When I came downstairs minutes ago, Alfred pointed to the coin on the table. The one Olivia was staring at like it was going to jump up and choke her. Stranger things had happened recently.
“Is that…?”
I nodded. “Yep. The coin they found on CeCe. There is enough of the curse still in the silver that I may be able to trace it this time. So don’t touch it.”
“Hadn’t planned on it. But wouldn’t having it in the house, this close to us kill us?” She stared at me with wide eyes.
“No.” At least I didn't think so. But, just in case, I had called in backup.
Right on cue, Owen entered the dining room. He eyed the coin suspiciously as he moved to the coffee pot.
Olivia picked up the latte she got for him and handed it to him. “Kelly made this for you.”
At the mention of Kelly, the sweet baker and owner of Peachy Sweets, Owen’s cheeks colored. He took the cup from Olivia, gave a short shy nod, and took the seat across from me. “The curse is still in there. Not strong, but I can feel it.”
“Yeah, I was hoping that we can trace the magical signature of who created the curse.” Using my magic, I called to the glass bowl in the conservatory and filled it with water, then directed it to float into the dining room. The salt followed it. Both settled on the center of the table.
Owen sipped his latte and pointed at me. “You know that telekinesis is a rare power for witches.”
I stared at him for a moment and said, “So is having three necromancers in the same town.”
Olivia perked up. “Three?”
“There were three before William was killed.” I dumped salt into the water and twirled my finger over the bowl. The water swirled on its own, mixing the salt.
“Why is it rare? I thought they would network like witches do with their covens.” Olivia looked from me to Owen, waiting for an explanation.
Owen answered her because I didn’t actually know why. “Necromancers don’t work well with others, generally. Ava’s not like any other necromancers I’ve met. Anyway, it’s a bad omen to have too many necromancers in one area.”
“What kind of bad omen?” I asked while stopping the water in the bowl from swirling.
He shrugged. “I think it’s myths passed down. It might have been started by witches not wanting groups of necromancers hanging around. Our powers are dark and go against the natural order, according to witches.”
“Like the dead should remain dead,” Olivia added. Owen and I nodded.
Owen continued. “There are different stories that tell why. One is that witches cursed necromancers. Others say that it’s the combined power of too many in one area. But all the stories say that chaos follows the dark ones. The more there are in one place, the stronger the chaos.” Well, that did fit my life lately.
“Wow.” Olivia cradled her latte in his hands. “How many are too many?”
I lifted my brows at Owen. I also wanted to know this.
“More than three.” Owen picked up a donut from the box.
Note to self–get the coven to check the town for more necromancers.
Speaking of the coven… “CeCe told me that I was next in line to be the high witch.”
Owen and Olivia stilled and stared at me for a few seconds. Then Olivia smiled. “That’s great. You are the new leader. I mean it’s sad that CeCe died, but you’re the boss now.”
I didn’t want to be the boss. Ever. “I have no clue how to run a coven. And I don’t want to talk about it right now.” I pointed to the coin and wished I hadn’t mentioned it. “We need to do the trace before the curse weakens more.”
My theory on the cursed coin was that each one was spelled for a certain person and once the deed was done, the curse faded.
Owen nodded and shoved the donut in his mouth, then wiped his hands with a napkin. After he chewed and swallowed, he held his hands out to me, over the coin. I took them and opened up my magic.
We chanted the simple tracing spell, and the coin began to rattle against the table. Larry came sliding into the room and stopped a few feet from the table. Did he feel our power or the curse from the coin? I didn’t have time to ask.
A cloud of smoke rose from the coin and a blurred image formed. But before it cleared, the cloud exploded. Running on instinct, I threw up a bubble around the table at the same time, containing the curse inside it.
“Crap. That backfired.” I checked on Olivia. “You okay?”
Her wide eyes met mine. “Yeah. That was…unexpected.”
“Definitely,” Owen agreed.
Larry moved forward. “You need to neutralize it before it escapes that bubble.”
Great. I didn’t need more complications. I definitely didn’t need to be cursed to die by a freak accident. Taking a deep breath, I focused on the bowl of salt water. Using my telekinesis—as Owen called it—I pushed the bowl over, spilling the contents on the table and the coin.
The curse dissipated with a hiss. Of course, the donuts and coffees were ruined. “Sorry about breakfast.”
Olivia shrugged. “But what happened? The tracer was working then it exploded.”
“I think there was an anti-tracker spell mixed in with the curse. Whoever did this is covering his or her butt.” I wanted to scream in frustration.
Please, Universe give me a sign. Anything to point me in the right direction to stop the evil witch.
Just then the doorbell rang, sounding like a scream. Olivia and I both jumped. Olivia asked, “What the Hades is that?”
“Doorbell, I think. Winston thinks he’s funny.” It wasn’t the first time the house had slipped in a random doorbell sound.
I stood up and moved toward the door, motioning for Larry and Alfred to hide. With everything that had been happening, I was leery about answering the door at all. Every time I opened it, something else crazy happened. And I had just asked the Universe for a sign. So I was betting on the weird.
I couldn’t have been more right.
I opened the door to find Rick and Dana Johnson, the ferret shifter parents. “Hello,” I said in shock. “What—are you doing here?” I didn’t say it unkindly, but I couldn’t imagine why they were back. “How did you find my home?” I stepped back, giving them room to come in.
“Everyone knows where your home is,” Dana said. “All the local supernatural folk are plenty familiar with the old white house on the cliffs by the ocean.”
I gaped at her as they walked in. “Oh,” I whispered. I’d known that most of the Shipton Harbor residents knew the house, but these people lived a few towns over. “What’s going on?”
“Our other son wasn’t in his bed this morning,” Rick said. “And the rest of the pack is getting scared. After we got Ricky’s body back, they all started withdrawing, staying home a lot and keeping to themselves.”
“Not that we blame them,” Dana added. “But now Ricky’s brother, Zane, is missing. We have to find him.”
“Come in,” I said, gesturing toward the living room. “How long do you think he’s been gone?”
They moved into the living room. Owen sat beside Olivia on the sofa, giving our guests the chairs to sit in. I joined my friends.