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“Imagine how terrifying it is to be stuck in an auld barn with a giant lizard,” Rory scoffs.

“How old were you?”

“Twelve?” Blair answers her. “Thirteen? Young enough that we about pissed ourselves.”

“And you’re the only ones who know?”

I nod at Key. “Now that my granny has passed, aye.”

“And none of you have ever figured it out?”

All three of us shake our heads.

“I’m not really sure how much help I can actually be,” Key admits nervously. “My grandmotherjustdecided she doesn’t totally hate my guts.”

“Och,” Blair tsks. “Hadn’t thought of that. Still. You’re a right ways less suspicious than this lot”—she jerks a thumb in my direction—“if you go digging around the property.”

“True,” Key agrees, her expression contemplative. “Do we even know what we’relookingfor?”

“The bridle, of course,” Rory chimes in.

Key turns her head to look at me with a furrowed brow. “It really exists?”

“For my sake, I hope so,” I scoff.

“You mean you don’tknow?”

“How could I possibly know?” I set my glass on the bar top, turning on my stool. “It’s not like someone left me a set of instructions. All I know is that the story says the bridle is what got us cursed, so surely the bridle can undo it.”

“What about Key?”

Everyone swivels their head toward Rory, staring back at us with his head cocked.

I look at her and find her just as confused as I am. “What about her?”

“You said she saved you,” Rory points out. “At the cove. You think she’s got a bit of that kelpie witchcraft in her?”

“I—” My mouth closes just as soon as it opens, my lips turning down as I consider. “She doesn’t even know how she did that.”

“It’s true,” Key adds. “I’m not sure how I did any of the things that have been happening since I showed up here.”

“Right, and she—wait, what?” I lean in closer, narrowing my eyes. “What do you mean ‘any of the things’? What else has been happening?”

“Well, I can’t be sure”—she rubs at her arm—“but there was this thing with a window opening after I couldn’t get it to budge, and of course there’s the whole healing thing, and then…” She shakes her head. “It sounds insane, but I may have made it stop raining the other day.”

“You made it stop raining,” I echo.

She shrugs. “I mean, I asked it to stop, and it just…did?”

“And that didn’t strike you as odd?”

“I thought it was just a coincidence!”

I mull this information over in my head, an inkling of possibility trickling through my thoughts, but then I clear it away with a firm shake of my head. “We can’t be counting on whatever is happening to Key. Not without knowing more about it.Especiallysince she can’t control it. The bridle is our best bet.”

“So,” Key says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Where are we supposed to look for it?”

“I’ve already been through Rhona’s attic—”