Page 126 of Mistaken Magic

"Likethat?"Iasked.

"Rain," he said approvingly.

Oddly, the ring fit.Ilifted my hand to see it, but it was nothing special.Justa thick, almost masculine band with something stamped around the edges.HopingJackwas happy enough for me to go to bed,Istood back up, tugging the ring to take it off.

Itdidn't budge.

SoItried again.Itwould spin on my finger easily, and it didn't fit tightly at all.Infact, the thing fit perfectly - yet whenIpulled, nothing happened.Absolutelynothing.Itwas almost likeIcouldn't quite grab it, or ifIdid, my fingers slid off.Thering wasn't stuck, per se.Itwas immoveable.

"Shit,"Ibreathed. "Tor?Itwon't come off."

"Whatis it?" he asked.

SoIthrust my hand out to him. "Idon't know.Isit iron?"

Hecame closer and took my hand whileJackhopped around beneath us.Carefully,Toriantested the ring, and then he tried to slip it off - clearly able to touch it.Nothing.Justlike with me, he couldn't seem to get a grip on it.Thenhe did something else.

Wavinghis palm over my finger, a pale green light glowed.Themetal of the ring reacted, shimmering wildly across the surface.Itwasn't likeeltam.Thiswas very, very different.

"Magic,"Torianbreathed. "Rain,Idon't think you're getting it off."

"Butit's not iron, right?Ican still touchAspen?"

"Ihave no interest in hearing what you do with mysister," he snapped.Thenhis temper cooled. "Butno, it's not iron.It'snot even metal,Rain.Thatring?It'smade completely out of magic.I'venever seen anything that powerful in my life."

"Thenwhere the fuck didJackfind it?"Iasked. "Hasit been lost out here for decades?"

Helet his finger caress the surface again. "Thisis old.Therewere artifacts in the palace like this.Stuffmade from powers we have long ago forgotten."

"Jack!" my crow interrupted.

"Isit going to hurt her?"Torianasked the bird.

Thatgot a very obvious shake of the head.

Torianjust sighed. "Thengo back to bed,Rain.I'llsee whatIcan find out.AskAspenif she can tell anything about it.Ihave a feeling this was either lost by someone out here, or maybe left by someone to be found."

"Harper?"Iasked. "Wouldshe really leave something like this laying around to get me in trouble?"

"Ican't rule it out," he admitted. "It'sthe kind of thing she'd do, and we all know crows like shiny things.Trustme, everyone knows about your bird already.You'regetting the attention she wants, so what better revenge than to make your new friend bring you down?"

"Fuck,"Igrumbled. "Yeah,Iclearly need to sleep beforeIdeal with this.Buthey, at least it's comfortable, right?"

"Betterthan painful," he agreed asIturned for the girl's side door.JustbeforeIreached it, he called out, "Havea good night,Rain."

"Yoursister's in my bed,"Icalled back.

Helaughed once. "Ihave a feeling you're going to be a pain in my ass that just won't go away."

"Counton it,"Iagreed. "Goodnight,Torian."AndIpulled open the door to letJacklead us back home.Fuckingbird.

Chapter Fifty

Thenext day, we were back to classes as normal.IshowedAspenthe ring while we got ready, but she agreed withTorian.Itwas made of magic, so taking it off meant we'd have to break the enchantment.Thebigger question was what the enchantment did.Sadly,Aspencouldn't figure it out.Sheadmitted that was really moreTorian'sarea than hers.

Jackwas thrilled with me wearing this new ring, though.Consideringthat afterIwashed it,Ifound out the engraved marks on it looked like birds, well, it made sense.Heseemed to be a rather vain crow.Thematerial of it was strange, though.Thering looked like metal, but it was dark.Nottruly black, but definitely a black-metal color.Charcoal, possibly?

Itwas a wide band, but the edges were smooth.Probablyworn that way by time.Thenagain, did a magical material do that?Thankfully, ifIdidn't think about it, it didn't bother me at all.Theproblem wasIkept thinking about it.Justthe idea thatHarperwas somehow going to use this against me made me a little crazy.WhenItoldAspenmy theory, she actually laughed at me.

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