Chapter 45

Thirty minutes later, Liv texted: Nearly ready. Collect the gems and meet us at the GPS location.

Shit. Was this Evil Liv or Normal Liv? If she got to the funeral home before us, she'd realise the jig was up as soon as she saw that Mum was gone. I needed to keep her far away until the boxes and the enchantment were ready. OK, I texted back. When? It'll take an hour to get them all.

I could feel the exasperation in her text, probably because I knew how she operated. In an hour. I need an hour to get everything finalised. That's why I texted now. I could hear her unspoken ‘duh'.

At least that meant she wouldn't be checking on Mum anytime soon. I rang Connor. ‘Hey, we only have an hour. Can you have the boxes done?'

‘I've got four guys on it; they'll be finished in twenty minutes. The boxes won't be pretty but they'll be functional. I'll meet you at yours in half an hour.'

‘See you soon.' I hung up and turned to my mother. ‘Any luck? You only have twenty minutes to be ready to enchant the boxes.'

She looked up from the passage she was reading and tapped the book. ‘This is the answer! But I need a few ingredients I don't have with me.'

I gave her a piece of paper and a pen. ‘Write them down and I'll get them.' Somehow.

When she'd jotted them down, I looked at the list. ‘Holy water? Really? We aren't religious!'

‘You said the gems were wielded by angels so that will work best.'

I could get the other items, but I'd have to run around town: I could get holy water from the nearest church but she also needed silver dust. I Googled whether there was an assayer in town, someone who checked quality of metals. Being a mining town, I found not one but three – surely one of them would have silver dust? Sage would be at the witchy store on main street, or maybe even at the greengrocer's. I grabbed the list and my purse and ran out the door, using my vampiric speed to get me into the centre of town.

I went to the church first. ‘Hello?' I called into the white building. ‘I need some holy water. It's an emergency.'

A man wearing black with a white clerical collar came towards me. Silver hair dusted his head and he had laughter lines around his eyes. He was a little on the round side and looked friendly. ‘Hello, I'm Father Brennan.' He spoke with an Irish lilt and graced me with a warm smile.

‘I'm Officer Barrington, I work for the Nomo's office. We have an emergency,' I repeated. ‘We need holy water.'

‘Is it enough that I bless some water, or do you need water from a holy site?'

Panic rose in me. ‘I have no idea!'

He gave me a comforting smile. ‘Well then, let's give you water from a holy site and I'll bless it, too. Better safe than sorry.'

‘Thank you!'

‘Come on in whilst I get it for you.'

‘Um, I'm a vampire. Can I come in?'

He grinned. ‘You can. That's fake news, as they say these days.' I followed him and he rattled around by the altar. He retrieved a small bottle. ‘It's from the Jordan River,' he explained as he blessed it. ‘Here you go, it should suffice.'

‘Thanks.' As I took the bottle, I thought of Liv. ‘Can you do an exorcism of a curse?'

‘Normally exorcisms are for demons, but I've a few rituals I could try if you have a need. What is possessing whom?'

‘We think a banshee spirit from the cursed gem stones powering the barrier might be possessing Liv.'

He blinked. ‘That's not good.'

‘No, it's not great. Can you help?'

‘I can do my best. Now?'

‘Now.'

‘Let me get a book and robe.' He bustled off. Mum's plan might be enough to rescue Liv but it was always good to have backup.

While I waited for Father Brennan, I called the assayers. Thankfully, the second one I spoke to thought he had some silver dust.

The priest returned, dressed in a robe and carrying a heavy book. He had some beads and a cross around his neck. ‘I'm ready,' he announced.

‘Great. We have a couple more stops first.' On the way to the assayer, we bought some sage.

I banged on the assayer's door and hurried in. ‘Silver powder,' I panted to the lady behind the desk.

‘He's checking the back now,' she assured me. ‘We mine chromium here and we get a little gold and silver, but it's not our main focus.'

