Page 76 of Killing Time

And even though he knew she would be willing to lend her strength to his, he didn’t dare take Ruby with him. He was desperate to get Devynn back, sure, but letting theprima-in-waiting fall into Jasper’s hands again wasn’t even an option.

His hand went to his breast pocket, where the heavy bronze amulet had rested all this time. Obviously, Ruby hadn’t been present when he’d shown the artifact to Abigail and the elders, so she had no idea he had such a thing in his possession.

Right now — despite the way theprimahad called it an “abomination” — Seth thought it might be their best chance at success.

Especially since the de la Pazprimahad refused to help them. Oh, sure, she’d made a few noises about consulting with other members of her clan, but Seth knew their assistance was never going to materialize.

“I have this,” he said as he pulled out the amulet and laid it on the table next to Ruby’s sketch.

Surprise flickered in her clear blue eyes, but she didn’t reach out to touch the amulet, and instead only stood there so she could stare down at it for a moment.

“What is that? I can tell it’s powerful, but — ”

Not for the first time, he realized how much more extensive Ruby’s abilities were than his. She hadn’t even inherited the trueprimapower yet, but she still could feel the energy emanating from the amulet, something Seth couldn’t really do even though he tapped into the thing every time he needed to teleport with someone riding along.

“We found it when we were back in 1884,” he said. “A warlock with a traveling show was using it to amplify his powers and allow him to do all sorts of amazing tricks.”

“He was using magic in public?” Ruby asked, aghast, and Seth nodded.

“Yes, Devynn and I weren’t too happy about that, either, and that’s why we confiscated it. He was putting the entire witch community at risk.”

Even though their reasons for taking the amulet had been sound enough, he still couldn’t help feeling just a bit guilty for confiscating the one thing that had allowed Lawrence Pratt some measure of success. But even a warlock with little power should have understood the risks he was taking, and in the end, they hadn’t had much choice.

And since the amulet had helped him and Devynn a great deal, he couldn’t be too regretful about keeping it in their possession.

Ruby nodded and at last picked up the amulet, weighing it in her hand. “So, that’s what it does? Strengthens whatever power you might have?”

“Yes,” Seth replied. “That’s why I can take you with me when I teleport. Without the amulet, I can only send myself and up to around forty pounds of whatever I’m carrying.”

She gazed down at the amulet for a moment, eyes narrowing a little as she appeared to take in all the various runes and sigils engraved into its surface. “So, it amplifies just one person’s powers at a time?”

“As far as we can tell,” he said. “When Devynn was carrying it, she used it to hide both our witch powers, which was why we were able to walk openly in Wilcox territory for several days. But when I needed it to teleport you out of that hotel room, she gave the amulet to me.”

“Good thing, I suppose,” Ruby observed. “Or otherwise, it might have fallen into Jasper Wilcox’s hands.”

An unpleasant eventuality Seth had already considered. But even though he was very glad that Jasper didn’t have the amulet, he still thought the price of keeping it in McAllister control had been far too high.

A brief nod, and he said, “Anyway, while it’s useful, there are limits to what it can do. It’s not as if I can snap my fingers and have it deliver Devynn to me.” He paused there and sent Ruby a curious look. “Whatisyour power, anyway?”

She seemed almost amused, her mouth curving in a half-smile as she said, “I can call out to the clan with my mind, like I did the day when Jasper kidnapped me. But I’m also very good with protective magic. Ever since I came into my magic a month or so after my eleventh birthday, I’ve helped the elders lay down the wards we use to keep Jerome safe.”

Wards that hadn’t done a very good job the day Jasper had come here. Then again, Seth was pretty sure no one had thought the Wilcoxprimuswould be so brazen as to actually set foot on McAllister land. No, the wards existed mainly to make sure the regular rank-and-file Wilcox witches and warlocks didn’t take it into their heads that it might be fun to try to infiltrate their rivals’ home territory.

But while such magic was useful and necessary, it wasn’t anything that might help with getting Devynn back…even if he was willing to take such a risk as having Ruby return to Wilcox territory, which he absolutely was not.

There had to be some other way.

“How much do you know about the McAllisters’ various gifts?” he asked next.

Surely someone must possess the kind of magic that would be useful in such a situation, whether turning invisible orthrowing fireballs or anything else that might give them an advantage over the Wilcox witches and warlocks.

“I don’t have everyone’s talents memorized,” Ruby said, still smiling slightly. “But I know enough to tell you that we don’t have anyone in our clan who would really be able to help with something like this. Our gifts tend to be smaller, not that showy.”

Which was what he’d feared he might hear. Even in his own time, his talent for translocation…teleportation, whatever you wanted to call it…had been unusual among his clan. The McAllisters had far more weather workers or those who could encourage plants to grow, ensuring there was always plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables from their gardens to keep them well supplied. And there had been people like his cousin Lester, who could build a house from the ground up without needing a single blueprint or any other kind of plan, or Sarah, whose potions had often supplemented Helen’s healing gifts.

All useful in their own ways, he supposed, but nothing that would allow them to mount a full-on assault against the Wilcoxes.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” he demanded, and Ruby came over and gave him a quick hug, just enough to show that she truly did care about their predicament, even though she had been rescued and wasn’t in any immediate danger any longer.

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