Page 67 of Ashes and Amulets

“Clumpy dump bump,” the jackalope said.

It was over.

The jackalope rolled the body onto its back, pulled a pink sticky note out of his ear, and attached the note to the toe licker’s forehead before hopping back into the hole he’d come from.

“Thank you for your service,” I said, though I knew he was already long gone.

I plucked the note and read it.

Noah Darie

Twenty-seven years, three days, thirteen hours, six minutes, two and a quarter seconds old

Human

Deceased eleven hours, three minutes, fifty-six and one eighth seconds

Tripped over his untied shoelace, bumped into a large stack of boxes, head injury upon falling, crushed to death under the weight of party supplies.

Final ruling - accidental

Noah Dariewasthe toe licker, as suspected. He hadn’t exactly seemed normal on our drives, but he’d seemed more aloof and disinterested than the type to commit late-night assault.

I flipped over the sticky note to see if the jackalope had included any additional information.

Additional notes:

seared footprint on the face, broken nose - less than three days old

branded right palm - less than one hour old

I,of course, had been the one to burn and break Noah’s face. But his fresh hand wound, what was that about? I checked his hand to see.

On his right palm was a red, irritated circle, like he’d held onto a burning yoyo until his skin had melted off. In the center of the circle was a familiar marking seared deeper and darker into his skin—a fat tree.

This was the sigil from the Trai Amulet. Noah must have been holding it within an hour of his death eleven hours ago. Had he accidentally used the amulet to make the sheep grow large? Was activating the amulet an accident, just like his death? Had it seared his hand when he used it?

And most importantly…where was the amulet now?

The barn wasn’t just growing dark anymore, it was nearly impossible to see. I used the flashlight function on my cellular telephone to light my way.

If the amulet was here, I would have seen it by now, wouldn’t I? When I moved the boxes off of him? To be sure, I checked through everything in the area again, and another time for good measure.

The amulet wasn’t here.

I flopped down onto the floor, deflated, exhausted, discouraged. I’d been right about Noah Darie, but what good was that when Silas wasn’t here for me to rub it in his face? He’d promised to return, and yet he hadn’t.

I didn’t have his number, so I had no way to reach him. Unfortunately, I also could not contact Imogen. I was alone on this with no one to help me sort the relevant information. That was fine. I was completely self-sufficient. I didn’t need anyone.

The toe tag meant the library would send someone along to decide how best to deal with the body. Sometimes that meant leaving it as it was. Sometimes it meant removing evidence of magic, or removing the body from this realm all together. Sometimes it meant relocation so the body would be found under more appropriate circumstances. I didn’t particularly care what they did with Noah.

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