“What’s going on with Anna and Marshall?” I ask, desperate to distract myself from our situation.
“They were together for five minutes—even managed to keep their relationship hidden from her mother. Then they just…dissolved. It’s been years, but they still talk to each other in clipped sentences, can barely make eye contact, and get all shifty when the other is mentioned in conversation.”
“What happened?”
“No one knows. They were already at odds by the time Rowan disappeared, and that situation didn’t help one bit.”
“Rowan said Marshall blamed the Neilfellows for not looking for him.”
“They believed he took off, but Marshall knew better.” He glances ahead at Rowan, making sure we won’t be overheard. “Me? If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure. After all, I would have ditched town to get away from Keira.”
“But you were friends—good friends. Surely you didn’t think he would abandon you, too?”
“I didn’t, but we never found him, and I didn’t know what to think. He left his cell phone and his driver’s license. Everything. It was like he walked away from his life.”
We continue in silence for several seconds, and then I nudge him, biting back a grin. “So…Keira’s really awful, huh?”
The elf looks over, giving me a conspiratorial smile. “The worst.”
He chuckles when a ray of sunshine breaks through my magically induced gloom.
“Pretend you didn’t notice that,” I say, wishing my magic were a little more subtle.
Rowan waits for us outside Ansel’s shop.
The door is still locked. I knock, expecting it to take a while to get his attention as it did earlier, but the sorcerer answers almost immediately.
“Did you get the amulet?” he asks.
“Rowan’s aunt sent it to her jeweler in Boston.”
Ansel wrinkles his nose. “Who has a designated jeweler?”
“The Neilfellows,” Ryder deadpans.
Grunting, Ansel ushers us inside, shaking his head like it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.
We follow him to his workshop. Rowan lands on a large rock on the workbench. He ruffles his feathers and turns his neck, looking like he wants to say something.
“Okay, so we need to—” Ansel is interrupted by a knock at the front door. Frowning, he commands, “Ignore it. Whoever it is, they don’t need me that badly.”
But the visitor is insistent.
Ansel swears, not happy about another interruption, and marches out of the room.
Curious, with nothing better to do, we follow him.
Ansel opens the door. “We don’t open until—” The words end in a growl when he realizes who’s standing on his doorstep.
“Don’t slam the door!” Russell cries. “I have something important to talk about!”
Why the criminal mage decided to show up now at all times, I don’t know.
“Kit won’t need a restraining order if I get rid of you,” Ansel snarls. “My grandpa’s side of the family raises pigs—I know how to get rid of a body.”
“Ansel!” I exclaim, horrified.
“Kit!” Russell’s face lights up when he sees me. “I’ve been trying to reach you for days!”
