Page 10 of The Demon's Spell

“You know I’m in after what they did to Amy,” Mandy stated.

“Same,” Miles agreed.

“Before we tell you what we know, I suggest we take a witch’s vow,” Lucas said.

I furrowed my brow. I’d never heard of it. “How does that work?”

“It’s a potion that seals promises,” Grant explained. “We each present a strand of hair and drink the potion. If you break the promise… you die.”

“That actually seems very useful to the priestesses,” I pointed out. “Why don’t they use it, especially at priestess induction ceremonies? They could’ve used a witch’s vow to make sure I wouldn’t betray them.”

“The coven doesn’t like to use them,” Chloe said. “They’re a lot like demon contracts and fae deals. Specific wording can be used to trick and manipulate people. But in this case, I think Lucas is right. This is serious, and we need to know we can trust each other.”

“I’m in,” Miles agreed. “We just have to make sure we word it right.”

Grant conjured a pile of Alchemy supplies so large items began spilling onto the floor. “I can get started on the brew. It should only take a few minutes.”

He went to the alchemy station and lit the burner.

Lucas took out a sheet of paper. “How do we word this promise?”

“It should be as simple as possible,” I suggested. “We agree to keep this room and everything we talk about in it a secret.”

“That’s too rigid,” Mandy said. “It’s why a witch’s vow can be just as dangerous as a demon deal. Are you sure about this? We don’t accidentally want to kill anyone by getting the wording wrong.”

“I’m sure I don’t want the priestesses getting their hands on information,” I said.

Mandy pressed her lips together. “All right. How about this? By my life or death, I vow to protect the coven and do what I believe will be for the good of all.”

“That’s exactly what we’re going for,” Lucas said, scribbling it down.

“I’m almost done,” Grant announced, tossing in a few more herbs that made the cauldron bubble. “All that’s left is a strand of hair from each of us to seal the deal.”

We all gathered around the alchemy station, and one by one, we plucked a hair off our heads and tossed it into the brew. It bubbled each time.

Grant conjured several potion vials and ladled the potion into each one, then handed one to each of us. “Together, we’ll recite the promise, then drink the potion at the same time. We will be bound by the vow to protect the coven together.”

“Here it is,” Lucas said, setting his piece of paper on the counter so we could all see. “Ready?”

We spoke the vow in unison. “By my life or death, I vow to protect the coven and do what I believe will be for the good of all.”

We drank our potion, and it went down easily. When we finished, we gathered around the meeting table again.

“Thank you everyone for agreeing to be a part of this,” I said. “As we’ve all taken the vow, you deserve to know what we’re up against. The priestesses have tasked me with finding the Oaken Wands. They exist. A single Wand can attract the magic of its Cast, but we need all five Wands to redistribute it. The Wands are stronger together, and they’re the only way to end the Waning. The priestesses plan to use them to control the coven’s magic. They’ve summoned a demon to find the Wands. When we went searching for answers, we were given a message from beyond. This demon has been to Octavia Falls before. Our goal is to gather enough information to banish him from the coven before he can raise hell. Meanwhile, we need to find the Oaken Wands before the priestesses get their hands on them.”

“And we need to protect as many people as we can in the process,” Lucas added.

Chloe crossed her arms. “You know my grandmother will kill anyone she has to in order to get her hands on those Wands.”

“Yes, and we have to do all this without being caught by the Executors,” I said.

“What do we do about the fact that the Miriamic Messenger is calling to have Nadine removed from the Imperium Council?” Grant asked.

Thank the Goddess I didn’t read the whole article. I’d have lost my shit. “They can’t do that,” I said. “There’s no one to replace me. The law requires that I stand on the council.”

“The priestesses make the laws,” Grant pointed out. “They can change them.”

“We also don’t know how long you’ll be the only Curse Breaker,” Talia added. “People turn nineteen and get their magic every day. You may not be the only Curse Breaker for long.”