Page 38 of Mending Mayhem

Patrice froze before slowly turning toward me with a furrowed brow. “We’ve had a few injuries. Hearts?”

I explained what we’d learned about the fae eating hearts to gain the witches’ power. “Has anyone fought one?”

She added tea bags to the mugs and filled them with water. “We’ve come across a few.” She set the cups on the table and sat across from us, clutching hers with both hands. “I’m not supposed to tell you…”

I arched a brow. “Tell me what?”

She sighed, her expression one of shame. “We can’t kill them. We’ve tried, but they’re too strong. Now, when we find one, we run away.” Her brows drew together as her gaze bounced between Ash and me. “I know we’re letting you down, but…”

“It’s okay.” Ash reached across the table to put her hand on Patrice’s. “They’re hard for us to kill too. Keeping your distance is the best thing to do, especially now that we know what they’re here for.”

Patrice pulled from her grasp and dipped the tea bag up and down in her mug. “We can handle the rest. Imps, lesser fae, even a midlevel demon or two.”

“I know.” I sipped the tea and tried not to cringe. Chamomile was not my favorite. “You’re doing great. Spread the word that the new protocol is to contact one of us when you run into a scout or soldier.”

I moved my leg beneath the table, hitting my knee against my sister’s as a reminder of why we were there.

Ash cleared her throat. “Do you mind if I use your restroom?”

“Not at all.” Patrice’s smile was warm and genuine, and I was glad we could put her at ease. At least about avoiding the upper fae.

“Did Chrys’s mom give you any new information? I don’t think she had gone through her things before we found the shard of amulet at her apartment.”

“No.” She folded her hands on the table. “She blamed you for the break-in. I didn’t tell her about Chaos and Mayhem.”

“Good. No one else needs to know who they really are. We’ll be sending them on their way soon enough.” I tried to ignore the stab of pain in my chest and took another sip of flavorless tea. Coffee was so much better.

Ash returned from the bathroom and gave me a tiny nod before returning to her chair. “So this amulet… We have to find the rest of it before we can summon Discord and put an end to all this terror.”

“Do you have any idea where it might be?” Patrice lifted her mug with both hands and took a long sip.

“That’s the main reason we’re here.” I rose and carried my half-full mug to the sink to dump it. “I had Shade and Miles scry for it, and they think it might be in your house.”

“Here?” Her face pinched. “Why on earth would it be here?”

“Maybe you have it but don’t know what it is?” Ash set her empty mug in the sink. “You’ve got a lot of stuff in your basement.”

“I think I’d know if I had an amulet forged in Hell. I don’t practice dark magic. Ever.” Patrice padded into the kitchen and rinsed our mugs.

“It could be shrouded. Disguised as something else.” But hopefully not as a vibrator like the piece in my bedroom.

She stopped rinsing and turned to me. “If I’ve had it all along and didn’t know, I would feel terrible. But I really don’t think it’s here. I bet whoever shrouded it put a deflection ward on it too. A spell to make you think it resides somewhere it doesn’t.”

“Do you mind if we look?” Ash moved toward the pantry door and rested her hand on the knob. “I sense it in the basement.”

“Of course.” She dried her hands on a dishtowel and stepped into the pantry when Ash opened the door. A shelf hiding the entry stood near the left corner, and she tugged it, swinging it open to reveal a set of stairs. She flipped the light switch and made her way down, pausing at the bottom of the steps.

“I haven’t been down here since…” Patrice took a deep breath and kept moving.

To the left lay her work area. Massive bookcases held jars of powders, oils, and who-knew-what else. Bundles of herbs hung from a string stretched across the low ceiling, and the aromas of sage and patchouli greeted my senses, reminding me of a demon I didn’t have time to think about.

“What does the amulet look like?” she asked.

“It’s a red stone.” I made my way to the shelving units and scanned the contents. “Opaque, unassuming.”

“My crystals are over here.” She opened a cabinet filled with rose quartz, black tourmaline, jade, and every other stone imaginable. Grabbing a translucent crimson one, she offered it to me. “This is red adventurine.” She grabbed another one. “And this is garnet.”

I accepted the stones, pretending to examine them before handing them back. “The amulet is a different shade.”