Page 46 of Wings of Ebony
“The bracelet or…?”
“Both.”
I grab the necklace from the box on the table and it’s like touching Moms all over again. I’m actually grateful to have this bit of her. “Here you go.” I drop it in Bri’s palm.
She pulls a gadget from her pocket.
“What in the—?”
“I can’t use magic without setting off Patrol, but give me a sec.”
“Huh?”
“Just watch.” She presses a button on the top of the gadget and it whirs in midair a moment. Then, like a magnet, the device snaps to the stone fused to Bri’s wrist. “Ugh.” She pulls it free, covers her own wrists with her sleeves. “Press the button again for me. It’s sensing my stones.”
I press and it fans over my wrists, like a crab floating in midair with a suction cup under the bottom. I brace for impact as it brushes past my onyx stones. Nothing happens.
“It only clings to magic,” Bri whispers. Of course. And my magic is dead as a doornail. The gadget hovers, scanning past other surfaces. I dangle the necklace near its sensor and like a vacuum attacking a Lego, it clamps to the necklace and won’t let go.
She snatches the sensor and reads the numbers flashing on the top. “Just as I thought.”
“And that means…?”
“This is from Ghizon, Rue. And that”—she shows me the numbers on top of the device: 356103—“is the code for a cloaking protection spell. Rue, this necklace makes whoever is wearing it invisible to…”
“To anyone in Ghizon,” I say.
The weight of both my worlds comes crashing down at once. The epiphany fumbles from my lips before I even fully understand the words. “This necklace kept her off the radar all these years. Kept her invisible to them—all of them. Including…”
Ms. Leola’s hand warms my back.
“… Aasim,” I say, under my breath.
The world’s spinning and I plop in the nearest chair. He gave her this, put it on her to keep her safe, knowing he’d never be able to even find her again? Th-that’s not quite the asshole picture of him I’d had.
The thoughts roll around in my head, slamming into and cracking walls I’d erected.
He wanted to protect her. And me.
Still, all those years of struggling with Moms working trying to make ends meet. How much more good could he have done if he’d stayed here? Protected ushere? Leaving… I’ll never forgive him for that. There had to be another way.
And if there wasn’t, he should’ve made one.
“What about that?” Tasha points at the cuff, resting inside one of two impressions the box.
“Was there another one?” I ask. The velvet is soft, dotted with a few specks of dust. “Looks like there’s space for two here.”
“I don’t know nothing about the bracelet, baby. That was already in your mom’s things. It looked expensive so I put the necklace with it to keep both of ’em safe.”
“Definitely Ghizoni metal, I’d bet.” Bri grabs the cuffs edge. “Ahhhh!” Itthunksto the carpet and she sucks the tip of her finger. “It burned me!”
Burned you? I squat, studying the bracelet. “It doesn’t look hot.”
“Well it is.”
“Let me get some ice on that, honey.” Ms. Leola scoots into the kitchen with Bri on her heels.
I press a fingertip to the edge of the golden metal and remove it quickly. Definitely warm to the touch. I scoop it up and its warmth coats my hands like I dipped them in chocolate—warm, but in a homey sort of way.
