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I grimaced at the pool of brown liquid dripping from the table. “This should smell, right? Why doesn’t she smell?”

Evie wiggled her fingers. “Magic.”

“Right.” I wanted to look away so badly, but I couldn’t seem to drag my eyes away from the body. “I must have injured Mom way more than I thought.”

“I don’t think she ever fully healed from what happened the first time.” Evie frowned. “A normal witch, even one who’s draining youth and magic from another, should not be able to live through two catastrophic events like she has. The bitch just keeps getting away.”

Frustration was evident in Evie’s voice. “How does she keep escaping?”

A gust of cool wind, scented of wild things, came from behind. It took every bit of willpower I had not to flinch at his unexpected arrival. I knew him. I was safe. Evie was beside me. This was home.

“She has help,” Cernunnos said.

We both turned. His eyes were only for me. They scraped down my face to my feet and back up again, searching for any sign of injury or hurt. The only wounds I carried were on the inside now. I offered him a small smile.

“That’s what we think, too,” Evie said. “But who has the kind of magic that heals near-mortal wounds so quickly?” Her eyes widened. “Besides one of us?”

Cernunnos’s nod was grim. “Exactly. One of our kind aids your mother, Moira. Though I cannot figure out who. We must assume whoever this is has dark magics available to them, and they can easily access them without taking harm.”

Evie shook her head. “There aren’t any death gods that I know of.”

Cernunnos shook his head. “Most of us have the ability to cause harm with our magic, but there are few who use necromancy. This body—” He gestured to the corpse on the table. “Whatever she did to power the spell required more than one death.”

Cernunnos leaned closer to the body, peering at the runes etched over her ruined skin. “Most of these symbols are unfamiliar to me.” He shook his head. “I have never used such things with my own power. Nature magic is more in tune with the world’s rhythms. Our power is intuitive.”

Evie nodded her agreement. “I can feel what needs to happen before I perform any magic. Other Floromancers don’t work the same as I do or the same way others of our kind do. I’m fae but also blessed with different gifts than many others. This magic repels me.”

She stepped away and wiped her hands on the thighs of her jeans. “It can’t be one of us,” she mused. “Unless we’ve been corrupted beyond all reason.”

“This magic is anathema to yours,” Cernunnos said. “I think whoever did this was born dark or able to use such influences when their magic first came in.”

“A trickster?” Evie suggested.

We’d dealt with one not too long ago, and he was a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t at this level of depravity.

“Maybe,” Cernunnos conceded, “but tricksters usually don’t dabble in death. Their aim is to cause mischief and sow discord. Not reanimate long-dead corpses or go after witches’ daughters.” His jaw clenched. “Something larger is at play here.”

“I have something I want both of you to look at when we get back to the house.” The creepy stuff I scraped off the cabin wall had turned the container cold to the touch, even through the tank top I’d wrapped it inside.

“Related to this?” Evie asked.

“Some. Remember that weird cocoon Mom trapped herself in?”

Cernunnos’s face turned dark at the memory. “Tell me you didn’t return to that place,” he said softly.

“I had to.”

“You had to do nothing but recover,” Cernunnos snapped.

Evie sucked air through her teeth and took a step back. “I’ll be in the house. Find me when you’re…” Her voice trailed off.

She pressed her lips together and scuttled away.

Coward.

I crossed my arms and stared at the god. “You don’t have the right to tell me what to do.”

A dozen emotions flashed over his face before finally settling on anger. “Your stubbornness is going to get you killed. I’ve already watched you die once. I will not do it again.”