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Nikki comes with me down to the shop as I collect the ingredients. I don’t blame her for not wanting to stay behind.

Half an hour later, Selene finally has her tea brewed, some weird smelly herbs to sprinkle, and candles lit. The lights are dimmed and the map is spread out on the floor in the center of the room. She drinks the tea.

Some more chanting happens, and then she hovers the necklace over the map. It starts to move, and she seems to sense where to go so that the locket can find the right location. Finally, after testing several spots, the locket starts to move in a very clear circle.

Finally, Selene puts the locket down, leans back, and reaches into a drawer. She pulls out a red Sharpie marker and draws a circle on the map.

“There. She’s somewhere inside that radius.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

She just looks at me like I’m quite possibly an idiot.

“Can I take the map?”

“Of course you can take the map. Why else would I draw the circle on it? As a souvenir of the time my ex asked me to help him rescue his one true love?”

She gets up off the floor, folds the map, and snuffs out the candles.

“How am I going to find her? This is still a lot of ground to cover.” The circled location covers about five miles on the outskirts of the city—in the suburbs.

“Well, use that big architect brain of yours. There aren’t a lot of basements around here. But a vampire’s safe house will always have a basement.”

I nod. “Thank you,” I say with sincerity. “I know you didn’t have to do this.”

“No problem. That’ll be $25,000. I take all major credit cards.” She holds out her hand.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No, Cooper. I’m not kidding you, and I know you can afford it. I need new plumbing in this dump. You broke my heart, and then you came to me to do magic to find the woman you plan to spend the rest of your existence with. That’s expensive magic. And it’ll get even more expensive if I have to put your account into collections.”

“What does she mean by that?” Nikki says, her tone wary. Rosalie’s friend has been quiet and attempting to blend into the background practically the entire time we’ve been here, a smart strategy to be sure.

“She means she’ll hex me if I don’t pay her.”

“You always were smart,” Selene says.

I pull out my wallet and hand her my black card.

She smiles broadly at me as she takes it. “Give me one moment to process your order and get you your receipt.”

Nikki and I follow Selene downstairs back into the shop. She puts the map into a logo-printed brown shopping bag with blacktissue paper that has silver foil stars on it, then runs my card. A moment later, the receipt prints.

Selene smiles sweetly as she passes me the bag with my card and receipt inside. “Thank you for shopping at Coven Mart. Have a magical night.”

16

COOPER

“I’ll drop you off at your house,” I say to Nikki once we’re back on the road.

“What? No! I’m not going home. I just watched a real witch do real magic to find my friend who’s been kidnapped by a vampire, and you think I’m just going to toddle on home?”

I shrug. “Suit yourself, but you aren’t coming to the house when I find her. It’s far too dangerous, and I can’t be distracted worrying about you.”

She looks like she might argue, but if she didn’t want to go into Selene’s building, she really doesn’t want to walk into a vampire’s lair. And we both know it. “Okay, but I can help you find her.”

I nod. It would definitely help to have more than one person on this job.