueläimiä—animal helpers.”

“Our family has always had crows,” I say as we approach the lake.

“Mine has salamanders,” Sini says.

“Salamanders are cool.” Morgan smiles, and I swallow the desire to point out how slimy and gross amphibians are and how much smarter crows are—Kamu not included.

“Urgh, we’re going to get filthy.” Aysha grimaces as she toes the soggy ground.

“Terrible things might be happening to Natalie, but it would be a real tragedy if your jeans got muddy,” I snap.