I nodded and waited on tenterhooks. ‘Please,' I begged the universe.

The assayer came out two minutes later. ‘Found some, but it's not much and it's not very pure.'

‘I'll take it!'

He handed it over and I paid, yelling thanks as I ran out. I was sure I'd seemed very rude, but me being rude was better than the entire town being dead.

Father Brennan and I headed back to my house where I gave everything to Mum. She blinked at the addition of a priest. ‘Not a bad idea,' she mumbled. One of her bags was open and she was measuring and adding ingredients to a boiling pot as she chanted. I knew something was working because I was itching uncontrollably and my teeth were humming.

The silver was last thing she added. ‘The assayer said it's not very pure,' I warned her.

Mum hesitated then shook her head. ‘It'll have to work. Let's hope there's enough.' She dumped in the entire bag. ‘It's the one ingredient where more is better.' She chanted a few more words, stirred, then removed the mixture from the heat. ‘Done,' she said with satisfaction. ‘It looks perfect. Where are those boxes?'

Her timing was good – or Connor's was great – because I heard the roar of his truck engine and the squeal of brakes as he pulled up in front of my house. He and Lee Margrave hauled in the boxes. They were better than I'd expected: unfinished and without paint or stain but sanded, smooth and attractively made with hinged lids.

Mum nodded at them. Opening each one and using a cotton swab, she marked all the surfaces inside and out with a rune made from the concoction she'd brewed. Once she'd done, she checked the grimoire and chanted in Latin over each box. The runes flared as she completed them, and with each one I itched even more so I knew the magic was working. Soon the boxes looked like plain wood again – but now they were ready to bear the gems.

‘It's done,' my mother said. She looked exhausted; she'd done all that after being kidnapped and cursed. As Sidnee would say, Mum had some moxie.

Connor and Lee took the boxes to the truck and I left Shadow and Fluffy to take care of Mum and Arabella. We loaded up and headed out to place the gems in their new boxes. I had the names and addresses of the new gem witches in my phone.

The closest was the water witch. Dakota Caples was a youthful-looking woman with pale skin and long ash-blonde hair like mine, but where my eyes were emerald green, hers were light blue.

She looked puzzled. ‘I thought the witches were taking the stones to be recalibrated?'

‘They are, but we need to change the boxes because the iron is no longer working. These new ones should block the gems' ability to control people and strengthen the barrier.'

‘Okay,' she said timidly. ‘I should call Liv to check.' She hesitated. ‘But I guess it's okay since you brought a council member.'

‘Don't worry, Liv sent us.' I wasn't lying: Liv had sent us, she just didn't know about the new boxes. It was important that we kept it that way.

‘Come in.' She stepped back and we followed her into her home. Like the first water witch I'd met, Dakota had a decent vault for the gem. It wasn't quite as good as six-inch-thick steel, but it was substantial and new, and having a secure spot for the stone made it easier to ward.

She dropped the wards and I looked at Connor. ‘It could try to possess me. Be ready,' I murmured.

He nodded. I took a deep breath and opened the box. Rather than touch the stone, I picked up the padded interior and transferred it into the wooden box. I could feel the gem in my head, telling me how strong we'd be together, what we could do, but it was water, the opposite to the element that burned inside me and it was easy to ignore.

Once it was in the wooden box, I slammed down the lid and the pressure disappeared in an instant. We thanked Dakota and ran back to the truck. Connor tossed the now-useless iron box into the back and we set off again to follow the same procedure for the earth and wind gems. I was leaving the fire gem until last.

Fire was my element and I knew full well that it called to me. Last time I'd touched the fire gem, it had made me light up like a torch and try to rule the world before Connor had saved me. I'd burned him, though, and maybe that would save me this time; I couldn't hurt him again.

We replaced the other two gem boxes and headed toward the last. As we pulled up to the new fire witch's house, I instantly felt the pull of the magical gem.

Fuck.