She jerked in surprise again when Autumn suddenly teleported into the seat next to Devon. A large tray of sweets appeared in the center of the table with enough cookies, slices of cake, pieces of pie, and brownies to feed a dozen people. Smaller plates appeared in front of each of them, with the addition of steaming cups of cappuccino.
“Please, help yourself,” Autumn offered. “I actually had some time to personally do some baking today.”
“Oh, you made a tuxedo cake,” Devon exclaimed, clapping her hands together in glee.
“Of course, I knew you were coming over. Chocolate is a must.”
“You are so good to me,” Devon cooed. “You guys have to try some. It’s totally yummy.”
Remy served Starla some of the cake before placing a small slice on his own plate. She wasn’t going to eat anything since her stomach felt like it was tied into knots, but the way the two goddesses kept staring at her expectantly made her pick up her fork. Sampling the cake, she smiled in approval.
“It’s very good.” She relaxed a little when that seemed to placate them enough to fill their own plates. “I thought the gods weren’t able to use technology.”
“Before I met my mate, I was a tech witch,” Devon explained as she filled her plate with food. “That means I am able to merge technology and magic together. Now, I can make tech work anywhere, even in the other realms. Speaking of, I upgraded the Arcane Assist app a few days ago so it would work on your phone even when it doesn’t have a signal. Looks like that came in handy today.”
“Thank you,” Starla said. “Your app saved my life twice.”
“I’m really glad it did, although I’m sorry you had to use it for that purpose. While the whole killer amulet thing really was pretty messed up, it did give you a chance to use the app again.”
“Can you help us figure out what the amulet did to my mate?” Remy asked, placing the small box on the table.
Devon opened the box and frowned down at the amulet inside. “This was blocking you from using your magic? That’s odd. I don’t even sense any power coming from it.”
“We couldn’t sense anything from it either. But it was definitely glowing and doing something to her when I pulled it off of her,” Remy said.
“I only wore it twice, and both times, my magic failed,” Starla explained. “I also felt like a heavy weight was being pressed down on my chest until I couldn’t breathe.”
Devon reached out to touch the amulet, but before she could, Autumn stopped her.
“Don’t touch it.”
“What is it? What’s wrong? Did you have one of your revenge visions?”
“Sort of. I don’t think the amulet is cursed. It’s an ancient relic, but I’m not exactly sure what it’s used for. All I know is that it is very dangerous.” Autumn’s glowing eyes focused on Starla. “If your mate hadn’t taken it off of you when he did, I think it could have completely drained you of your magic…or maybe even your lifeforce.”
That sounded utterly terrifying.
Remy wrapped his arm around Starla, drawing her closer to the warmth of his body when she shivered. “Is she okay now? Do I need to take her to a healer?”
“Don’t worry. She’s fine. Nothing a little rest and a good night’s sleep won’t take care of. I don’t think you wore it long enough to have any lasting effects. I’m not exactly sure what it does, but in the wrong hands, this could cause a lot of damage,” Autumn added. “Where did you get it?”
“My friend found it in a store called The Attic here in the city.”
“I know that place. I’ve even been there before.” Autumn shook her head. “It’s crazy that something that dangerous was just sitting in a thrift shop.”
“I think it would be best if we keep this,” Devon said, pointing at the box. “If we do a little research and experimenting, we might be able to figure out exactly what it does.”
“Please, take it. It’s yours. We don’t want it.” Starla made a pushing gesture with her hands. “I’m just glad it can’t hurt anyone else now.”
Devon used her magic to close the box and seal it before making it disappear. “Relics like that need to be kept contained.”
Autumn leaned forward. “Now that that’s taken care of, let’s move on to a more important subject.”
Starla had a hard time imagining what could possibly be more important than an ancient relic that could potentially kill someone.
“I heard you’re in culinary school. Are you interested in a part-time job here at the bakery? I’ve been so busy doing my revenge thing that I barely have time to bake anymore.”
Blinking in surprise, it took a moment for Starla to respond. “But I just started culinary school and don’t know much about human cooking and baking yet.”
