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)
The lights went out, and suddenly, standing in a funnel of fire, was a beautiful woman in a green silk brocade dress with organza, satin, and cotton lace, with metal boning. She was stunning, with jet-black hair, dark blue eyes, and alabaster skin.
“He loved me, witch,” she roared, her voice like thunder.
The yelling and screaming from the new people in our midst helped nothing.
“Shut up,” Lorne ordered forcefully.
“He worshipped every smile and touch I bestowed,” the woman intoned.
I nodded. “I have no doubt.”
Quick breath, like my agreement had pleased her, and the fire was gone, replaced by a fog rolling off her and into the room, thick and white. “His wife…she was a mouse of a woman, and every time he came to me filled her with dread.”
“Of course it would,” I granted. “You’re a goddess, I can plainly see.”
Her eyes narrowed. “All wives of faithless husbands who covet my jewels will die as she did, flinging herself into the depths of the Seine.”
This, then, was the curse on the earrings, and now, if she’d been listening, Thessaly knew her husband was not monogamous.
I took a breath. “You must be so tired, lady.” I reached out my hand.
She took several steps forward, and we all heard her shoes on the wood before she grasped hold. “He meant to put me on the street after she died, his guilt making my countenance unbearable to behold.”
“Yes,” I said, squeezing her hand.
“He was going to give my treasure to an ingénue from a wealthy family, someone to restore his reputation. But I bled over my jewels before the dark claimed me.”
“A blood curse of undoing from a powerful witch,” I stated with certainty.
She smiled then. “As are you.”
I sighed deeply. “Go now to Summerland and be at peace. Your people will be there just as mine will be for me.”
Her face crumpled. “What if—”
“They will be there, lady. Think of your mother. Bring all that she was to you, to mind.”
“My mother,” she whispered as her blood tears fell. A last breath as she closed her eyes and was gone.
The lights came on at the same time, all hint of her vanished except for the earrings, now sitting at the bottom of a bowl of herbs and moon water.
All eyes on me.
“This is why…” I began, then turned to Cass, one eyebrow arched in question.
“Oh, oh I know! This is why you must always purify with water or sage anything vintage you bring home before you wear it, use it, or display it anywhere in your house. You never know what kind of bad juju might be sticking to it.”
“Very good,” I praised her.
“I listen,” she told me.
“You do, and I appreciate that.”
Lorne was smiling, James was shaking his head, and all the others were staring at the two of us. Cass was nodding, pleased with my praise from her smile, and I was waiting for the barrage of questions I knew would be coming my way.
“One time,” Cass announced, startling the visitors, “I bought a teacup at an antique store, and before I used it—I mean, I washed both the cup and the saucer—Xan made me sage it and leave it overnight on my selenite plate.”
“Can’t be too careful,” I said, smiling at Thessaly as she stood up, came around the coffee table, and reached for my hand.
An hour later, instead of having dinner at the dining-room table, we were all in the living room. People who normally ate salad and nothing heavy for their evening meal—those words had apparently been spoken before Lorne and I arrived—had dug into the roast chicken James made, had devoured my mashed potatoes and Cass’s amazing honey balsamic roasted carrots, Brussel sprouts, and sweet potatoes with goat cheese mixed in. Was it my recipe? It was. Had she improved on it and made it even better? Yes, she had. There was also a lovely portobello mushroom for me. Funny how being terrified always made people hungry once the horror subsided.
It took Thessaly a good twenty minutes to be able to let go of my hand. Once James brought her a plate of food, she turned to me and said it felt as though a weight had been lifted.
“I’m sure it does,” I soothed her.
Brooke wanted to know more about being a witch, and Stafford, sitting on the other side of his wife, was busy on his laptop, looking up drownings in the Seine. Willa, across from me, was on her laptop as well, searching for paintings of the woman who’d appeared in our midst.
“Not to be a smart ass,” Lorne began, “but maybe the provenance Hamilton received from the store where he bought the cursed earrings might be a better starting point than you all researching a lot of random crap.”
“Oh shit,” Ham yelled, popping out of his seat and running upstairs.