“She could’ve gone anywhere,” Simon said.
“Except she didn’t,” Gran said. “I never told you because you’d forgotten her, so there was no use, but she’s gone.”
“Dead?” Shanna squeaked.
Gran nodded. “One day, about a year after she left, I tried a spell—not to locate her, just to sense her energy. See how she was doing. It was a tricky one. I’d completely forgotten her at that point, so I had no personal connection. But I managed to put the spell through anyway—only to find her gone.”
Shanna thought she’d be sad, but aside from a minor disappointment, she felt nothing. All of her anger and bitterness had already been swallowed by Mom leaving in the first place. She’d chosen to forget Shanna and Gran. She’d decided to never come back.
So who cared if she couldn’t?
“It was so long ago,” Simon said. “Even if the bracelet stayed with her, if it’s somewhere in New Zealand, how are we going to find it?”
Gran pecked Shanna on the forehead, as if to say to cheer up. “A little bit of witchcraft, Mr. Montague, and a little bit of snooping.” She headed over to a cabinet by the wall and brought back a flat wooden box.
“Isabel sent these from New Zealand. They’re the last things I have of her.” Opening the box unleashed a sweet smell of varnish and revealed a set of postcards bound by a blue satin ribbon.
Shanna reached for them, undoing the ribbon with shaky hands.
“If you’re going to follow her trail, that’s where you start.”
There were four postcards in total, showcasing sapphire seas and golden, sandy beaches and blueish-green mountains. Shanna shuffled to the bottom one, joining four smaller pictures—different views of the same hilly city in a bay—with the words “I love Wellington” written in a funky font in the middle. She flipped the card. A handwritten message on the back, holding up well despite its age, said, “It’s reallyblowingme away.”
“This was the last one sent, so possibly her final stop,” Gran said. “It’s the best place to pick up the trail.”
“I can’t go all the way to New Zealand,” Simon said. “I have things to attend to! My company! Everyone thinks I’m dead while somebody is actually trying to kill me.”
“Precisely why you should take a break,” Gran mused.
“She has a point,” Shanna said. “Not about the break, but if the person who wants you dead sends another assassin, it’ll be much harder for them to reach you halfway across the world. If they even find out you went there! Disappearing might be a good thing.”
“Besides, both of you have to go, or neither,” Gran said. “You can’t break Hel’s bond without going to New Zealand, and Shanna alone can’t go there without first breaking the bond.”
Simon clenched his fists. Shanna could only imagine how helpless he must feel—trapped with her and with no other way out but to go to the other side of the world on a wild-goose chase.
If she didn’t already hate herself, she’d probably start now.
“Fine, then. We’ll go,” he said.
Nice to know that a crazy trip in the middle of an emergency was still preferable to being eternally bound to her.
“Hey, Gran Dolores.” Chris came to the living room, mumbling through a mouthful of food. “You got any more apple pie? This is the best thing I’ve eaten,ever.”
Shanna looked at Simon, the sudden widening of his eyes mirroring hers. What did they do with Chris? She still had to help them find the assassin.
“By the way, really appreciate you not turning me in,” Chris added toward Simon. “So, how are we progressing with this? What are the next steps in the plan?”
Oh, shoot.
Simon rubbed his face before he turned to Chris. “Ever wanted to go to New Zealand?”
Chapter 7
“He’s doing it all wrong.” Simon bit into his fist, glancing from the stage to Everett, who, like him, was waiting off to the side and following the presentation.
“We’ll hire a better presenter next time.”
“Next time? There won’t be a next time if this half-drunk bozo ruins our reputation.” Simon clenched his teeth, bounced on his feet as he deliberated, then rushed onto the stage.
