Less than a week was a frighteningly small amount of time to prepare for a gathering of the seven most powerful people in the world. Maybe they weren't the MOST powerful, but they were close. Adriana had choked me out without touching me and Kozakura could create imaginary dreamscapes--assuming those were any indicator of the power family heads wielded, then a veritable storm was descending on the meager offices of the Elm family.

Elm witches rushed about, cleaning and preparing the ...