“Poor thing. You must have been starving.” Gran patted Chris on the back as the girl dug into her plate of eggs and bacon.
“Gran has finally found someone who eats copious amounts of food without complaining,” Shanna murmured to Simon. They’d settled down on the couch in the living room while Gran served breakfast to Chris. The two of them said they weren’t hungry—at least for Shanna, the stress of the past few hours had been too much—although surely they couldn’t escape food for long.
“So, you two.” Gran walked into the living room. “I did some research on Hel’s bond last night.”
Simon perked up. “And?”
“You want the good news or the bad news first?”
“Good,” Shanna said.
“Bad,” Simon said at the same time.
Gran looked from one to the other and waved her hand in the air. “It can be broken, but we have a small problem.”
“Is that the good part or the bad part?” Shanna asked.
“It’s a summary of the whole thing.”
“So?” Simon prompted.
With an exaggeratedly tired sigh, Gran sat down across from them. “There’s a ritual that can be done to break it, one that you shouldn’t have a problem performing,” she said to Shanna. “But we need ingredients, and there are a few steps to be done first, too. On the steps, I still have to find clear instructions. There’s a book I’ll need to dig up, but don’t you worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”
“She doesn’t mean literally dig up, right?” Simon whispered to Shanna.
“Which might take a few days or a week,” Gran continued.
“That’s fine. I can wait a week,” Simon said.
Gran pursed her lips, causing Shanna to wring her hands in her lap. She knew that look—the “Oh boy, it’s not that easy” look.
“And the ingredients?” Shanna asked. “What will we need? Crystals charged at a full moon? Water left outside for a month?”
“I have everything except for one thing. A Mercurial Crystal.”
“What are those?” Simon asked.
Shanna looked to Gran. “A crystal attuned to the planet Mercury?”
“Not the same, and not necessarily a crystal. It can be any sort of object, as long as it’s correctly charged,” Gran explained. “They’re called so because they’re mercurial. Changing. They can either bond or break, and their focus is really, really strong.”
“That’s good for spells or rituals,” Shanna told Simon. “You want something that can focus energies.”
Gran nodded. “The problem with Mercurial Crystals being, because they’re so strong, they’re also finicky to create. They require a heavy investment of soul and heart from at least two people, who must already share a bond—usually family members—and it’s ideal if they’re both practicing witches. If even a small thing goes wrong in the process, the crystal will backfire and become charged with dark magic instead.”
“Bad, I take it?” Simon said.
“Very. A gruesome accident happened a decade or so ago, using a poorly made Mercurial Crystal. The last ritual for that poor witch.” Gran shook her head, her mouth grim. “That’s why they have, shall we say, a soft ban on them now.”
“Who does?” Simon asked.
“Our community. We don’t have strict rules forbidding their use, but there’s a general agreement that no Mercurial Crystals should be made anymore.”
Without one, they couldn’t break the bond. Simon would have to stay with her. Shanna bit her tongue, ordering the thought away. Did she really want to be chained to a man who didn’twant anything to do with her? And how would that work? Would she always follow him a hundred feet behind, lurking like a shadow as he moved on with his life? Watch from a corner as he went on dates and smiled at other women? Wait outside his office until he was done with work, like some sad puppy?
Because she wasn’t going to get anything more. The curse had run its course, and they were done for.
“But they existed before the ban,” Simon said. “Would any still be around?”
