A Necklace of Water Read Free Page A

between us; there’ll
never
be anything between us! Now get the hell out of my way!”
    Staring at me angrily, he held up his hands—surrender. He picked up the jars of French clay and asabarraca and headed toward the kitchen. “Get the rest of the stuff.”
    Then I was alone in the workroom, feeling like I was losing my mind.
    Unfortunately, I knew myself well enough to know that I was partly angry at him and partly angry at myself for wanting him despite everything. He’d set up horrifying accidents for me and Thais; he didn’t love me, didn’t love anybody….
    But something about him caused my body to go into hyperdrive. Something inside me wanted him, wanted desperately to meld with him no matter what he or I rationally wanted or thought. I took some slow, steady breaths, trying to calm myself. I pressed my palms against my cheeks, which felt like they were on fire.
    I forced myself to remember what else Nan had said. Thais was getting rosemary and stuff—oh, broadleaf dock leaves. Red clover. All this stuff had purifying, cleansing properties. The vervain would give everything an extra boost.
    I brought the vervain and dried leaves back into the kitchen, where the kettle was boiling.
    “Thank you, sweetie,” Nan said, getting out her mortar and pestle. “There’s a small jar in the back of the cupboard marked
Cinders
. Get that too.”
    I nodded, refusing to look at Richard, who leaned against the fridge, drinking his beer. In moments I came back with the jar of ashes, collected from various sacred fires.
    Our food was cold on the table. I had lost my appetite anyway. My hands clenched and unclenched nervously. I had to get out of here. Just being around Richard, much less Richard and Luc together, was making me feel like I was coming out of my skin.
    “Okay, Luc,” said Nan, sounding a bit more brisk. “Four things. A tea to make and drink one cup of three times a day. I’ll write it out for you. It’ll help cleanse and strengthen your liver. A wash to use on your skin, also three times a day. A mask to use once a day. You put it on, let it dry, then gently wash it off. And finally, a spell to perform twice a day, at noon and midnight, that will help channel this anger and energy out of you.”
    “Thank you, Petra,” said Luc, his voice muffled. “I really appreciate it.” I’d never seen him like this—it was like his gorgeous outer shell had split to reveal this ugly, less cocky version of himself.
    Someone had done this to him magickally. Someone pretty strong. One of the Treize.
    I wished I’d thought of it.
    I still felt burned about what he had done to me and Thais. My heart still felt broken. And in weak moments that I hadn’t admitted to anyone, I still wanted him to be mine and only mine. But I had to say—seeing him like this made it a little easier somehow.
    “Has anyone else been affected like this?” Thais asked. I’d been avoiding her eyes, not wanting to know if she was watching Luc, but now I looked at her. She seemed stiff and uncomfortable, but whether because of Luc or Richard or our fight, I didn’t know.
    Luc and Richard glanced at each other, and Luc said, “No, not like this. But Manon has moved out. She’s left Sophie. Right now she’s staying with Axelle.”
    “Such a good idea,” Richard murmured.
    “Why did she move out?” Thais asked.
    “It turns out she tried to use the rite to kill herself, like Marcel did,” Luc explained. “But without anyone else’s help.”
    Nan shrugged wryly.
    “But Sophie worked against her, preventing her spell from taking effect—not that it even would have,” Luc went on. “Manon realized it and felt like Sophie had betrayed her. They had a fight, and Manon broke up with her.”
    “Oh, my goodness,” Nan murmured, her hand to her chest.
    “Wow,” said Thais. “How long had they been together?”
    “Uh …” Richard thought. “About a hundred and twenty years, I think. Something like that. They have a big fight