Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam #2)(36)
“What is it?” Sandy tapped me on the knee.
“I know where Thornton spent the last five years.”
“Where?”
“Under Essie Vanderbilt’s rule. He was her boy toy until about two weeks ago when, apparently, he stormed out. And bingo, look who hired him and took him in.” I rubbed my forehead, trying to decide whether to throw myself at Essie’s mercy, or maybe just knock Thornton a good one over the head and drop him off in front of her house. “This is a delicate situation.”
“Delicate situation? This is material for a full-blown war. You’ve hired the vampire queen’s favorite. It won’t matter that he stormed out on her. Nobody who pledges themselves to Essie ever leaves. Nobody gets out alive, anyway—not anyone who volunteers for her. You’ve got to fire him, or Essie’s going to have your head.”
“She had to be the one who set the hex on me. And in doing so, she’s hurt my sweet Bubba and bilked me out of fifty-four grand. I don’t care that I got the money back. The fact is she’s a menace.” I was getting angrier by the minute. “I agree, Thornton was an idiot for staying around Bedlam, but I won’t throw him to the wolves. Or rather, to the bats.” I paused, trying to think my way through the situation. “Essie Vanderbilt is not going to chase me out and she’s not getting away with this bullshit.”
“Let’s find the anchor and destroy it, then we can concentrate on turning the tables on her, then. But what are you going to do about Thornton?”
“First, he and I need to have a long talk. He can’t just put my household in danger without taking responsibility. He has to know Essie would come after him.” I pushed myself away from the table. “I’ve brought a lot of things into the house, but now I know it has to have arrived after Thornton started working for me.” I paused, then turned to Sandy. “That pin. The one that came the night that you and Max were here—the heart-shaped pin with the ruby? I put it on because I thought a friend had sent it.”
“Crap. Where is it now?” She hustled me to the stairs. “In your room?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.” We raced upstairs and I sorted through the jewelry lying loose on my vanity table. There was the pin, and as I picked it up, in the pit of my stomach I knew this was the culprit. “This is it.”
She held out her hand. “Let me see. I’m not quite so biased, given that I’m not the target.”
I cautiously placed the heart in her hand and she closed her fingers over it, focusing on the pin. After a few minutes, she let out a slow breath. “The energy is cloudy and makes me cringe. Did you try to cleanse it after you got it?”
“I didn’t think it would be magical. I thought it was new.” I stared at the heart, wanting to tear the thing to shreds. “The good thing is, if I destroy this, Bubba will be all right, I think. Let me call Dr. Farrows.”
Farrows answered within three rings.
“I found the anchor. What do I do with it? Can we help Bubba with it?”
He sounded pleased. “Definitely. But you should know that with a hex like this one—that probably bounced off of you—destroying the anchor will not remove the entire curse. If you want to break the curse on Bubba, bring it over and I can destroy it here and take care of the hex on him.”
“Will it right everything else?”
“Not necessarily. For a hex as strong as this one, you really need a hex-breaker to take care of the entire muddle.”
I paused, thinking. Other things had gone wrong, but nothing as serious as Bubba. At least nothing as serious for me. “Will having the anchor intact make it easier to create a hex-breaker?”
“Not necessarily. Not for a powerful-enough Dirt Witch.”
That sealed it. I wasn’t leaving Bubba in distress any longer than I had to. If needed, I’d take a plane down South to find me a Dirt Witch.
“All right, be right over.” I hung up, scribbled a note for Aegis—who would be waking up in about half an hour—and then Sandy and I hightailed it out to my CR-V. We were at the doctor’s office within fifteen minutes.
He examined the brooch, dunking it into some sort of solution. It turned a bright red for a moment. “Yes, this has Dirt Magic permeating all through it. I’m going to be destroying the brooch, the ruby and all. You do realize that?”
“Go right ahead. Be my guest. If I never see it again, it will be too soon.” Sandy and I backed away as he placed it into a large stone container. I wasn’t sure what he was planning on doing with it, but another moment answered my question as he poured a vile-smelling concoction over the brooch, just barely covering it. The pin instantly began to bubble and disintegrate.
“What the hell is that stuff?” Sandy tried to get a closer peek, but neither she nor I really had any interest in getting too close.
“Oh, I have a number of acids at hand that can destroy bone, metal, you name it.” He laughed his best villain laugh. “Mwahaha!”
“Dude, if you want to play mad scientist, now’s not the time. Not to be a buzzkill, but…Bubba…” I bit my lip, trying not to cry.
Farrows sobered immediately. “I get it. Sorry, Maddy.” He moved to the table, where he gave Bubba a shot of something. Another moment, and the heart was totally gone. Bubba began to stir, and Jordan picked him up and carried him out of the magic-free room, with Sandy and me following.