smile. He didn’t look at all like a man who knew I had stolen his most precious resource. “Your Highnesses, I am so happy you’ve come. I believe Ms. Carey here has found a solution to our problems.”
“I thought you were struggling with your magic.” I was suspicious. I’ll admit it. I didn’t like the idea that Nim was meeting with our witches. Maybe they’d been talking about their lives and what it is like to visit the Hell plane, but I doubted that. Otherwise Kelsey would have known, and Kelsey would have been every bit as suspicious as I was.
“I’m slowly recovering,” Liv said, her chin up like I’d insulted her, which I certainly hadn’t meant to do. “I’ve been getting bursts of magic for the last few weeks. It can be unreliable, but I think I have it now. It’s a locator spell, but I’ve used a magical creature to tune it.”
“A magical creature?” Daniel asked.
Nimue looked calm and serene in her all black, her violet-colored eyes revealing nothing to me. “Yes, Liv had the idea that if we spelled a creature close to Dev, one with magical powers, we might be able to use it almost like a homing device. It was quite brilliant.”
“That’s excellent.” Daniel gave my hand a squeeze. “Let’s do it.”
I thought he was getting ahead of himself. “I’d like to know what creature we’re talking about, and how does the spell work? I’d like to talk to Sarah about it before we actually do anything.”
Magic often goes wrong, and I didn’t want a witch with not-so-solid powers experimenting on someone who could get hurt. Especially someone close to Dev. No matter how much I wanted to find my husband, I wasn’t going to risk other lives. I’d already lost Kelsey.
Liv frowned. “I don’t need Sarah’s help. I had Nimue. She’s a far superior witch. Sarah could learn a lot from her.”
Nimue put a hand on Liv’s shoulder, as though reassuring the younger witch. “Sarah Day is an excellent witch. She simply doesn’t have enough experience in this.” Nimue nodded my way. “I’ve decided to take Olivia under my wing, so to speak. She’s had trouble regaining her magical strength after the witches in Wyoming drained her.”
“I thought Sarah and the coven were helping her with that.”
“They all have broomsticks firmly lodged in their asses,” Liv said with more venom than I’d ever heard from her before. Liv had changed since that night in the woods when she’d nearly died, but it wasn’t until this moment that I realized how much. “They want me to wait. To sit on my butt and hope that my magic will come back.”
“I think they want you to be patient.” I would have to talk to Sarah in the morning because I didn’t like the thought of Liv practicing when her magic was so unreliable. “Pushing the issue could cause more damage.”
“Zoey, I know what I’m doing,” Nimue promised. “Liv isn’t the first witch to have her power drained. I’ve seen it before and I can help her through it. She no longer needs Sarah. I’ll handle the problem. I’m going to be her mentor.”
“And I’ll help, of course,” Myrddin added. “I expect great things from our Olivia. Now, let’s find our missing friends so we can concentrate on the upcoming negotiations.”
I started to hold up a hand because I thought we still had some things to talk about, but Daniel leaned down to whisper in my ear.
“Please, Z. I know you’re upset, but let’s get Kelsey back and maybe she can talk to Liv. Let’s get them all back and we can solve the next problem.”
I sighed and nodded. “All right. Let’s talk about this creature you want to use. I need to know how the spell works.”
Liv’s eyes rolled. “It works fine and I already did it. Now all we have to do is follow it and it will show us where they all went.”
She opened the lid of the box and I watched as a familiar ruby-red pixie rose on faltering wings. My breath caught in my chest as I realized this was Arwyna, the leader of the kaleidoscope of pixies who lived here at the Council headquarters. She was a vibrant creature normally. She’d been my best spy for years. She was also my friend.
She looked sluggish and I could tell something was deeply wrong with her.
“What have you done?” I asked, reaching up a hand to give her a place to land.