“Lorelei, before you do anything to your brother, you might want to consider what you’d be losing if he was right and I am a tracker,” I said. “Because that’s what I am. A pretty skilled one, too.”
Her beady eyes held doubt in them. “How can I verify that?”
The words don’t and dangerous floated to the surface of my consciousness, but I ignored them. “Tell me something that you’ve lost that you had a real connection to. Something you’d want to find again.”
Nick’s sister’s expression morphed from haughty derision to thoughtful consideration. “My mother’s ring. It’s one of the few things she treasured. My father let me have it on my eighteenth birthday.”
If I had any compassion for the girl, I would ask her what happened to her mom. But since she’d threaten both of us, I stuck to my new plan. “Give me your hand and I will tell you where it is.”
“I’ve never heard of a tracker who could find things from a distance,” Lorelei doubted.
Neither had anyone else I knew. Mason and I had been testing the limits of my returned magic for a few months now, and I had been able to project my talents further than ever before. However, we’d kept it a secret even from Nana and Matt in order not to gain the kind of attention that might get back to my biological family. Revealing it now to this shrew put me at huge risk.
“Here’s what you’re going to do. You let me try it my way. After I give you the information, you can call whomever you want to and verify,” I suggested. “If I’m right, then you’ll know exactly what you’re getting, and we can solidify our deal.”
“You must care a lot about the people around here,” she said, pondering my offer. “There’s not one person in this world I would sacrifice my own life for.”
Nick snorted. “I believe that.”
Lorelei told her half-brother to shut up. Holding out her hand, she agreed to my terms. “But if you fail, then I will kill you both right where you stand.”
Images of the young woman with her throat torn apart invaded my sight. I squeezed my eyes shut and willed Dash’s thoughts to stop pounding into me.
“You look like you’re second-guessing your abilities,” Lorelei said. “I hate to get blood on my clothes, but I always uphold the promises I make.”
Yanking her hand away from her purse, I gripped it in mine, squeezing it a little harder than I needed to. After a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, I muttered a simple spell under my breath. “Prove my power to locate a thing. Help me find her precious ring.”
Tendrils of power wrapped around my feet and wound their way up my body. Since the tree and I had connected before, its power didn’t shock me as much. I grabbed hold of it and supercharged my spell just to make sure.
Instead of a golden thread, a flash of brilliant sparkles appeared in front of me, and I cackled in disbelief. I didn’t have to find out if my talents reached far outside our small town. The item she wanted was right here with us.
“Check your bag,” I told her.
“I’ve already done that several times and it’s not in there,” Lorelei protested. “Plus, how do I know that you’re not trying to trick me? Quick, describe the ring to me. If you can visualize where it is, then you should be able to tell me what it looks like.”
With the extra energy from the tree working through me, I didn’t have to exert much effort. “It’s silver-colored, so I’ll assume that it’s platinum. There’s a large cut green stone in the middle shaped like a rectangle. Diamonds surround the emerald like a frame. And there are larger diamonds flanking the emerald on either side of the setting.”
Lorelei’s eyes widened as she gazed at me like I was entirely made of the same jewels I just described. “Where is it?”
“There’s a hole in the liner. The ring worked its way through it, and now it’s caught in between the leather and the silk,” I explained. “If I’m telling the truth, then you know my worth. If I’m lying, you get to kill me. You can’t lose.”
Nick’s sister pulled one of the handles of her bag further down her arm and dug inside. “It’s too dark for me to look,” she whined.
I conjured a light orb and floated it over her.
“Neat trick.” In a fit, Lorelei groaned and dumped all the contents out on the ground. One lone scroll rolled to a stop at my feet.
She dug her hand into the cavernous bag and searched. “I feel something underneath the lining.” After a few more grunts and grousing, she pulled her hand out. The ring hung off the end of her index finger.
“My apologies, Nicky, for doubting you.” His sister slid the ring back on. “Although I think it’s better that we both acknowledge the truth, don’t you?”
After admiring her substantial piece of jewelry under the light from my conjured orb, Lorelei waved her hand, and her own parchment and pen appeared. I went through all of the details from before, making sure to beef up the details.
“As for protecting Honeysuckle Hollow, I want you to also include any visitors to our little haven. Not just residents,” I insisted, trying not to look down at Nick.
“Fine, fine,” she dismissed, rushing to keep up with my demands.
“And all those bottles you found, including the one I saw you try to slip back into your purse,” I accused. “Those will stay here with me.”
“You don’t even know what to do with
