Chapter 43

Dominic’s POV

“You’re playing with fire, Dominic,” Olivia said as the old woman lit another bundle of herbs, releasing a thick, pungent smoke into the air. “But I think you already know that.” She did not mean the literal fire in front of us, but the truth that would arise after this.

However, I was not sure if it was the smoke or her words that made my stomach churn. My instincts were screaming at me to stop, to leave, but the nagging doubt Olivia had planted refused to be silenced in my head. I needed answers.

The old woman — “the seer,” Olivia called her, was crouched on the floor of a dimly lit room at the back of Olivia’s house. The space reeked of aged wood, dried herbs, and something metallic, like blood. Candles flickered from every corner with their flames casting eerie shadows that seemed to dance with a life of their own.

“What exactly are we doing here?” I asked.

The seer did not look up, her attention was fixed on the symbols she was drawing on the floor with what looked