Page 79 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Midlife

The harpy shifted from claw to claw like a dancing parrot. “We’ve received word the Tribunal has found Conte Ricardo Romero guilty of murder. They’re hanging him tomorrow.”

“What?” I jumped to my feet, crying out when a loud crack rent the air.

I rushed Des, shielding him and Ethyl with a spell, an enchanted forcefield that looked like an umbrella, when the entire room shook with earthquake tremors. The tremors stopped as quickly as they begun, so I released my shield. Luckily, only a few rocks had fallen. Puffy angrily huffed while flying circles above our heads.

My aunt had protected Shu with a forcefield similar to mine. She snapped her fingers, and the shield dissipated. She shot me with a glare. “You need to learn how to control your earth splitting, niece.”

I arched back. “My what?”

She enunciated each word like she was speaking to a child. “Your. Earth. Splitting.”

I shook my head. “I’m not doing that.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You certainly are.”

“Well, I don’t know how I’m doing it.”

The corners of her mouth turned up in the slightest of smirks. “It comes on when you’re upset?”

I chewed my lip, thinking about all those windows I’d shattered while arguing with Colin. “Yes.”

“All the Sagredos have a special magical gift.” She waved at the pebbles and dust scattered over the carpet and furniture. “This is yours.”

“More like a curse,” I grumbled.

She shook her head. “Not once you learn how to wield it. Now, where were we?” she asked matter-of-factly, as if we were discussing the weather, not Ric’s imminent death. “They don’tintend on hanging him. It’s a trap. They know you’ll come to his aid.”

I inwardly cursed, aware my son was within earshot, though I had a litany of words I wanted to spew.

Ethyl impatiently tapped her foot while eyeing the harpy. “Any news on Frederica?”

The bird-woman squawked. “The Tribunal has imprisoned her.”

In a surprising act of defiance, Ethyl spun on Serena with a snarl. “Did you know this would happen?”

She gave Ethyl a long, cool look. “I knew the risks. So did she.”

Ethyl’s face turned redder than Mt. Vesuvius, but to her credit, she didn’t miniaturize and flutter into the rafters. She challenged Serena with a glare. “So now we have two striga to save.”

Serena’s features turned to stone. “The sphinx is our priority.”

Wow. She was all business, not even calling Ric by name. He was just ‘the sphinx.’ I felt like we were all pawns in her game of war. No wonder she was the general.

Ethyl stomped a foot, her eyes welling with moisture. “Frederica ismypriority!”

I rubbed her back, not knowing how else to soothe her.

Serena marched up to Ethyl, bearing down on her with a frown. “You want to save her? Then you go in and get her.”

“How?” I asked.

Grimacing, she took a step back. “We have Des teleport us.”

“Absolutely not!” I raged. “No way in nine hells is my son going back there!”

She held up her palms and took another step back. “Then there’s only one other way to get in. The plumbing isn’t warded.”

“The plumbing?” Had she lost her mind? “Nobody can fit through the plumbing, not even Ethyl in her pixie form.”

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