Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Turning from him to the beautiful blonde woman, I studied her and saw how tired she looked, the bags under her eyes, how her smile was hiding how drawn her face was, and how frail she seemed even as she glared at me.
“Why did you do that?” Her voice sounded nearly shrill.
Studying her, I came to a quick conclusion. And while there were several possibilities of what could be attacking me, it was always best to start with the most obvious and work one’s way up.
“Thessaly,” I said gently, leaning forward, “any new vintage acquisitions on this trip?”
“Pardon?”
“I know you all go antiquing,” I said, making conversation. “Did you find any treasure?”
“Oh my goodness, yes,” she replied excitedly, forgetting she was angry, her eyes lighting up for a moment, her hand going to the emerald teardrop dangle earring in her right lobe. “Ham got these gorgeous baubles for me in Quebec. They’re old, the stones are from Russia, the setting was created in France, and they were originally bought at auction. Aren’t they divine?”
“They are,” I agreed. “Have you been wearing them since you got them?”
“Absolutely. I couldn’t bear to take them off,” she gushed.
I held my hand out. “May I see them?”
Instant scowl. “See them?”
“I promise not to run out the door with them.”
She laughed, or tried to, but her darting eyes told me she was nervous. Her husband, Hamilton, who went by Ham, apparently—terrible—directed her to pass the pair of emerald earrings to me.
“When will Xander get another chance to look at stones like those?”
It was a bit obnoxious of him, and I felt Lorne tense beside me, the air bristling around him, but it was true, after all. Though these were not the kind of stones I cared much for. Black tourmaline, tiger’s eye, and labradorite were all of far greater value to me, and raw and unpolished was best.
As she took them out of her ears, I asked Cass if she had placed any water out under the last full moon.
“I did,” she replied, “but I doubt it’s as strong as yours.”
“I’m sure it is,” I said firmly, knowing that Cass was suffering from self-doubt as well. “Would you go get it and pour some in a bowl for me, please?”
“Right now?”
“Right now,” I insisted.
She flew out of the room, and as I held the heavy earrings in my hand, I felt the weight of the curse.
“Tell me, Ham, do you know the provenance of these earrings?” I asked, feeling the pinpricks of pain in my hand as the spell struggled to poison me.
“I…they belonged to a very rich man’s mistress.”
I nodded.
“Oh my God,” Brooke blurted out, staring at my hand, that was slowly but clearly turning green. And not a beautiful shade like the emerald earrings, but instead a sickly, putrid decaying shade of olive.
“Xan?” Lorne said my name as a question, concern in his husky voice.
“It’s fine,” I promised him.
“What is this?” Thessaly cried.
“Your earrings have a nasty little curse on them.”
“Xander!” Cass shouted as she came back in the room with a mason jar full of water.
“The bowl, please, Cass.”
“Let me go get—”
“Here,” James said, dumping the crackers out of a clear glass one and onto the charcuterie board. He made sure there were no crumbs, which was nice but unnecessary.
Once Cass poured the water into the bowl, I immediately dropped the earrings in and then flicked the sides of the bowl three times. “I call upon this water, blessed by Selene, to purify the stone and metal within.”
Flipping my hand over, there was fire there and, as expected, all the newbies gasped. James and Cass just smiled at me.
Once my hand felt right, and the normal color returned, I clenched my fist and the fire was extinguished. Interestingly, there was black smoke rising from the water.
“Okay,” I said, getting up and going to the kitchen.
“What the hell’s going on, Xan?”
“It felt like a small curse,” I answered Lorne, opening cupboards until I found all the spices and then the basil I was after. “But it’s not.”
“What can I do?” Cass asked, and I noted how much better she looked already.
“Do you have any rosemary?”
She thought a moment. “In the tea you made me.”
“You have some of the hearth blend left over?” This was excellent news.
“I do.”
“That’s perfect. Bring me that.”
She flew by me to get to the pantry, and I returned to the water and sprinkled cinnamon, dried marjoram, and basil on top. “Go now, I banish you from this ornament and from this sacred space,” I ordered the curse and watched the water boil as Cass stepped in beside me with my homemade tea blend filled with all kinds of helpful herbs, mainly lavender and yarrow, red clover and sage. “Go!” I commanded as I covered the top of the water with the tea blend.