Harriette smiled at me and sat back down on the sofa. She’d regained her composure when she left the room and was now choosing to pretend Vas didn’t exist. The demon stretched out his long legs and watched us both.
“I’m sure she won’t mind,” he said gruffly. “Maybe you could keep a few things for her.”
I nodded. Evie and I continued to dance around the subject of our mother. While she seemed willing to pretend the past between us didn’t exist, I had my doubts about whether she would ever forgive our mom for leaving her behind.
Truthfully, I couldn’t blame her.
I opened the box. Mom had worked for the coven, selling a few of her more powerful spells on the side when the coven didn’t need them. She’d created charms, but we’d never had much money to spare. Her jewelry was mostly costume, but she’d worn it with pride.
“I’d forgotten she loved these earrings.”
They were a simple design. Four glass beads hung in various shades of blue. Evie had made them during the brief period she’d become obsessed with jewelry making. Gemma had worked on them with her, and mom had worn them almost every day. I put them aside for my sister.
It hurt, seeing these things. They reminded me of a safe childhood when mom had kept her jewelry box beside her bed and occasionally let us play dress-up. There was the necklace she wore each Christmas, with matching Christmas tree earrings she insisted were cute. There was the silver bracelet she’d worn as a baby, tarnished now, and still sized for a child’s wrist. There was her grandmother’s wedding ring, which Evie and I had fought over each time we’d played dress-up. Water dripped into the box, and I frowned, swiping at my face. I hadn’t realized I was crying.
I froze as I stared down at two pairs of tiny diamond studs.
“When did she buy these?”
Harriette shrugged. “I don’t know. I get the feeling she meant to take them with her. We spoke once after she left, and she asked me to make sure they were safe.”
I reached for one of the studs. Mom had charmed them. Without any contact with human skin, the charm hadn’t faded, so it had lasted all these years. I couldfeelher. Feel the love she had for us, the spell of protection she’d wound carefully into each earring.
I popped one of them out and shoved it into my earlobe. I hadn’t worn earrings for a while, and I winced as I pushed the posts through the holes that always wanted to heal back up.
I’d take the other pair to Evie. No matter how deep her hurt ran, it was evident in these earrings that mom had loved us both equally. The spells were exactly the same, infused with a mother’s need to protect.
I haven’t forgotten about you, Mom. I’m going to find who killed you. And I’ll make them pay.
20
Danica
As soon as someone knocked on my door the next morning, I threw it open, blinking at the empty hallway.
“Let me in before this spell drains all my magic.”
I stepped aside and my sister popped into existence.
Lia hissed at her from the sofa, clearly perturbed. Evie hurried over to pet her. “She’s so cute! Look at her little white paws.”
I smirked as she cooed over the cat. Lia ate it up, nuzzling into her and purring. Evie’s gaze landed on the wall behind me. “What, exactly is that?”
“A khopesh. It’s an ancient Egyptian weapon. It looks great on that wall, right?”
“Normal people decorate their homes with art.”
I laughed. “I really appreciate you doing this.”
“Anytime. I have to say, I love the idea of messing with the demons. Are you going to tell me why this is so important?”
“There’s a rowan seller in town.”
Evie’s blank look told me she had no idea what I was talking about, so I filled her in.
“Wait, so you’re saying whoever was killing those demons you were interrogating was using rowan wood?”
“Yeah. And producing the wood is highly illegal. If there’s a seller in town, he might be able to point me toward whoever was buying it.”
