Page 45 of Mending Mayhem

I snapped my gaze to his. “Don’t get any ideas. We’re using it to summon your brother so he can return it to the Underworld. Period. Nothing else. Got it?”

“I understand.” He held my gaze, and the purple in his irises seemed to undulate in a mesmerizing wave.

A sense of calm washed over me, and for a brief moment, I actually believed everything would be okay. Funny, I know.

I blinked, pulling myself out of the trance and landing firmly in reality. Everything would not be okay. The demons had to return to Hell. We had to stay here. Even if we broke the curse, there would be no happily ever afters for us. The thought pained me.

That was why it was best not to get attached. I made a mental note not to forget it, wadded up the emotions, and shoved them into the deepest corner of my mind. With any luck, they’d stay there.

“Ready?” Ash asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” I used the tweezers to pick up the shard and touched it to the amulet.

We held a collective breath as both pieces of the stone glowed deep red. Heat crept up the metal instrument I held, and while it couldn’t burn me, life had taught me heat that intense would melt a mundane’s skin. Hell, it would melt a witch’s too if fire wasn’t her inborn power.

I released the shard and set the tweezers down. The stone pulsed, and the broken piece moved across its surface, melding with the place it had been broken off. A flash of crimson light filled the room, blinding me for a few seconds.

When my vision returned, I blinked the amulet into focus. The glue holding the makeshift chain had dissolved, but the shard fit perfectly, no cracks or lines revealing it had ever been broken. It was rounded and smooth on the left side, creating one half of an oval.

On the right side…

“Jagged edges.” My heart sank. “There’s another missing piece.”

15

EMBER

“One thing.” I paced across the living room, turned on my heel, and paced back. “Why can’t one thing be easy?”

“To quote our High Priestess, ‘Where’s the fun in that?’” Ash dropped the two-thirds-complete amulet into the plastic container.

At least, I hoped it was two-thirds complete. If we were missing any more pieces, I might… Ugh. “I’ve had all the fun I can handle.” I resumed pacing.

Shade sank onto a stool at the counter. “We’ll find it. It has to be somewhere in Salem or Boston.”

“Does it?” My fists clenched, my nails digging into my palms.

“Could it be buried here?” Miles asked. “Since she put up a ward to temper your magic, maybe she left a piece somewhere outside.”

“There’s nowhere to bury it,” Ash said. “And the spell she used on our house wasn’t strong enough to require magic like that.”

“And we don’t even know if she had all the pieces.” The heels of my boots thudded on the hardwood. “Was Chrys the one who broke it, or did Isabel do it? Or one of her descendants? We have to scry again. Halloween is next week.”

“I’ll set it up.” Ash padded to the kitchen and filled a bowl with water. “We should all do it together.”

I lit two candles and set them on the table. Ash put the bowl of water between them, and everyone took a seat. I laid my hands on the table, and Ash rested her palm in mine. Mayhem hesitated, his questioning gaze dancing across my face, and I nodded.

The moment his skin touched mine, a jolt of…something…shot straight to my heart. My chest tightened, and for a moment, I forgot to breathe. Apparently, this was what holding hands with your soulmate did to you.

The sensation wasn’t unpleasant in the slightest. I’d grown used to the pinpricks skittering across my skin, but now they burrowed deep inside me, making my nerves come alive. He must have felt it too, because a hint of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he offered Shade his other hand.

Wariness tightened Shade’s features, but he recovered. When everyone had joined hands, I inhaled deeply, centering myself and trying my best not to think about the hot-as-sin demon sitting next to me. Don’t get attached, Em. Don’t get attached.

“Everyone ready?” I asked.

“I don’t know how to scry.” Mayhem squeezed my hand. Definitely not unpleasant at all.

“You just have to share your energy with us,” I said. “We’ll focus it into locating the amulet.”