Sapphire Spells

Chapter 23 - Queen of Cups (reverse)

The room plunges into chaos, with Ally and I in the center. Or perhaps the room is still, and it is my mind that is chaos. I really can not tell.

Alaric ushers Charlie out, leaving my friend completely confused by the turn of events.

Phiona closes the door. Locking me, Ally, and Alaric together with her.

"Take off your shirt," Phiona says to me before rushing to rummage through a drawer.

"What?" I look at her like she is speaking an unfamiliar language. My cheeks warm and I glance at Alaric, whose face is entirely unreadable. His attention split between whatever Phiona is doing and me. Honey eyes flicker to me when I look at him and I am frozen in place.

"I can step out," he offers.

"No. I need you for this." Phiona turns to us, holding something in her hand. Cold blue eyes focus on me. "I told you to remove your shirt. Show me where you are marked."

My weight shifts from foot to foot as uncontained nerves bubble over. "Not until you tell me what is going on here."

Ally nods in agreement, though doesn't say a word. Something clearly spooked her into momentary silence.

Phiona releases an impatient sigh. "It's a tattoo made with enchanted ink. Through it, the fairy can sense where you are, possibly more. The key link is made between two individuals, and a third is needed to ground the spell."

She tilts her head towards Ally. "Your friend here is a grounding component."

"Is this how he knew where I was working today?" Ally finds her voice, a wrinkle forming between her brows.

"Possibly, but that would be a very feint feeling compared to what he can sense from Emma." She shakes her head at me. "I can't believe you did this."

I release a surprised breath. "You say that like I did it on purpose! I did not know!"

"You should have been smarter than this."

"Wow," Ally says before stepping up to my side. "Listen, lady, you do not get to place this blame on Emma. She did not know. Maybe if she had your guidance, then things would have played out differently. But she didn't, did she?"

Phiona tilted her head, looking Ally up and down. "Child, do not get involved in things you know nothing about."

Ally smiled. It was not kind or sweet, but vicious. "How about you not judge what you do not know? Emma, may be your family by blood. But she is mine by choice. We are sisters. She has suffered enough from her past, from your decisions. You do not get to come here now and judge."

"Ally, it's okay." I reach for her hand.

She twists to look at me. "No. It's not."

Unease spreads through the room.

"But for Ally's birthday Preston kept texting me, asking where we were..." My voice trails off while my mind tries to make sense of everything.

"That is just pretend. He knew exactly where you were then, and still does," Phiona stated.

"He wouldn't want to waste such an advantage," Alaric murmurs, as though gears are also clicking in his mind.

"What do we do now?" I look at Phiona, hoping to just move on from this.

"Shirt." Her icy gaze lands on me.

I suck in a breath and do as instructed, taking off my T-shirt. The air feels cool, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Where is it?" She asks.

Though I keep my eyes locked on Phiona, I sense Alaric's presence. My face grows hotter by the second as I reach behind myself to unclasp my bra. With one hand, I keep it pressed to myself while letting the straps fall, exposing the small inch long line on my rib outside of my left breast.