“We were out late last night canvasing the town for signs of Kaden,” Roy explains to my questioning look. “No luck.”

“Do you think he left?” Anna asks hopefully. “Or is he just biding his time until Samhain?”

“Liam really wounded his boss,” I tell her. “Maybe he’s taking care of him? That would explain why they aren’t attacking until Samhain. Maybe he needs time to recover, and he’ll be strong enough to fight on Samhain.”

“Could be.” Elaine yawns, then takes a huge sip of coffee. “Nora’s heading into town this morning to ask around with Gran. Maybe they’ll turn something up.”

It makes me nervous not knowing what Kaden’s up to, but right now, the only thing I can do is focus on learning how to use my powers.

“Can I see the journal?” Elaine holds out her hand, where a spiderweb tattoo traces the veins of her wrist, each line transitioning smoothly into looping cursive up her muscled bicep.

I offer it reluctantly, feeling oddly possessive.

“Yup, this is a true-blue Raven journal,” she says, tracing the trinity knot with her finger.

“Raven journal?” I ask.

“They’re special notebooks that belong to Ravens,” Elaine responds. When she flips it open, only blank pages stare back. “Have you bonded with it?”

“Bonded?”

Her entire forehead arches upward and she takes on a reciting tone. “These journals store power they gather from all sorts of magical sources. There are several ways for a Raven to awaken their magic, but the simplest is to bond with the journal.”

“Elaine’s a magical researcher,” Anna says to my impressed look. Now that sounds like a career I could get behind.

“I think the term you’re looking for is know-it-all,” Roy says as his cooling coffee suddenly starts steaming at twice the rate.

Elaine ignores him and points to the trinity knot on the cover. “Put your hand on the cover and repeat after me.” I do as she says, spreading my palm across the symbol.

She begins a spell in Irish, speaking slowly and enunciating each word as carefully as she can, and I do my best to repeat them. By the time she finishes, nothing’s happened, and I feel foolish. Did they make a mistake? Maybe my parents never told me about their past because I didn’t inherit their Raven powers.

Then the trinity symbol begins to glow.

She lets go, but the journal stays stuck to my hand. The light twirls around my fingers, snaking its way in little rivulets around my wrist and up my arm. It feels buzzy and warm.

“Effervescent,” I mutter to myself.

“What?” Anna asks.

I grin. “Fizzy. That’s how it feels.”

Then the light reaches my shoulder and dives into the spot above my heart.

I gasp, expecting pain, but it’s as gentle as a breeze. The light fades and the journal drops to the grass.