The Opal Witch

Chapter Twenty-One: Gideon

Lux

Lux ignored the gasps echoing around the room and kept her eyes trained on the cheerleader. With a sullen sigh, Sara Elizabeth slipped the ring off of her finger and handed it over. The stone warmed against Lux's skin but that was all. No glow or shine declaring that she was a water witch.

"Brooke, will you look?"

The younger girl pulled herself away from the wall and crossed the room. She took the jewelry, but immediately shook her head in the negative. "This stone is much bigger than ours, and ours has a thicker, antique band."

The knot in Lux's stomach released, only to be replaced by guilt. She handed the channeling stone back to its owner, who immediately slipped it back on her finger. Lux waited for the deserved verbal assault, but to her surprise, Sara Elizabeth remained silent, none of her special brand of malice falling from her lips.

"Are you going to tell anyone what that was about?" Declan asked. His tone aimed at casual but missed.

Lux didn't know where to start. Bailey didn't want to involve the Circle, but at this point, that was impossible. She pointed at the girl and said, "This is Brooke Bailey. Corinne Bailey's sister."

"Well shit," Travis muttered, looking contrite when Brooke gave him a frosty glare.

"I still don't see how meeting Brooke led you to accuse Sara Elizabeth of murder," Kitty said. Her blue eyes were wary as she looked between Sara Elizabeth and Lux, almost as if her willingness to defend Sara Elizabeth surprised her.

"I'm getting there. Brooke had some suspicions regarding her sister's death, and because of what we are, she brought them to me. I agreed to help her investigate, and it was there that she found a necklace Corinne always wore. A star sapphire. And the necklace had a matching ring." Ruby and Kitty both tensed. They'd both been there that day in the Nature Center when the cheerleader had "found" her ring. "It just seemed odd that you'd lost your ring there, and they never found Corinne's ring. And then I was reminded that your property backs up to the crime scene."

"That is damning," Audra said. "Especially considering what else y'all discovered. Hanish, you want to tell everyone?"

The Sylph stepped forward. "Audra and I were aware of the murder that took place here, and based on the symbols carved into the victim, we suspected a Bloodborn witch. But we hadn't really investigated the Baileys. Unlike most witch families, they discarded the family name by taking on their husbands' surname. Their surname was Hazelwood.

"The Hazelwoods were staunch supporters of binding the daughters of the First Circle, and by the time Brooke's grandmother came into her powers, they taught her they were from the devil. She bound her daughter's powers, but much like we see with you girls, by the time Corinne came of age, no one possessed the knowledge to bind her powers."

"Mama sent Corinne to Amulets- Granny had mentioned the shop in some of her diaries, and she thought the answers to getting rid of the devil powers would be in that place," Brooke picked up where Hanish had paused. "She never told us how we came to possess these powers. I don't know if she even knew."

"If we'd known at the beginning that you were members of the Circle, we would've been certain that it was a Bloodborn witch. But it doesn't matter anymore. We found her lair, and if she's killed once, she will kill again. They only strike when the powers in their stones are drained." Audra's words faded to a whisper. As strong and feisty as she was, even she was afraid of the Bloodborn.

"I'm adopted," Sara Elizabeth blurted.

"What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?" Travis demanded.