My heartbeat froze as I stared at it. “It’s the same,” I breathed, holding out the coin for Olivia to see.
“I’m so sorry.” Olivia placed her hand on my arm. “We’ll find out who did this.”
Damn straight we would.
“Is that coin going to kill us?”
I snapped my gaze to Olivia’s very worried look. “No. There is no magic left in this coin. If Yaya didn’t feel any in it when she found it, then I’m guessing the curse is a one-time use deal. Once it did what it was intended, then the coin is just a coin.”
“That makes sense.” She hesitated. “How’d you feel magic on the one at Lorelai’s then?”
“I’m guessing Yaya didn’t get this one until a while after Mom died. Probably the hospital or funeral home returned it to us. But to be safe, I’ll take this downstairs to the conservatory to douse it in saltwater. Neutralize any magic left in the silver.” I waved my hand and the box floated back to its home on the top shelf of the bookcase.
When we reached the bottom floor, a knock sounded on the door. Olivia and I glanced at each other, and I stuffed the coin in my pocket and answered the door. No one was there, and I got a feeling of deja vu. Then, an envelope floated inside and stopped inches from my face. Yep, definitely been here before.
I plucked the coven letter out of the air and closed the door, then went through the kitchen to the conservatory. Setting the letter on my workstation while I filled a glass bowl with water and dumped salt into it. Once the bowl was full and salt mixed in, I dropped the coin inside. A puff of dark grey smoke shot up from the water.
“What was that? Please tell me it’s not Satan’s evil twin or anyone else.” Olivia backed toward the door.
I snorted. “No. That was the last tiny bit of magic that was hidden inside the coin.”
“Ah. Freaky.”
Picking up the letter, I turned to press my back against the counter. I so didn’t want to go to another meeting. But I had to play nice with the coven if I wanted to figure out who was behind the cursed coins.
“Are you going to open it or stare at it?”
“I don’t know, I thought I could try to read it while still in the envelope.” I tore the seal and pulled out the letter. My frown deepened as I read.
“Well?” Olivia prompted.
“Wallie, Owen, and I have been invited to a coven party. The dress is formal.” I tossed the letter on the counter and sighed. “I don’t want to go.”
“But you have to for the sole reason that I can’t go. You need to live the experience for me, then give me a play by play of the night.” She grinned and batted her lashes. “Oh, are you taking Drew?”
“What? No.”
“Why?”
I stared at her for a moment. “Because he’s a born hunter. I’m pretty sure that would be frowned upon.”
Olivia laughed. “It would be funny to see their faces if he showed.”
The thought was tempting but I couldn’t put Drew through the torture of mingling with witches. Heck, I didn’t even want to mingle with witches.
However, I couldn’t turn down the invite because I had info to fish for.
Chapter Eleven
“Hey, thanks for coming!” I opened the door wide and stepped back so CeCe could come in. “I appreciate it.”
“No problem. I don’t mind helping a new witch with her protection spells.” CeCe walked in with a big smile on her face. “Even if you’re not a totally new witch, I know you’re learning a lot right now.”
I twisted my hands together after I closed the door. “Hang on.”
Gathering my power, I spread it over the house, creating a barrier. Not a ward, anyone could come through it. But as long as the person wasn’t under the barrier, they couldn’t hear anything that went on in the house. “There. Nobody can hear us now.”
CeCe’s eyebrows flew up. “Is this not a bit of training?”
I shook my head and smiled ruefully at her. “I need some help with something kind of major that I’d rather not have the whole town knowing.”
She nodded as we walked into the living room. We sat and Alfred walked in with a tray and tea. He grunted as he set it down. CeCe’s eyes twinkled. “Thank you, sir.”
Alfred nodded his stiff neck and backed out of the room. Was he a bit smitten? It was hard to tell.
“I told you on the phone I needed help doing some mixing, but in reality…” I sucked in a deep breath before admitting the truth. “Do you know that I accidentally summoned Satan at Christmas?”
CeCe’s teacup froze halfway to her waiting lips. Amusement lit up her eyes. “No?”
“Okay, so, yeah. I tried to summon Santa, and Satan is who came. He likes it here, and he’s moved in next door.” I pointed in the direction of his house.
“Oh-kay.” The saucer tinkled as she set her cup back in it. “That can’t be good.”
I shrugged. “It’s not been bad exactly, but Luci comes with a certain amount of, shall I say, influence. He can compel people to do as he wants, sort of enchant them.”
CeCe whistled through her bottom teeth. “A rare ability.”
“Right. So, I found an anti-compulsion spell, but I need juice to make it stick. Owen and I tried, but he’s a full necromancer. He can do spells, but he doesn’t generally have a lot of power behind them. Not like a witch does. And though I’m half necromancer, I need some help doing this.”
CeCe rolled up her sleeves. “Let me at it. What are we charming?”
Jumping to my feet, I walked around the chairs toward the kitchen. “I have all my potion ingredients and stuff in here.”
At the back of the kitchen, I opened the doors to the conservatory with a flourish, letting CeCe go in ahead of me. “Ohh,” she said. “Black Oleander. That’s a rare poison.”
I let her admire my plants for a few moments before opening the grimoire to the appropriate charm.
“Are you trying to get rid of me again?” Luci asked, appearing out of the blue at the end of the conservatory, right in front of CeCe. We both jumped and I screamed.
She stepped back with her hand at her throat. “My goodness,” she said. “You’re the devil.”
He tipped an invisible hat as he gave a slight bow. “At your service.”
CeCe turned to me with an eyebrow up. “Well, they do say the devil is handsome.”
Luci preened as CeCe walked to the table and inspected the objects I had laid out there. I’d gone into town and purchased several necklaces, bracelets, and rings from a local craft shop. “I was hoping we could charm these so I could let my loved ones wear them. I’d rather they not be able to be compelled.”
Luci scoffed. “Hey,” he said in indignation. “I’m standing right here.”
I arched my eyebrow at CeCe but ignored the devil. “Are you up for the charm?” I asked.
CeCe clasped her hands together, then pulled off a pretty diamond ring from her right hand. “Only if I get one, too.”
“Deal,” I said, and turned the book so she could read it, too. “Now, according to this, we brew a potion and until it comes to a boil, we have to say this incantation over and over. That part will be dull, but once it’s boiled, we just dip the objects in the potion, and we’re done.”