“We don’t know and we’re not lying,” Florence said, taking over. “In the last Ceremonial, the gods spoke of different places of death. We sent her spirit to one of them. But they have not taught us yet how to find her, nor can we contact her. We just can’t. Like you. Every year when you do the Ceremonial for us, you’ll be able to ask the Darkness where that place is and how you can get her out. Sooner or later, it will give you the answer.”

“Is it a place of suffering?”

“Yes,” said Florence, coldly. “We have to ensure our protection and your commitment. You can’t leave her there, right? You have to look for her, and you have to come here to do it, in the Ceremonial. Perhaps you can look for her on your own, too, but that’s no business of ours. You only need to know that the answer you seek is here.”

Juan closed his eyes in a pretense of pain, but really he was studying the energy in the room to see if he could hurt them. When he approached Mercedes and Florence, he felt it. Something was protecting them, and it was powerful. He withdrew. When had they become so strong? The three of them had always been unremarkable as practical witches. Then he understood: it was his own power shrinking, so that what had seemed minimal before was now significant and potent. The conditions were evening out. As though in a dream, he heard Stephen’s voice:

If you eliminate them, they’ll never be able to tell you what they did with Rosario. Don’t hurt them.

It’s in the texts, they say. I can read the texts.

They’ll have that particular text well hidden. We can find it, but only if you stay calm. You have other ways of looking for her that they don’t know about. Don’t forget that. We’ll find her.

Juan had nothing to say. So, Rosario was in the Darkness. In a way. The demon hadn’t lied, of course, and neither had he interpreted its answer entirely incorrectly. He had only lacked information.

“It’s our way of ensuring that you will return and that you will continue summoning, because if you don’t, you’ll be abandoning her there,” Florence continued. “And it also ensures that you will agree to attempt the Rite with your son when it becomes necessary.”

“And that you will give us all the guidance so we can all perform it successfully ourselves,” added Mercedes. “Thus far, only the medium can perform the Rite. We cannot let anything interrupt the process.”

“Rosario could have interrupted it,” said Juan. “You thought she would have that power over me, that she would want to protect her son.”

There was no reply. Juan went on: “Mercedes, you have no children left to move your consciousness into.

Mercedes smiled. “Juan, that headache has left you stupid. I don’t have my daughter, but I do have my grandson.”

“Gaspar’s body is mine.”