Perhaps sheshouldhave found the courage to tell her husband every fear or worry of her heart. This doubt wasn’t for long, she reminded herself as she gathered up her courage to ask what she’d come here for. Mother would hopefully give her anything to ensure she didn’t return to the Seven Circles.
“I want to forget.”Lucia held her mother’s gaze.“I know you have a spell from the Crone. I want it. And I want to be left alone until I’m ready to come back.IfI’m ever ready.”
Her mother, to her credit, didn’t so much as bat an eye.“Where do you wish to go?”
Lucia let out a breath, thankful there would be no fight or argument. She’d given much thought to where she’d love to be, where her heart could mend and she could live the sort of life she desired.“Sicily.”
Mother’s expression turned calculating. Lucia knew it meant she was privately scheming and didn’t care. So long as Lucia got what she wanted, her mother could play out whatever game she wished. Mother stood and retrieved a small satchel from a hidden panel in the wall. She placed it in front of Lucia and tapped the buckle that held it together.“This package contains all you need to forget. Not just your heartache, but whatever you wish to leave behind.”
“And you just happened to have this lying around?”
“I’ve been prepared for this day since you first laid eyes on that demon and he sank his claws into your precious heart.”
Knowing the conversation would go nowhere, Lucia unlocked the leather strap and pulled the satchel open, surveying the strange assortment of items. A rough, rare piece of blue quartz from the Southern Hemisphere. Rolled-up parchment—with a spell for forgetting. And a dagger. One Lucia recognized at once.
It was legendary, an object hexed by her mother that could kill any creature, even a prince of Hell. The dagger was also rumored to break curses, but Lucia knew a secret about it that no one else did, save her mother. A secret that would either activate the blade or see it destroyed forever if done incorrectly.
“The Blade of Ruination? What will I need this for?”
“Silly, child.”Her mother tsked.“Protection. Do you think his pride will allow him to sit idly by as his wife makes a fool of him? Do you not think he’ll seek revenge?”
“He would never harm me or wish me ill.”Lucia stared at her mother in horror.“Do you truly think so little of him, even after all these years?”
“He might not cause you harm, Lucia, but I doubt he’ll let his wife vanish without searching for her. Did you leave a letter of explanation? Does he know you’re not coming back?”
Lucia’s eyes fluttered shut as shame pinked her cheeks. She’d tried to. She’d sat at her writing desk, ink pot ready, quill in hand, and couldn’t find the right words. Any words. It had been cowardly. Cruel, even. But instead of saying the wrong thing or writing all of her wants and worries and fears out for him to ultimately reject her, she simply left.
“One day he will find you.”Her mother’s tone was as steely as her expression.“He will remember all you do not. And I promise he will stop at nothing to win you back. His pride will see to that. Only you’ll be at a disadvantage, having forgotten him. Do you think he’ll be a devoted husband after that? You’ll have shamed him, bruised his legendary ego openly in front of his whole court. In front of the whole realm. And you won’t even remember.”
Lucia shook her head. She knew what her mother wasn’t saying—she disapproved of Lucia taking a tonic to forget. It wasn’t a smart battle tactic, and Mother considered witches and demons to constantly be at war. But the pain in Lucia’s chest, the acute, all-consuming grief, was too great to overcome; she couldn’t walk away from Pride if she remembered him.“I’ll take the dagger. Just see to it I never fall for another prince of Hell again.”
Mother’s gaze turned hard, like the hell-forged steel in Lucia’s hand.“When I’m through with the demons, I’ll make sure no witch ever falls for their lies. And they will hate us in return, so passionately they wouldn’t deign to fall in love with a witch again. That I vow on my life’s blood, daughter.”She whispered a summoning spell, and within moments another witch appeared. Lucia vaguely recognized her from one of the more powerful covens.“Maria, I have an assignment for you. You’re living in the Shifting Isles’ version of Palermo, correct?”
While Mother plotted with Maria, Lucia read over the spell. It was nothing more than an herbal tea blend, really. It would be easy to make. Even when she forgot why she was making it, she’d be able to pull the ingredients together. As she set the spell aside and picked up the roughened crystal, a steaming mug appeared before her. She glanced up, meeting the other witch’s kind eyes.
“Drink. It will help ease the pain, bambina.”
Lucia knew it was the first dose of the spelled tea. Knew that once she brought the porcelain to her lips, things would truly be over between her and Pride. Her mother didn’t speak, but Lucia felt her attention shift to her, almost in challenge. Lucia picked up the cup, pausing before she took that fateful first sip that would signal both the end and a new beginning for her.
“I want a new name. A new family. I want to forget everything except that I am a witch.”Lucia finally brought her focus to her mother’s.“And I do not wish to see you until I ask for you.”
There was a flash of what looked to be hurt in her mother’s face, there and gone in an instant.“Very well. Maria will monitor the situation from afar and will set you up with a family in a dark coven.”
The other witch nodded.“You’ll be well cared for.”
“Good.”Lucia nodded back—a quick jerk of her chin, then gulped the tea down in one, scalding shot. It took a few moments, but the heavy pressure on her chest lessened. Her muscles loosened. The sadness and despair lightened. If there had been something troubling her a moment ago, Lucia couldn’t recall what it was. Perhaps it had been a bad dream. She blinked at the crystal in her hand and the dagger on the table before her, her brow creasing.“What are these for?”
Maria gave her a sad smile.“You must never show this dagger to anyone. Never speak of it. It’s only to be used on the Wicked.”
“The Wicked?”Lucia’s heart pounded furiously. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think someone was manipulating her emotions. But that sort of power was supposed to be forbidden.“Who are they?”
An unfamiliar witch with strange starlight eyes slowly moved around the small wooden table. Power radiated off her, and Lucia fought a shudder.“The Wicked are bloodthirsty creatures known as princes of Hell. They seek to destroy you. To destroy all witches.”
“If you see one,”Maria added,“you must hide. And if they come for you…”
Lucia glanced down at the deadly-looking blade.“I must protect myself.”She inhaled deeply, feeling the truth settle inside her. The Wicked. Her mortal enemies. She prayed to the goddess she’d never encounter one but was thankful for the dagger just in case. Lucia picked up the rare blue crystal.“Is this a memory stone?”
The witch with starlight eyes nodded.“For your safety, you must purge your memories of this night now. I’ll give you a sleeping draught, and when you awake, Maria will have taken you home.”