“I think it advisable,” Druscilla is saying, “given the hostility you have spoken of when this spirit is present, that we try only to summon him in voice.”

“I agree. His visual presence would be distracting and would somehow make him more threatening.”

“Make no mistake, a Dark Spirit can still be extremely dangerous, even when he is here in his most ethereal form.”

“I understand.”

Druscilla pauses. In the darkness I can sense that she is looking at me as only she can.

“Are you frightened, child?” she asks.

I have to fight to keep the tremor out of my voice. “Nervous, perhaps. Anxious to deal with this … situation.”

“You are right to acknowledge the seriousness of being haunted by someone from the Darkness. Particularly now, with the Sentinels threatening our coven. And if it is true that they are somehow using this spirit … well, that is a grave situation. Imagine how difficult it would be to maintain any secret, let alone the Great Secret, for any length of time, if they have managed to find a Dark Spirit to infiltrate our thoughts. But fear not, we are well prepared. All will be well.”

We ready ourselves by reciting the Lazarus creed and a prayer to Hekate for protection. Then we sit in silence. In the treacly blackness I can hear my own blood pulsing through my veins, my heart thudding a little faster than it should, the air dragging in and out of my lungs. I empty my mind, letting down my guard, an open invitation for the Dark Spirit to visit. Druscilla, meanwhile, is silently summoning him as best she can without knowing his identity. She suspects he is a witch or sorcerer of some kind, and I have told her I think him very ancient, but it is not much to go on. Without more specific information it will be very easy for him to resist the summoning, however skillfully done.

We need not have worried. He does not wait to be summoned, but springs into my mind the instant my barriers are lowered.

I knew you would come to me, little sister, I knew you would seek me out.

Druscilla hears my gasp.

“Is he with you, Lilith?”

“He is.”

You had no need to bring the crone. If you wish to talk to me you have only to let me into your feverish little mind.

“I do wish to talk to you tonight. Now, here, at the moment and place of my choosing, not whenever it suits you in my private life.” I speak aloud so that Druscilla will be privy to at least half the conversation. It is quite likely she will also be able to pick up the spirit’s voice, she is so attuned to the Land of Night. It depends how strongly he resists her.