“Rayna, do you think you could either purify or neutralize just the top layer without damaging what’s beneath it?”
Someone—probably Marla—set a pitcher in front of the water witch, but I was so focused on keeping the top layer above the one beneath, I couldn’t look away.
“If you can keep that layer lifted like that, or maybe lift it a little higher, I think I might be able to.”
Concentrating, I tried to pull it away, further separating it from the other layer. It resisted. Rayna began chanting under her breath, and I could feel a very faint drain as she drew on the magick of our circle. Seconds later, a stream of water, unbelievably narrow, worked its way under the layer I still held up, slowly wrapping around the ring. It pushed the upper layer away, working patiently at every part, prying, pushing, worming its way in, until I felt the outer layer separate with a ‘pop.’ As soon as I was able to pull it completely away, Rayna’s magick wrapped around the layer I held from the rest of the ring. It began to sizzle and pop until it abruptly dissipated. If I hadn’t been sitting in a high backed chair, I would have fallen backwards from the release. The smell it left behind was less than pleasant.
“Whoa.” Willa’s hushed voice brought us back. Slowly we released our shared magick and pulled our hands back. With a twist of her wrist, a light breeze pushed the offensive smell away and up toward the ceiling vent. The awe in her voice was reflected on each witch’s face. When I looked over at Rayna, I saw the thin sheen of perspiration on her brow.
“Great work, ladies.” I slumped back in the chair, feeling the tension of separating that layer in every muscle of my body.
“What exactly did we just do? I mean, I saw what we did, but . . .” Trina’s question trailed off.
“I think Margo has some sort of tracking spell on most or all of the stuff in her shop. If I’m right, we just removed and neutralized that spell. I bought these two pieces of jewelry in her shop less than an hour ago. The spell didn’t feel malevolent, but it didn’t feel good, either. If she can track everything in her shop, I’m wondering if she could have somehow put a tracking spell on things that made it to the water fae. I can’t prove she’s involved—yet—but if and when I do, she will be held accountable. For everything.” Saying the words aloud reminded me I needed to call my aunt back over again soon, to see if she could tell me why it was I could see—and apparently now feel—magick. And everything she could tell me about Margo.
“So are we going to do the other one? If we are, I might need a minute.” Rayna took a sip of her tea, her hand shaking slightly. This must have taken more out of her than I thought.
“No. I think I’ll leave the necklace alone for now. It might be useful as it is.” As it was, I already wished I would have purchased a couple more pieces.
Selma reached for the ring, then hesitated, peering over at me. “May I?”
Nodding, I watched as she picked it up and inspected it. When she was done, Willa held out her hand for it. She squinted, trying to see the inside of the band, so I pushed the loupe over to her. Picking it up, she deftly turned the ring around under the loupe. “There are symbols around the interior and initials.” She handed the ring and loupe to me. “You might want to see this.”
I looked through the little loupe at the symbols, searching for the initials she’d mentioned. The elegantly looping initials came into focus—S. D. I sat back, shocked. Could this be one of my mother’s pieces? Of course, with those initials, it could also be my aunt’s . . . or even my grandmother’s, for that matter. Or just someone with the same initials. I could feel that there was still quite a bit of magick in the ring. Maybe if I put it in Elmer’s box, it would show up in catalogue.
The curious looks on both Sam’s and Rand’s faces prompted me to pass everything down the table to them.
While they were studying it, my phone rang. As soon as I saw who was calling, I excused myself and walked to the other end of the large room to answer.
“Is everything okay, Jeremy? We’re almost done here.”
“Jeremy gots sum’tin fer you to sees, Ms. Roxanne.” The crow shifter sounded either gruff or angry. “Sum’tin not goods, not goods a’tall.”
“I’ll wrap this up and be right down.” When I hung up and turned back to the table, the rest of the group was watching me with open curiosity.
“I’ve got to go down and see what’s going on. Anyone who wants to be a part of the search for these children, let Sam know. You’ll need to be ready to head out on short notice, and if any of you have issues with seasickness, I’ll warn you now that we’ll be out on the water.” That was something I wasn’t plagued with, thank goodness. “This isn’t mandatory, by any means, so if you don’t want to be involved, that’s fine.” Since the firm wasn’t officially involved with the missing children, I could hardly order them to help. They were already discussing everything amongst themselves before I was out of the room.
“Roxie?” Sam’s voice stopped me just short of the door and I turned back, nearly bumping into Rand. “What do you want us to do with these?” She held up the jewelry.
Chewing my lip, I decided to go with the initial idea I’d had. “Bring the ring back to the estate with you, please. Marla?” Sam’s personal
