“I used to get Bridget into all kinds of trouble,” Roy says wistfully. “Until Ma made me start training with her as an outlet for my, uh, emotions.”

Elaine rolls her eyes. “You mean your temper?”

Roy slings an arm over her shoulders. “Still mad about that bedspread?”

“You set it on fire!” Elaine pushes his arm off. “Do you know how long that took me to make? If it weren’t for that ghost I’d been chatting with, my whole room would have gone up in flames.”

I try to imagine my mom hanging out with the Ballinkays. It’s surreal to hear them talk about her like this. They had whole lives together once, lives I’ll never hear them talk about thanks to Kaden and his boss.

A little of that anger comes flaring back, and I peer down at my hands as if I can see the power swirling in my veins. Up until now, I’ve been waiting for Liam to return, hoping I’ll have information for him when I do. But now I have the power to do something myself.

The next time I see Kaden, I won’t just be asking questions.

Animosity, I think. Deep-seated dislike or ill will.

Rancor. Enmity.

Revenge.

All words for the feeling roaring to life inside me. But first I need to learn how to use my powers.

“Anyway,” Elaine says, turning her back on Roy’s apologetic grin. “As I said, bonding to the journal awakened your magic. It was there before, but dormant.”

“Think fast.” Roy tosses a rock at me. I snatch it out of the air lightning fast, marveling at my own speed.

“Enhanced reflexes, speed, and strength are part of the basic Raven package,” Roy says. “Your powers will grow stronger the older you get.”

“What’s this for, then?” Anna peers down at the journal. “Other than awakening his powers. And why couldn’t he read it before?”

The pages are unlined and crammed full of cursive in various hands, plopped in at every angle to fill the space. Bits of paper and folded notes are taped onto the edges, and the bottom right corner boasts a drawing of a floating, ghostly ball of light, pulsing like a beacon.

Elaine picks up the journal. “A lot of Ravens glamour their journals. If I remember right, your parents had a particularly tricky one on this. It was glamoured so you could only read it if you knew what it was.”

She flips through the pages to show us different drawings. Each page is dedicated to a topic, from dealing with faeries and dybbukim to cultivating the most potent rowanberries.

“These journals are magical, and they’re full of information on everything from supernatural creatures to spells to herbology,” she explains. “Whatever information that family’s line has gathered ends up here, and each member of the family bonds to it, then uses it on hunts and to store magical objects.”