“Not personally, no. But I know demons. Honestly, they’re pretty much all the same. He’s worse—and more powerful—than most, but…” She shrugged. “Look. You gotta trust me. You guys came all this way for my help. I wouldn’t suggest anything that would make your situation worse.”
She was right. We’d come to her for help, and if we weren’t up to taking her advice, then we were wasting everyone’s time. I had to trust her. I’d told her the whole story and she was the expert.
I started forward, but Dastien grabbed my hand. Are you sure about this?
She’s right. Why would we come here if we weren’t going to trust her enough to let her try to help us?
“Cut it out, dude,” Samantha said.
“Sorry. It’s habit,” I answered her but didn’t look away from Dastien. I needed a second just in case this went to shit. I trusted what Samantha said, but I was scared. My heart was hammering so hard my chest felt like it was about to explode. This was either going to work or it was going to be bad. As in totally fucked up.
He pulled me closer and I brushed a kiss along his lips. A battle waged in him. He wanted to throw me over his shoulder, run, and never look back.
But we couldn’t. I let go of my mate and stepped into the circle. “Let’s do this.” I was proud with how steady my voice sounded.
Samantha gave me a tight smile. “Great. Let me just get everything else ready.” She hauled her tote bag into the center of the circle and pulled out four white candles. She went around the room, giving them to the guys, before going back to the bag. “And a match.” She pulled the long stick out and handed it to Lucas. “Strike it anywhere.”
He took it with a nod.
Claudia looked at her mate and then leaned in to him. There was a bit of silence as they talked through their bond and then he gave her a big kiss. I looked away, giving them a bit of privacy.
You’re scared. Dastien said.
Nervous, but that’s normal. I mean, I can’t be any worse off than I already am. Right? So, nothing to lose. I just hoped I was right. Claudia’s nerves were making mine worse. A lot worse.
“You guys!” Samantha said. “Again with the silent talking?”
“Sorry. It’s a habit. I’ll try to remember.” I rubbed my sweaty hands on my jeans. “What’s next?”
Samantha was digging a few more small items out of her bag. She placed a small cast iron bowl next to her and then started emptying little zippies of dried plants in it. “As soon as Claudia gets in here, the guys will light the candles. I’m going to burn some herbs—mostly sage, but a few other things, too—just to try and keep things at least neutral, and I have some crystals somewhere in here…” The contents of the bag clanked as she dug around. “Why is it always—Oh. Here we go.” She held a crystal out to me. “Celestite for purifying.” She showed me a light blue crystal that looked clear as glass. “Amethyst spirit quartz. Really good for detoxifying the spirit, which you need. Like whoa.” The last one was a light pinkish-purple chunk made up of a cluster of tiny little crystals.
She dropped all of them into my hand, and I stared down at them.
They felt warm, but I didn’t know anything about crystals. If they worked, I was going to have to look into them.
“And finally, one last one. I just picked this one up downstairs.” Samantha pulled it out of her pocket. “A Herkimer diamond.” My eyes grew wide and she laughed. “Not that kind of diamond. It’s a type of quartz. It’s especially good with someone like you—who needs more of a psychic cleansing.”
“Good call.” I took the last one from her. “I could’ve used something like this for a while.”
She turned to Claudia. “And for you, a celestite, amethyst spirit, and moonstone. The moonstone should calm you a bit. You’ve had a lot on your plate for a while now, so…” She dropped them into Claudia’s hands as she stepped into the circle. I thought that something would happen when she crossed the line painted on the floor, but nothing happened.
Everyone was
quiet for a second and I caught Adrian shrugging at Chris. I guessed I wasn’t alone in thinking that just by us standing in the circle together, Astaroth would come. But the circle wasn’t active yet. So, there was still plenty of time for everything to go to wrong.
“What’s first?” Samantha snapped her fingers. “Right. Gotta clear those crystals or they won’t do you any good.” She squatted back down and grabbed out a match, scratching along the floor, sparking into flame. Then she grabbed out two bunches of sage and lit them.
“You have to do the crystal clearing yourself,” she said as she held out the bunches for us.
“Anything in particular I should say?” I asked. I’d gotten much better at magic-y stuff, but I’d never done anything with crystals before. This was too important to mess up.
“Whatever you’re feeling. I agree with the witches on that front. The words don’t matter, but you have to cleanse the crystals or else they’ll have the energy of everyone who touched them before you. Which I’m sure you appreciate the implications of, Tessa.”
“For sure.” I took the burning sage from her and sat. The scent of the sage overpowered everything in the room, but I didn’t mind it. Especially since it was going to help me.
“You just want to make sure what you’re saying and feeling is that the crystals are clear of whatever came before and only hold good intentions for you,” Samantha said.
Claudia blew out the flame on the sage and started her chant. “Cleanse these crystals, remove the past. I’ve found my happiness at long last. Fill this space with joy and love. Send blessings from above.”