The sapphire flared brightly. I thought I felt a faint hint of indignation emanating from it, but that didn’t make any sense at all. The bracelet was just a piece of jewelry. Wasn’t it? There was another brief flare of blue light and now it felt . . . sulky?
I held my arm out as far as I could, away from Zara. Not that I believed it would help if something were to truly go wrong, but it was instinctive. “Are you getting this, Zara?”
Yes. Perhaps not as strongly as you are, but there is definitely something there. She cocked her head, her ears swiveling back and then forward again, as if listening. It has sentience, I believe. Or at least the start of it. She looked down at her paws, her claws flexing on the bedspread. I will reach out to Astra. When she looked up again seconds later, she looked conflicted. She says you must establish a deeper connection with it. As the king of the water fae said—without a strong enough connection, it could become mischievous, unruly, and potentially dangerous, though she does not truly believe it would hurt you as its Maker. She also asks if you need her to return to the house or send Finn.
Establish a deeper connection? How was I supposed to do that? Shouldn’t the blood and magick I’d used during its creation have been enough for that? How could a piece of jewelry possibly be sentient? My brow furrowed. “No, I’ll do this.” Somehow. “Please thank her for me.” Then something else occurred to me and my heart practically leapt to my throat. “What will this do to our bond?” There was no way I would take any chance that could damage the bond I had with my familiar. We may not have been bonded long, but she was already a part of me I couldn’t imagine ever being without.
She stepped closer and put a gentle paw on my arm. Only death or betraying your oath can break our bond, Roxanne. Nothing more, nothing less. She paused, then said, Try reaching out to it as you do me.
Lowering my arm, I inhaled, breathing in deeply while trying to clear my mind. With one last nervous glance at Zara, I focused on the large, blue gem in the center of the bracelet, stretching my mind toward it. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a responding mental touch. It felt . . . curious. And there was still a distinct sulkiness there, almost like a petulant child. Could it understand what Zara and I had been discussing? As if in answer, the gem gave a soft, pulsing glow.
Can you tell me what you did to Rand?
I felt puzzlement coming from the stone.
Zara sat and tapped her paw against my arm. Try showing it what you mean.
Show it? I searched my memories of Rand. Flashes of him smiling down at me, laughing with me, holding me after we’d made love, all came to the forefront first. Embarrassed, I pulled up the memory of Rand when he’d reached out toward the gem on the dining room table, picturing the fear and pain I’d seen on his face when his arm solidified, as well as the fear that I’d felt for him. The sapphire dimmed in response. I couldn’t quite interpret what I felt coming from the stone. Forging on, I remembered Rand touching my arm, the one with the bracelet, during the battle out on the highway just three weeks ago; how he had screamed in agony. The panic, fear, and anguish I’d felt all came rushing back to me. I felt a mental quiver from the bracelet. On instinct, I kept going. I replayed everything concerning Rand in my mind, from that initial moment of terror to when he finally woke two weeks ago. The guilt, the uncertainty, and every other feeling I’d had coursed through me like I was experiencing it all again. When I finally allowed the memories to fade, my heart was hammering and I was panting slightly. I looked over at Zara, but her eyes were on the bracelet, not me.
Now tell it what you want.
What I wanted? What did I want? I wanted to be able to touch Rand again without hurting him—or fearing I’d hurt him. I wanted . . . the rest of what I wanted wasn’t even possible, I knew, so I shut it down. A future between us could never happen. I was older than he was, for one thing. If he’d been given some sort of second chance at life—temporarily or otherwise—there was no way he would want to spend it with me. All the glamour cream in the world wouldn’t change that, for either of us. He would probably want to take Toby and pick up his life where he’d left off, I was sure. I also knew there was no way I would hold him back from that.
Roxanne!
Zara’s voice jarred me back to reality. I’d started to become so lost in my thoughts, I nearly forgot what I was doing, why we were here. When I dropped my eyes to the bracelet, the sapphire was pulsing slowly, almost hypnotically. In my mind, a hazy image of Rand holding me appeared. When I reached up to touch his face, I saw the bracelet on my arm, and apprehension tightened my chest, but . . . nothing happened when my hand brushed his cheek. He smiled down at me and the image slowly faded.
What did that mean? Was that the bracelet’s way of telling me it was safe to touch Rand?
I would say yes. And I would definitely say that it is sentient. I’m not sure
