Gosia’s creation slithered up the side of my neck and over my jaw, flicking its tongue at the corner of my mouth. Maritza shoved the button necklaces at Laszlo and slapped her hand against my neck, trapping the snake. “¡Deje de moverte!” she hissed.
“Ouch,” I said. My aunt grabbed my wrist when I went to rub my neck.
“Don’t you move either, mija. This emissary was about to enforce a spell of silence.” She peeled the six-inch-long serpent off my neck, held it up for everyone to see, and put on her most professorial face. “I caught what Beryl said about Rémy’s mouth. Describe what happened. I want every detail.”
Laszlo moved closer to my back and recounted Rémy’s actions, complete with an assessment of the mage’s emotional state and a detailed accounting of the gag. There was nothing accusatory in his words.
“The mage is not allowed to speak about something related to the snake, though the snake behaves as though it recognizes the mage’s sigil.” My aunt studied the serpent. “The snake has also been directed to keep Clementine from speaking about something related to Gosia. The use of silencing spells is not unusual. What intrigues me is the maker of the spells. I think it was the same witch.”
“Why do you say that, Tía?”
“Because I am a witch and I am able to hold the spelled object. In fact—” She glanced back and forth between the sigil still curled on my neck, and the snake trapped between her fingers, before pressing her lips together and shaking her head. “We all want to hear about your escapades, sobrinita. To keep your words flowing, I shall hold the little serpent. But before you speak, put this on. I spelled your button, and the demon’s, to assist with muting the pull of the Demesne. You have twenty-four hours. I added a tracker to your buttons, and the one I wear”—she tapped at the button resting at the base of her throat—“allows me to know your whereabouts.”
“In case you need to break us apart?”
She laughed. “In case I need to rescue you from each other. Let me fix your jumpsuit while you talk.”
I sat still. Beryl was ready to start the questioning. “Can you give us a detailed physical description of Gosia? And was there anyone else with her?”
I closed my eyes and replayed the sequence of events once Alabastair and I reached the end of the tunnel where it opened into the water-filled cavern. I had to fight through every fear-tinged moment and focus on the sensory data only. “The first thing that struck me as unusual was the threads. I thought they were the same kind of story threads I’ve seen all my life, like the ones that helped me to see what happened here, to Mom. But Alabastair could see them too.” I described the way some of the threads inside the cavern beckoned me forward, while others built a nest on the ledge below the opening.
“Gosia told me those threads were created by Mom to protect her.” I went on to describe being captured and dragged under the water, and about meeting Gosia and Jadzia on the shore.
“Okay, so we have the client, a male water mage. Mom goes through her normal routine with him, takes his deposit, and begins to look for his love match. She finds Gosia. And less than three months later, Mom dies.”
“Mom’s death might be entirely unrelated to Rémy and Gosia,” Alderose said.
“Wait,” I said. “Wait.” A certain phrase kept running through my head. “Rémy has never said anything about a love match. He has always spoken about contracting Mom to help him find his—”
“Beloved. His beloved. What if Rémy already knows Gosia’s his beloved? What if Gosia knows that too?”
I tugged at the neckline of the mended jumpsuit and pointed to the squirming sigil. “Gah, then why are those two using my neck as a magical message board? And why would Gosia tell me not to fail her?”
Beryl stepped next to Maritza and assumed command of gathering the paperwork spread across the table’s surface. “Did Gosia say anything that could give us a clue about what kind of a creature she is and where she lives?”
I slumped in the chair. “I got the feeling she’s not from here.”
“I believe those names are eastern European in origin.” Alabastair pulled a tablet from the satchel he shared with my aunt. “Give me a few minutes to review the region’s mythology.”
“Moving forward, Gosia and Jadzia are of indeterminate classification.” When I nodded, Beryl added, “Are you sure she’s not one of the merpeople?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a mer-being,” I said. “Though both of them had gills.” I tilted my head to one side and pointed to the general location of the gill coverings. “And after the threads had covered my body, including my entire face and mouth, one of them forced oxygen into my mouth after they dragged me underwater.”
“You’re saying they can breathe underwater and aboveground without difficulty?”
“Without difficulty or having to transform themselves in any way. At least, in any way that was noticeable.”
“What were they wearing? And did they have any weapons?”
I described what little I’d noticed in the dark, adding, “Jadzia had weapons all over her arms and legs. She was wearing this skintight garment, kind of like the catsuit Alderose has on, with slits all over. I could make out the shapes of blades underneath the covering.
“Their facial features and body structure was like ours.” I closed my eyes again and brushed my fingers over my cheeks. “Gosia had pearlescent scales, or flecks of something, on her face.”
“And the water was fresh?”
“Yes. It was cold. If I had stayed in much longer I might have gone hypothermic. There was a current that moved from the tunnel and off to the left. I had to swim against it when they released me.”
A flurry of
