Page 40

Kyra sincerely hoped that it wouldn't.

"I'll ask Ell-rom to ask his sister for a copy. I still don't feel chummy enough with the goddess to approach her directly."

"Where is he?" Kyra asked. "Is he still in bed?"

"Oh no." Jasmine waved a dismissive hand. "He and Morelle are training this morning."

By now, Kyra knew better than to ask what kind of training. Jasmine just clammed up every time she asked.

Instead, she returned to the issue at hand. "You seem very proficient with that stick. How did you get that good?"

"Practice. Lots and lots of practice." Jasmine placed the stick on the counter, letting out a breath. "I had to learn fast when I was searching for the Kra-ell stasis pods in the Himalayas."

"You still didn't tell me how you found Ell-rom and Morelle." Kyra leaned forward. "How did the whole thing even start? You owe me that story."

"It's a really long one," Jasmine said with a smile. "And we should focus on doing what we set out to do. Practice first. But when we take a break, I promise to tell you all about it."

"I'm even more curious now," Kyra said. "But you're right. We should practice first." She touched her pendant again. "So, how do we start?"

"Let's try something simple first," Jasmine suggested. "I want you to clear your mind and focus on the pendant. Don't think about what you want it to do or how it might work. Just feel its presence against your skin."

Kyra nodded and closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath, then another, letting her awareness narrow to the spot where the amber rested against her sternum. It felt warm, as it often did, but not with the intense heat that signaled danger.

"Good," Jasmine said. "Now, I want you to think of something you've lost or misplaced. Nothing significant, just a small item."

Kyra thought for a moment. "My hair clip. The silver one. I had it at dinner yesterday, but I couldn't find it this morning."

It was a worthless trinket, but she liked how it looked, so perhaps it had some value that way.

"Perfect," Jasmine said. "Keep your eyes closed and picture the clip. Remember its details—the shape, the weight of it, the texture. Now, while holding that image, ask yourself where it is. Not out loud, just in your mind."

Kyra did as instructed, visualizing the silver clip with its delicate filigree pattern. As she mentally formed the question of its whereabouts, she felt the pendant grow slightly warmer. Not hot, not a warning, but a gentle pulse of heat like a heartbeat.

"It's warming up," she murmured.

"That's good. Now follow that feeling. Let it guide your thoughts."

Images flickered through Kyra's mind—the bathroom counter, the bedside table, the floor under the bed. None of them felt right. Then suddenly, she saw the pocket of the jeans she'd worn yesterday, folded and draped over a chair in the bedroom.

"The pocket of my jeans," she said, opening her eyes. "Left front pocket. But that was nothing magical. I just focused and went over every possible place it could be until I figured out where I left it."

"That's the whole point." Jasmine smiled. "The pendant helped you focus your inner eye, so to speak."

It sounded like a bunch of nonsense to her, but right now, Jasmine was the authority on everything supernatural, so if she said it was the pendant that helped find the clip, Kyra was going to suspend her disbelief.

"How did it feel?" Jasmine asked. "Was it different from when the pendant warns you of danger?"

"It was more subtle." Kyra tried to articulate the difference. "When there's danger, it's like a sudden flare of heat. This was more like a gentle nudge in a certain direction."

"I think that's the key," Jasmine said. "The pendant reacts differently based on what you need from it. A warning is urgent, so it's intense. Finding something lost is less critical, so the response is gentler."

"But how would this help us find Khiann? I don't know where he is or even where to start looking for him. There is nothing for the pendant to focus on."

Jasmine picked up her scrying stick again, running her fingers along its smooth surface. "Maybe combining our abilities might help. My scrying is more targeted—I can search for specific things or people if I have a connection to them. Your pendant seems to respond to broader intuitions or dangers."

"What kind of connection would you need to find Khiann? Will his portrait help?"